Ambiguity — English definition
A deliberate openness to more than one supportable interpretation, which the text does not resolve into a single answer.
Where it is taught
- Analyzing Complex Literature — Close Reading & Literary Analysis, English 12: Complex Texts, Independent Inquiry & Public Voice, Grade 12
In use
It is density (every line doing several jobs at once), allusiveness (works built out of other works), and ambiguity (meanings the text refuses to settle).
Analyzing Complex Literature
Questions using ambiguity
Problem 1
At grade twelve, literary AMBIGUITY is best understood as…
- a deliberate openness to more than one supportable interpretation that the text does not settle
- the total absence of any evidence in the text
- a mistake by an author who failed to make the meaning clear
- a difficult vocabulary word the reader must look up
Answer and explanation
a deliberate openness to more than one supportable interpretation that the text does not settle
Ambiguity in serious literature is deliberate — the text holds more than one supportable reading open rather than resolving to a single answer. It is a feature, not an error or a hard word.