What is antithesis for and what is it. Literary techniques of a writer that can be useful to everyone Contrasting in literature

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Writing, as mentioned in this is an interesting creative process with its own characteristics, tricks and subtleties. And one of the most effective ways to highlight the text from the general mass, giving it uniqueness, unusualness and the ability to arouse genuine interest and a desire to read in full are literary writing techniques. They have been in use at all times. First, directly by poets, thinkers, writers, authors of novels, short stories and other works of art. Nowadays, they are actively used by marketers, journalists, copywriters, and indeed all those people who from time to time need to write a bright and memorable text. But with the help of literary techniques, you can not only decorate the text, but also give the reader the opportunity to more accurately feel what exactly the author wanted to convey, look at things with.

It doesn’t matter if you are a professional writer, taking your first steps in writing, or creating a good text just appears on your list of duties from time to time, in any case, it is necessary and important to know what literary techniques a writer has. The ability to use them is a very useful skill that can be useful to everyone, not only in writing texts, but also in ordinary speech.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the most common and effective literary techniques. Each of them will be provided with a vivid example for a more accurate understanding.

Literary devices

Aphorism

“To flatter is to tell a person exactly what he thinks of himself” (Dale Carnegie)
"Immortality costs us our lives" (Ramon de Campoamor)
"Optimism is the religion of revolutions" (Jean Banvill)

Irony

Irony is a mockery in which the true meaning is opposed to the real meaning. This creates the impression that the subject of the conversation is not what it seems at first glance.

The phrase said to the loafer: “Yes, I see you are working tirelessly today”
A phrase said about rainy weather: "The weather is whispering"
The phrase said to a man in a business suit: "Hi, are you jogging?"

Epithet

An epithet is a word that defines an object or action and at the same time emphasizes its feature. With the help of an epithet, you can give an expression or phrase a new shade, make it more colorful and bright.

Proud warrior, stay strong
Suit fantastic colors
beauty girl unprecedented

Metaphor

A metaphor is an expression or word based on the comparison of one object with another on the basis of their common features, but used in a figurative sense.

Nerves of steel
The rain is drumming
Eyes on the forehead climbed

Comparison

Comparison is a figurative expression that connects various objects or phenomena with the help of some common features.

From the bright light of the sun, Eugene was blind for a minute. like mole
My friend's voice was like creak rusty door loops
The mare was frisky as blazing the fire campfire

allusion

An allusion is a special figure of speech that contains an indication or hint of another fact: political, mythological, historical, literary, etc.

You are just a great schemer (a reference to the novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov "The Twelve Chairs")
They made the same impression on these people that the Spaniards had on the Indians of South America (a reference to the historical fact of the conquest of South America by the conquistadors)
Our trip could be called "The Incredible Movements of Russians in Europe" (a reference to the film by E. Ryazanov "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia")

Repeat

Repetition is a word or phrase that is repeated several times in one sentence, giving additional semantic and emotional expressiveness.

Poor, poor little boy!
Scary, how scared she was!
Go, my friend, go ahead boldly! Go boldly, don't be shy!

personification

Personification is an expression or word used in a figurative sense, by means of which the properties of animate are attributed to inanimate objects.

Winter storm howls
Finance sing romances
Freezing painted window patterns

Parallel designs

Parallel constructions are voluminous sentences that allow the reader to create an associative link between two or three objects.

“The waves are splashing in the blue sea, the stars are shining in the blue sea” (A.S. Pushkin)
“A diamond is polished by a diamond, a line is dictated by a line” (S.A. Podelkov)
“What is he looking for in a distant land? What did he throw in his native land? (M.Yu. Lermontov)

Pun

A pun is a special literary technique in which different meanings of the same word (phrases, phrases) that are similar in sound are used in one context.

The parrot says to the parrot: "Parrot, I will parrot you"
It was raining and my father and I
“Gold is valued by weight, and by pranks - by a rake” (D.D. Minaev)

Contamination

Contamination is the appearance of one new word by combining two others.

Pizza boy - pizza delivery boy (Pizza (pizza) + Boy (boy))
Pivoner - beer lover (Beer + Pioneer)
Batmobile - Batman's car (Batman + Car)

Streamlined Expressions

Streamlined expressions are phrases that do not express anything specific and hide the personal attitude of the author, veil the meaning or make it difficult to understand.

