Memory

I.A. Richards was an educated literary critique born in Cambridge in 1893. He is said to be the "father of modern criticism, a concept of reading pieces closely to interpret them wisely. I.A. Richards did not begin as an English critique, but was interested in philosophy in early life when he went to Cambridge University. Richards has argued that not only have definitions hindered new, interesting thoughts from coming through due to their restrictive nature, but have actually deprived us of useful thoughts. As humans we believe that a definition is an instrument designed to achieve a certain purpose or meaning, but what we should ask ourselves is, "what purpose does the definition serve"? The meaning of a word is the missing part of the context, since words serve as symbolic substitutions. We should think of definitions as a part of a word instead of belonging to a word. I also agree that Richards shows us how definitions have deprived us of useful thoughts. We never think for ourselves and try to figure out the meaning of a word from the context around it, because it's easier to look up the definition. Along with being deprived of useful thoughts, Richards had his own understanding of using metaphors, in which they are used to control what we say. Metaphors are also used as a reference to compare and contrast along with providing clear communication. Richards insists that metaphors should not be used as an ornament or embellishment, but as an "added power or grace of language"; a way to minimize misunderstanding. I also agree that metaphors control what we say and also how we perceive the information stated in the text.