For example: “Setting foot on the moon may be a small step for a man but a giant step for mankind.”. When contrasting ideas are brought together, the idea is expressed more emphatically. This is a common technique in advertising, since people are more likely to remember a slogan that is grammatically incorrect. Although taking a step is an ordinary activity for most people, taking a step on the moon, in outer space, is a major achievement for all humanity. Snow White - … Antithesis is basically a complex form of juxtaposition. You are easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart. The scene in “The Godfather” where a series of brutal murders is intercut with shots of a baptism, juxtaposing birth and death. All the joy the world contains has come through wanting happiness for others. Antithesis can be defined as "a figure of speech involving a seeming contradiction of ideas, words, clauses, or sentences within a balanced grammatical structure. Things opposite, as already asserted, often make a view attractive. Brutus is portrayed as the “noblest of Romans,” close to Caesar, and a person who loved Rome and Caesar. Antithesis definition literary device for thesis topics on training and development. Prolonging something is making it last; wasting something is letting it run out too soon. Next, notice how the second part of each example contains terms that reverse or invert terms in the first part: small step vs. giant leap; human vs. divine; we say vs. they do. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong (Jack London, Credo). Living is about having vivid experiences, learning, and being bold; simply existing is a dull, pointless thing. So its effects are fairly similar – by contrasting one thing against its opposite, a writer or speaker can emphasize the key attributes of whatever they’re talking about. This combination of a balanced structure with opposite ideas serves to highlight the contrast between them. All the misery the world contains has come through wanting pleasure for yourself. https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-antithesis.html Another interesting feature of this antithesis is that it makes “pleasure” and “happiness” seem like opposites, when most of us might think of them as more or less synonymous. Forgive us this day our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. The structure of the words around the contrasting ideas is usually identical, at least in part. English Tutor 1.59K Posted September 21, 2015 0 Comments No, it is contrast because the opposition between silence and speech is highlighted by using “than.” Here is an antithesis built around some of the common expressions from above. Antithesis is used in everyday speech, novels, poems, short stories, plays, and more. Antithesis Definition Antithesis (ann-TIH-thuh-suhs), put simply, means the absolute opposite of something. (Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva). “A Song of Ice and Fire” (George R. R. Martin book series). How to use antithesis in a sentence. (The structure is noun-“must”-verb.) They are a matched pair that have many grammatical structures or concepts in common; in the details, however, they are opposites. antithesis definition: 1. the exact opposite: 2. a difference or opposition between two things: 3. the exact opposite: . In the Neil Armstrong quote, for example, the tremendous significance of the first step on the moon is made more vivid by contrasting it with the smallness and ordinariness of the motion that brought it about. Antithesis is the term used to refer to an author's use of two contrasting or opposite terms in a sentence for effect. Antithesis Definition Antithesis, which literally means “opposite,” is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. What is meant by antithesis? The antithesis is doing a lot of work here. The antithesis helps make the meaning clear, and throws the grammatical error into sharper relief. The contrasting ideas of reign/serve, and Hell/Heav’n are placed in this sentence to achieve an antithetical effect. On the surface, these are opposites, and this is part of the antithesis, but at the same time they are, in the end, the same act from different perspectives. Paradoxically, an antithesis can also be used to show how two seeming opposites might in fact be similar. Writing Oxymoron. Definition of antithesis in the Definitions.net dictionary. Definition of Antithesis. https://www.ultius.com/glossary/literature/rhetorical-devices/antithesis.html If you try too hard to prolong your days (that is, if you’re so worried about dying that you never face your fears and live your life), then you will end up wasting them because you will never do anything worthwhile. To err is human; to forgive, divine. Below is a list of some common antithetical statements: In literature, writers employ antithesis not only in sentences, but also in characters and events. He wants to say that God is forgiving because his creation is erring. The second antithesis, on the other hand, is just the opposite – in this case, London is taking two words that seem somewhat opposed (waste and prolong), and telling us that they are in fact the same. For example, the following famous Muhammad Ali quote is an example of antithesis: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (the band “AFI” – album title), The antithesis here is a juxtaposition of two different actions (opening and shutting) that are actually part of the same sort of behavior – the behavior of somebody who wants to understand the world rather than be the center of attention. All Rights Reserved. But for London, they are opposites. This classic ad uses antithesis to set up a deliberate grammatical error. 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