We will change the world for the better
Permissible losses
It's neither good nor bad

Gradations

Gradations are a way of constructing sentences in such a way that homogeneous words in them increase or decrease the semantic meaning and emotional coloring.

“Higher, faster, stronger” (J. Caesar)
Drop, drop, rain, downpour, that's pouring like a bucket
“He was worried, worried, went crazy” (F.M. Dostoevsky)

Antithesis

Antithesis is a figure of speech that uses a rhetorical opposition of images, states or concepts that are interconnected by a common semantic meaning.

“Now an academician, now a hero, now a navigator, now a carpenter” (A.S. Pushkin)
“Who was nobody, he will become everything” (I.A. Akhmetiev)
“Where the table was food, there is a coffin” (G.R. Derzhavin)

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a stylistic figure that is considered a stylistic mistake - it combines incompatible (opposite in meaning) words.

Living Dead
Hot Ice
Beginning of the End

So what do we see as a result? The amount of literary devices is amazing. In addition to those listed by us, one can name such as parcellation, inversion, ellipsis, epiphora, hyperbole, litote, periphrase, synecdoche, metonymy and others. And it is this diversity that allows any person to apply these techniques everywhere. As already mentioned, the “sphere” of the application of literary techniques is not only writing, but also oral speech. Supplemented with epithets, aphorisms, antitheses, gradations and other techniques, it will become much brighter and more expressive, which is very useful in mastering and developing. However, we must not forget that the abuse of literary techniques can make your text or speech pompous and by no means as beautiful as you would like. Therefore, you should be restrained and careful when applying these techniques so that the presentation of information is concise and smooth.

For a more complete assimilation of the material, we recommend that you, firstly, familiarize yourself with our lesson on, and secondly, pay attention to the writing style or speech of prominent personalities. There are a huge number of examples: from ancient Greek philosophers and poets to the great writers and orators of our time.

We will be very grateful if you take the initiative and write in the comments about what other literary techniques of writers you know, but which we did not mention.

We would also like to know if reading this material was useful for you?

The concept of "antithesis" comes from the ancient Greek term, consisting of two parts: "thesa", which means "position", and "anti" - "against". Putting them together, we get the "opposite", that is, the "opposite". The antithesis, the definition and examples of which we will present to you in this article, is the opposition of composition elements, characters, images, words. This is an artistic technique in literature, which allows the writers and poets who use it to characterize the characters more fully, to reveal the author's attitude to different sides of the depicted, as well as to the characters themselves.

Condition required for antithesis

The essential condition necessary for one to be able to speak of such a technique as antithesis (examples of which we will give below) is subordination to the general concept of opposites or some common point of view on them.

Such subordination does not have to be logically precise. For example, such proverbs as "Small spool, but expensive", "Rarely, but aptly", are constructed antithetically, although the concepts that are opposed in them cannot be called logically subordinate, such as, for example, "beginning" and "end", "light and darkness".

But in this context, they are considered as opposites because the words "small" and "rarely" are taken with a specification of the meaning in relation to the words "expensive" and "accurately" compared with them, taken in the direct meaning. Entering the antithesis, the tropes can hide even more its logical precision and clarity.

Verbal antithesis

There are many examples of this technique being used. Verbal antithesis occurs when certain phrases or words with opposite emotional coloring or meaning are combined in one sentence or in a poetic phrase.

Take, for example, an excerpt from a poem by A.S. Pushkin:

"The city is magnificent, the city is poor

The spirit of bondage, a slender appearance ... ".

In the first line here, the antithesis ("poor" - "magnificent") of the epithets matched to the word "city" expresses Alexander Sergeevich's idea of Petersburg, which is concretized in the second line by the antithesis of the corresponding epithets. Here, the external appearance of the city (in the text - "slender appearance") and the spiritual content of its life ("the spirit of bondage") are contrasted. In another poem by the same author, verbal antitheses are used to emphasize the inconsistency with the spirit of the "poor knight" of his appearance. It is said about this hero that he was "pale" and "twilight" in appearance, but "straight" and "bold" in spirit. Such opposition is a verbal antithesis. Examples of it in the literature are quite common.

An antithesis expressing complex emotional states

The antithesis serves to express not only the sides of the phenomenon and the object, as well as the author's emotionally colored attitude towards them, but also various complex emotional states. An example can be found in A.A. Blok in the poem "In the restaurant". The lyrical hero of the work met his beloved in the restaurant "impudently" and "embarrassedly", bowing with a "haughty look".

