I.A Richard

Figurative Language I. A. Richard


I . A. Richard


Ivor Armstrong Richard, known as I. A. Richards, was an English educator, literary critic, and rhetorician whose work contributed to the foundations of the New Criticism, a formalist movement in literary theory, which emphasized the close reading of a literary text, especially poetry, in an effort to discover how a work of literature functions as a self contained, self-referential aesthetic object.


Richard's intellectual contributions to the establishments of the literary methodology of the New Criticism are presented in the books The Meaning of Meaning: A Study of the influence of Language upon Thought and of the Science of Symbolism, by C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards, Principles of Literary Criticism , practical criticism and The Philosophy of Rhetoric.




four kinds of meaning

Sense is what is said, or the 'items' referred to by a writer.
Feeling refers to emotions, emotional attitudes, will, desire, pleasure, displeasure and the rest. When we say something we have a feeling about it, "an attitude towards it, some special direction, bias or accentuation of interest towards it, some personal flavour or coloring of feelings, these nuances of interest.
Tone is the writer’s attitude to his readers or audience. The use of language is determined by the writer’s ‘recognition’ of his relation to his readers.
Intention is the writer’s aim, which may be conscious or unconscious. It refers to the effect that he tries to produce. This purpose modifies the expression. It controls the emphasis, shapes the arrangement, or draws attention to something of importance.