Explanation: The connotation of a word is the meaning given by the context or even by the readers (or listeners) based on their emotions or personal experiences. In the given excerpt from John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address, we can see the use of the word "invective" and we can also see that it has a negative connotation, because Kennedy said that they need to prevent it, so from the given options the one that also has a negative connotation is criticism, so the correct answer is option A.