Often, various verbal antitheses are oxymorons. In other words, it is a combination of words that are opposite in meaning.

figurative antithesis

A figurative antithesis is a contrast that exists between two different images. It could be the characters in the story. Examples of antithesis from fiction are numerous: these are Lensky and Onegin, Molchalin and Chatsky, Stepan Kalashnikov and Kiribeevich, Pavel Petrovich and Bazarov, Napoleon and Kutuzov, and others. Pushkin's "Village"), in addition, to the disharmony of the hero's soul and universal harmony (Lermontov, "I go out alone on the road"), the image of free nature and the "dungeon" monastery (Lermontov, "Mtsyri"), etc. Figurative antithesis , examples of which we have just given, was a favorite technique of such a master of the style as Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.

Compositional antithesis

There is also such a variation of this technique as compositional antithesis. This is one of the principles on which literary works are built. Compositional antithesis is the opposition of various episodes and storylines, scenes in dramaturgy and epic, stanzas and fragments in lyrical poems. Take as an example the novel by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin "Eugene Onegin".

In it, in the third and fourth chapters, the failed relationship between Onegin and Tatiana is contrasted with the “happy love” of Lensky and Olga. In Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev's novel Fathers and Sons, the antithesis of two conflicts (love and ideological) allows us to understand the true meaning of the views and beliefs of the nihilist Yevgeny Bazarov, as well as the main reason why they collapsed. Other examples can be cited.

Antithesis from literature presented in lyric poems

This technique is also widely used in various lyrical poems. For Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, these are, for example, "Elegy", "Poet and Crowd", "Poet", "Village" (an example of antithesis in Alexander Sergeyevich's poems is the opposition of the slavery of the people and a peaceful landscape), "To Chaadaev". Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov - "Poet", "Sail", "Dream", "Dispute", "Gratitude", "Why", "January 1st", "Leaf", "To the portrait". Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov - "Reflections at the front door", "Railway" and others.

Antithesis is such a means of expressiveness that is often used in the Russian language and in Russian literature because of its powerful expressive capabilities. So, the antithesis of definition is such a device in artistic language when one phenomenon is opposed to another. Those who want to read about the antithesis of Wikipedia will certainly find various examples from poems there.

In contact with

I would like to define the concept of "antithesis", meaning. It is of great importance in the language, because it is such a technique that allows compare two opposites, for example, "black" and "white", "good" and "evil". The concept of this technique is defined as a means of expressiveness, which allows you to very vividly describe any object or phenomenon in poetry.

What is antithesis in literature

Antithesis is such an artistic pictorial and expressive means that allows you to compare one object with another on the basis of opposition. Usually, as an artistic medium, it is very popular with many contemporary writers and poets. But even in the classics you can find a huge number of examples. As part of the antithesis can be opposed in meaning or in their properties:

Two characters. This most often happens in cases where a positive character is opposed to a negative one;
Two phenomena or objects;
Different qualities of the same object (viewing the object from several aspects);
The qualities of one object are opposed to the qualities of another object.

Lexical meaning of trope

The technique is very popular in literature, because it allows you to most clearly express the essence of a particular subject with the help of opposition. Usually, such oppositions always look lively and figuratively, so poetry and prose that use the antithesis are quite interesting to read. She happens to be one of the most popular and well-known means of artistic expression of a literary text, whether it be poetry or prose.

The technique was actively used by the classics of Russian literature, and modern poets and prose writers are no less actively using it. Most often, the antithesis underlies opposition of two heroes of a work of art when a positive character is opposed to a negative one. At the same time, their qualities are deliberately demonstrated in an exaggerated, sometimes grotesque form.

The skillful use of this artistic technique allows you to create a vivid, figurative description of the characters, objects or phenomena found in a particular work of art (novel, story, story, poem or fairy tale). It is often used in folklore works (fairy tales, epics, songs and other genres of oral folk art). During the literary analysis of the text, it is necessary to pay attention to the presence or absence of this technique in the work.

Where can I find examples of antithesis

Antithesis-examples from literature can be found almost everywhere, in various genres of fiction, ranging from folk art (fairy tales, epics, tales, legends and other oral folklore) to the works of modern poets and writers of the twenty-first century. In connection with its peculiarities of artistic expressiveness, the technique is most often found in the following genres of fiction:

Poems;
Stories:
Fairy tales and legends (folk and author's);
Novels and stories. In which there are long descriptions of objects, phenomena or characters.

