Figures of Speech: Figures of Contrast

A Figure of Speech, word or group of words used to give particular emphasis to an idea or sentiment, is any deviation for increased effect from the plain and ordinary method of speaking. The special emphasis is typically accomplished by the user's conscious deviation from the strict literal sense of a word, or from the more commonly used form of word order or sentence construction. From ancient times to the present, such figurative locutions have been extensively employed by orators and writers to strengthen and embellish their styles of speech and composition. Broadly speaking rhetoric is the art of speaking in which we can locate dressing or ornamentation. But it is always to be remembered that it is not the essence of the poem rather one of the essentials.

Figures of Speech are usually classified as

I. Figures of Resemblance or Similarity.

II. Contrast.

III. Association or Contiguity.

IV. Miscellaneous Figures.

II. Figures of Contrast.

Figures of contrast are rhetorical devices used to create a sharp contrast or opposition between two ideas or concepts. They are employed to emphasize differences, highlight contradictions, or draw attention to contrasting elements.  These figures highlight opposing or contrasting elements to create a sharper understanding or add dramatic effect to the speech or writing. By juxtaposing two opposites, the speaker or writer draws attention to the contrast, often making one element more vivid or intensifying the impact of both.

Here are some key Figures of Contrast:

1. Antithesis 

(a) Education is to know something of everything, and everything of something.

(b) Who but must laugh, if such a man there be? Who would not weep, if Atticus were he?

(c) To err is human, to forgive divine.

Antithesis (Gk. anti, against, and thesis, a placing) is the placing of one word or fact against another for the sake of contrast. Almost every word has its opposite e.g. true, false; black, white and by expressly mentioning it we emphasise the word itself. This figure of speech places two contrasting ideas or words side by side in a balanced or parallel structure. It creates a powerful contrast for emphasis. Antithesis also includes words which without being exact opposites have a certain contrast, or which partly define another by subtracting from it its excess of meaning e.g.

Butchered to make a Roman holiday.

He had his jest, and they had his estate.

The cup that cheers, but not inebriates.

A Form of Antithesis is the Balanced Sentence, in which the words to be contrasted are put in corresponding places in the sentence e.g.

 For example:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." (Charles Dickens)

"To err is human; to forgive divine." (Alexander Pope)

There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing ;

there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great

riches.

The Highest Good is the greatest happiness of the greatest number.

Might is right.

Note. When the contrasted words are put not in parallel but in reverse order the antithesis is called chiasmus (Gk. chiazo, I mark diagonally) e.g.

With joy they heard the summons to arms, but

The order for peace was listened to with sullen looks.

2. Epigram

The child is father to the man.

Great wits are, sure, to madness near allied.

We cannot see the wood for the trees.

An Epigram (Gk. epi, on, gramma, letter, or writing) is a pointed saying, whose apparent contradiction emphasis sits real meaning. An Epigram originally meant an inscription on a monument, then a short witty poem, and lastly a pointed saying. It consists in leading one to expect a certain conclusion, and then surprising him by something quite different. It may be regarded as an unexpected antithesis.

Forms of the Epigram are the (1) Seemingly Identical Assertion,

(2) Seeming Irrelevance, (3) Parody, and (4) Pun.

(1) What I have written, I have written.

There are business men, and business men,

(2) Where the snow falls, there is freedom.

(3) The survival of the unfit test.

(4) The parson told the sexton,

And the sexton tolled the bell.

Is life worth living? That depends on the liver.

The most important is Pun.

The Pun, or Paronomasia (Gk. para, beside, onoma, a name orword) is the play upon words carried to an excess. In the true pun there is no connection of meaning between the two uses of the word. It teaches nothing, and illustrates nothing, and is a mere exercise of ingenuity used chiefly by comic writers. Pun: A play on words that uses the similarity in sound between two words with distinctly different meanings. For example, the title of Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest is a pun on the word earnest, which means serious or sober, and the name “Ernest.”

Sometimes the pun is almost an epigram e.g.

Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits.

The Russian grandees came to Elizabeth's court, dropping pearls and vermin.

Brutus instituted liberty and the consulship.

Some killed partridges, others time only.

The moment and the vessel passed.

The Condensed Sentence is an abbreviated sentence in which ideas are brought together under one construction instead of being separated, though their unlike causes a feeling of incongruity.

3. Oxymoron

 It combines two contradictory or opposite terms to create a condensed paradoxical statement.  The contrast highlights the tension or complexity of the concept.

Example: 
"Bitter-sweet" 
 "deafening silence."
"Jumbo shrimp"
"Cruel kindness"

4. Paradox

A paradox is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or logically impossible but often contains a deeper truth or insight when examined closely. It presents an unexpected or illogical situation.

Example:

 "Less is more."

"I can resist anything except temptation." (Oscar Wilde)

"The beginning of the end."

5. Irony

Irony is the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of what is expected. It often involves a discrepancy between appearance and reality or a situation where the outcome is contrary to expectations. It is to be remembered that Irony occurs when the intended meaning of a statement or situation is opposite to its literal or apparent meaning. The contrast lies between expectation and reality.

Example:

"Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink." (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

"Isn't it ironic that the traffic jam cleared up just as I reached my destination?"

6. Juxtaposition

This figure of speech places two contrasting ideas or elements close together to highlight their differences. It can be used to create a dramatic effect or draw attention to the disparities. For example:

"It was the best of both worlds: the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the shade."

"The old and the new stood side by side, a stark contrast of tradition and progress."

These figures of contrast are powerful tools for writers and speakers to create impact, emphasize key points, and engage their audience by highlighting the differences between ideas, concepts, or situations.

7. Chiasmus

Chiasmus is a figure of speech in which the order of words in one of two parallel clauses is inverted in the other. This criss-cross arrangement emphasizes the contrast between the ideas.

Example: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." (John F. Kennedy)

8. Epigram

An epigram is a brief, witty statement that often contrasts two ideas in a sharp and surprising way, drawing attention to the unexpected connection between them.

Example: "I can resist everything except temptation." (Oscar Wilde)

8. Climax and Anticlimax

Climax arranges ideas in ascending order of importance or intensity, creating a contrast between the minor and major points.

Example of Anticlimax:"At first he walked, then he ran and at last he simply flew" 

"When it rains, it pours" 

"I came, I saw, I conquered" 

"Since concord was lost, friendship was lost; fidelity was lost; liberty was lost — all was lost" 

"Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" 

"He started as a janitor, then became a manager, and now he is the CEO of the company" 

Anticlimax reverses this, creating a contrast by building up expectations and then deflating them with a trivial or less important conclusion.
Example of Anticlimax: "He lost his family, his car, and his keys."

Figure of Speech -Figures of Resemblance or Similarity

 Ardhendu De