Ambiguity, Paradox, Understatement, Overstatement

EOC SOL Reading Test Preparation and Practice

​11.5h) Recognize and analyze use of ambiguity, contradiction, paradox, irony, sarcasm, overstatement, and understatement in text.

Multiple Choice

What is the paradox (the contradiction) in this sentence? What does it mean?

• We must fight (the opposite of being peaceful) in order to have peace (no fighting.)

• We have to go to war and eliminate anyone who might disturb our peace.

• If we want peace, we must fight for it - like every other right.

• We have to become the strongest so that everyone has to listen when we say STOP FIGHTING!

Multiple Choice

What is the paradox (the contradiction) in this sentence? What does it mean?

• They are deaf and blind.

• They have eyes and ears, but they don't use them to see and hear what's going on around them.

• They won't listen to anything they don't want to hear.

• They are trapped in a dark cave.

Multiple Choice

What is the paradox (the contradiction) in this sentence? What does it mean?

• Just enough is better than too much.

• Overindulging is unhealthy.

• Being smaller is better than being larger.

• Not saying anything is better than saying the wrong thing.

Multiple Choice

“I’m nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?" - Emily Dickinson

Why is this a paradox?

• Nobody likes me. Do you want to be my friend?

• Nobody likes me. Do you have any friends?

• I'm a ghost. Are you a ghost too?

• I am not an important person. Are you an unimportant person too?

Ambiquity

When the meaning of a word, phrase, or sentence is uncertain. There could be more than one meaning.

Is Ambiguity always a mistake?

Typically, it is best to avoid ambiguity in your writing. When you make statements that are ambiguous, you confuse the reader and hinder the meaning of the text. However, sometimes ambiguity is used deliberately to add humor or complexity to a text.

Shakespeare loved puns, which rely on ambiguity.

In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio is dying from his wound when he says, "Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man." The word "grave" has an ambiguous meaning. Grave as an adjective usually means serious or important. Here, Mercutio is also making reference to his impending death.

“I shot an elephant in my pajamas” (Groucho Marx).

Did Groucho shoot an elephant while wearing pajamas? Or did he shoot an elephant that somehow got into his pajamas? The listener or readers must stop and say, “Wait. What?” The joke relies on ambiguity.

Unintentional Ambiguity

When a writer is not using ambiguity purposefully, the meaning of his or her text becomes confusing and unclear to the reader.

Wow! What did Grandma ever do to you?

I guess that's what friends are for...?

All these headlines appeared in local and national newspapers.

Multiple Choice

A sentence or text becomes ambiguous when:

• Something is confusing

• There is more than one interpretation

• There is a rhyming pattern

• The author wants to create a strong thesis

Multiple Select

What are the two possible meanings of the following sentence?

I saw the man walking along with a bat in his hand.

• I saw a man with a small, winged animal in his hand.

• I saw a man with the tool used to hit a ball in baseball and softball in his hand.

• I saw a man walking a bat.

• I saw a man walking with a bat.

Multiple Choice

Read the sentence:

Sarah knew that she did well in the test, and so did Bob.

Which of the following revisions eliminates ambiguity?

• Sarah knew that she did well in the test, and so did Bob.

• Sarah knew that she did well in the test, and Bob did too.

• Bob knew that she did well in the test, and so did Sarah.

• Sarah knew that she did well in the test, and Bob did well too.

Multiple Choice

Read the sentence:

Sally poked the boy with a stick.

Which of the following revisions eliminates ambiguity?

• Sally poked the boy with a big stick.

• Sally suddenly poked the boy with a stick.

• Sally used a stick to poke the boy.

• Sally poked the boy with a stick.

Multiple Choice

Pluto can get as cold as -400F at night, so if you're going there, you might want to bring a jacket.

• Hyperbole

• Understatement

Multiple Choice

The noise was so loud it shook the earth.

• Hyperbole

• Understatement

Multiple Choice

I have killed a thousand mosquitoes since morning; yet there is still one lurking around.

• Hyperbole

• Understatement

Multiple Choice

I suppose that getting into a fistfight with the principal was a little bit out of line.

• Understatement
• Hyperbole

Multiple Choice

I am so hungry, I could eat a horse.

• Hyperbole

• Not a Hyperbole

Euphemism

Actually a form of UNDERSTATEMENT

Euphemism 

an expression intended to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces, or to be less troublesome for the speaker.

To be Polite

This type of euphemism is used to replace an expression that would sound rude or embarassing. In other words, its role is to say the very same thing, but in a more polite/kind manner.

Common Examples:

• Preowned instead of used

• Deceased  or passed away instead of dead

• Euthanize instead of kill (used for animals)

• Put to sleep or put down instead of kill (used for animals)

• Correctional facility instead of prison

• Sanitation worker instead of garbage man.

More Common Examples:

• Restroom instead of toilet

• Powder your nose instead of pee

• Full-figured instead of fat

• Senior citizen instead of old

• Let go or downsized instead of fired

• Hard of hearing instead of deaf

Nazi propaganda utilized euphemism to hide the horrible acts that were being perpetrated against the Jewish people.

Examples:

• Final solution for exterminating the Jewish race

• Showers for the gas chambers used to kill the Jews

• Concentration camps for the death camps where Jews and others were sent

• Relocation for the mass deportation of Jews to the ghettos or camps

Review:

Euphemism is a literary term for a word or phrase used to soften or make more polite uncomfortable or impolite communication.

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Using Euphemism can

• Make bad things seem better

• Make harsh or blunt ideas seem polite

• Make unpleasant ideas attractive, or at least tolerable, or humorous

• It is also a language which avoids or sometimes shifts responsibility. 

• It can be used to intentially mislead or hide ugly truths

Multiple Choice

She forgot to visit the powder room before going to the shop.

• toilet

• kitchen

• classroom

• bedroom

Practice: To answer each question

Write the more truthful word or phrase being replaced with the euphemism

Fill in the Blanks

Barry said that he was sorry to hear that his neighbor’s mother had passed away.

Fill in the Blanks

Sarah was devastated to learn that her parents had put her cat Fluffy to sleep.

Fill in the Blanks

Despite the fact that she was vertically-challenged, the teacher was respected and feared by many students.

Fill in the Blanks

Because Olivia is hard of hearing, she both reads lips and uses sign language.

Fill in the Blanks

Mr. Jones was angry when he learned he had been let go.