Antithesis as an artistic technique

As a means of artistic expression, it is built on the opposition of one phenomenon to another. The writer, who uses the antithesis in his work, chooses the most characteristic features of two characters (objects, phenomena) and tries to fully reveal them by opposing each other. The word itself, translated from ancient Greek, also means nothing more than “opposition”.

Active and appropriate use makes the literary text more expressive, lively, interesting, helps to most fully reveal the characters of the characters, the essence of specific phenomena or objects. This is the reason for the popularity of the antithesis in the Russian language and in Russian literature. However, in other European languages this means of artistic imagery is also used very actively, especially in classical literature.

In order to find examples of antithesis during the analysis of a literary text, one must first of all examine those fragments of the text where two characters (phenomena, objects) are not considered in isolation, but are opposed to each other from different points of view. And then it will be quite easy to find a reception. Sometimes the whole meaning of the work is built on this artistic device. It should also be borne in mind that the antithesis can be explicit, but it may also be hidden, veiled.

Finding a hidden antithesis in an artistic literary text is quite simple if you read and analyze the text thoughtfully, carefully. In order to teach how to correctly use the technique in your own literary text, you need to familiarize yourself with the most striking examples from Russian classical literature. However, it is not recommended to abuse it so that it does not lose its expressiveness.

Antithesis is one of the main means of artistic expression, widely used in the Russian language and in Russian literature. Reception can be easily found in many works of Russian classics. Modern writers also actively use it. Antithesis enjoys well-deserved popularity, because it helps to most clearly express the essence of individual heroes, objects or phenomena by contrasting one hero (object, phenomenon) with another. Russian literature without this artistic device is almost unthinkable.

) - rhetorical opposition of the text, a stylistic figure of contrast in artistic or oratory speech, consisting in a sharp opposition of concepts, positions, images, states, interconnected by a common structure or internal meaning.

Antithesis in literature

The figure of antithesis can serve as a principle of construction for entire poetic plays or separate parts of works of art in verse and prose. For example, Petrarch F. has a sonnet (translated by Verkhovsky Yu. N.), entirely built on the antithesis:

And there is no peace - and there are no enemies anywhere;
I fear - I hope, I freeze and burn;
I drag myself in the dust - and soar in the sky;
Alien to everyone in the world - and the world is ready to embrace.
She is in captivity of captivity, I do not know;
They do not want to own me, but the oppression is severe;
Cupid does not destroy and does not break the shackles;
And there is no end to life and torment - the edge.
I am sighted - without eyes; nem - I emit cries;
And the thirst for death - I pray to save;
I hate myself - and I love everyone else;
Suffering - alive; with laughter I sob;
Both death and life are sadly cursed;
And this is the fault, oh donna, - you!

Descriptions, characteristics, especially the so-called comparative ones, are often built antithetically.

For example, the characterization of Peter the Great in A.S. Pushkin's Stanzas:

Sharply shading the contrasting features of the compared members, the antithesis, precisely because of its sharpness, is distinguished by too persistent persuasiveness and brightness (for which the romantics loved this figure so much). Many stylists therefore treated the antithesis negatively, and on the other hand, poets with rhetorical pathos, such as Hugo or Mayakovsky, are noticeably fond of it:

Our strength is truth
yours - laurel ringing.
Yours is censer smoke,
ours is factory smoke.
Your power is a gold piece,
ours is a red banner.
We will take,
let's borrow
and we will win.

The symmetry and analytical nature of the antithesis make it very appropriate in some strict forms, as, for example, in the Alexandrian verse, with its clear division into two parts.

The sharp clarity of the antithesis also makes it very suitable for the style of works that strive for immediate persuasiveness, as, for example, in works that are declarative-political, with a social tendency, agitational or moralistic, etc. Examples are:

The antithetical composition is often observed in social novels and plays when contrasting the life of different classes (for example: The Iron Heel by J. London, The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, etc.); antithesis may underlie works depicting a moral tragedy (for example: Dostoevsky's The Idiot), etc.

In this social vein, the reception of antithesis was very peculiarly used by N. A. Nekrasov in the first poem from the “Songs” cycle:

People have something for cabbage soup - with a corned beef vat,
And we have something in the cabbage soup - a cockroach, a cockroach!
People have godfathers - they give children,
And our godfathers will come to our own bread!
People have on their minds to chat with their godmother,
And on our mind - would not go with the bag?

As an example of the use of antithesis in modern poetry, let's take Aydin Khanmagomedov's eight-line:

Again the feathered leader misses the summer
and, calling, will raise her friends.
Like children of two separated parents,
then they go north, then they go south.
They probably like the nomadic life,
time neither sits there nor here.
As if there is a native foreign land on earth,
and there is a foreign homeland.

Konstantin Kinchev (We are heading towards the forest):

Your symbol is the wind rose,
Mine is a rusty nail.
But for God's sake let's not find out
Which of us is a guest?

Notes

Links

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Synonyms:

Antonyms:

See what "Antithesis" is in other dictionaries:

Antithesis ... Spelling Dictionary

- (Greek αντιθεσις opposition) one of the methods of stylistics (see Figures), which consists in comparing specific ideas and concepts interconnected by a common structure or internal meaning. For example: "Who was nothing, he will become everything" ... Literary Encyclopedia

Antithesis- ANTITHESIS (Greek Αντιθεσις, opposition) a figure (see) consisting in a comparison of logically opposite concepts or images. An essential condition for antithesis is the subordination of opposites to a common concept that unites them, or ... ... Dictionary of literary terms

- (Greek antithesis, from anti against, and thesis position). 1) a rhetorical figure, which consists in placing a number of two opposite, but connected by a common point of view, thoughts to give them greater strength and liveliness, for example, in peacetime, a son ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

antithesis- uh. antithese f., lat. antithesis, c. 1. A rhetorical figure, consisting in the opposition of contrasting thoughts or expressions. Sl. 18. If Cicero himself lived in our time, he would not amuse Readers with antitheses on two or on ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

Contrast, opposition, opposition, contrast, juxtaposition. Ant. teza Dictionary of Russian synonyms. antithesis see opposite 2 Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical question… Synonym dictionary

- (from the Greek antithesis opposition), a stylistic figure, with or opposition of contrasting concepts, states, images (Beautiful, like an angel in heaven, Like a demon, insidious and evil, M.Yu. Lermontov) ... Modern Encyclopedia

- (from the Greek antithesis opposition) a stylistic figure, a comparison or opposition of contrasting concepts, positions, images (I am a king, I am a slave, I am a worm, I am a god!, G. Derzhavin) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- [te], antitheses, female. (Greek antithesis) (book). 1. Contrast, opposite. || Comparison of two opposing thoughts or images for greater strength and brightness of expression (lit.). 2. Same as antithesis (philosophical). Dictionary… … Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

- [te], s, female. 1. A stylistic figure based on a sharp opposition, opposition of images and concepts (special). Poetic a. "ice and fire" in "Eugene Onegin". 2. trans. Opposition, opposition (book). BUT.… … Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Female or antithesis masculine, Greek, orator. opposite, opposite, for example: there was a colonel became a dead man. Great man for small things. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dal. 1863 1866 ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

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Hello, dear readers of the blog site. Writers are armed with a lot of tools that make the story more expressive and vivid.

One of the most effective ways is antithesis. Today we will just talk about what it is, according to what principles they are compiled, and along the way we will give a lot of examples from literature and poetry.

Definition - what is it

This term came to Russian from Ancient Greece, and the word "antithesis" itself is translated as " opposition».

Antithesis is a stylistic device that consists in opposing directly opposite images, properties or actions. Serves to enhance the expressiveness of speech and more accurate transmission of thoughts and feelings.

Most simple examples antitheses can be:

Learning is light and ignorance is darkness
The smart one teaches, the fool gets bored
The quieter you go, the further you'll get
Easy to make friends, hard to part
The rich feast on weekdays, and the poor mourn on holidays

in literary works can be presented in several ways:

Contrasting two heroes or images, (see);
Contrasting various objects, states or phenomena;
Contrasting different qualities of one character or object;
Contrasting the properties of two different objects.

Examples of antitheses in prose literature

Built on antithesis even the names some famous works:

War and Peace (Tolstoy)
The Prince and the Pauper (Twain)
Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky)
Fathers and sons (Turgenev)
Wolves and sheep (Ostrovsky)
Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)

But in these works, the opposition is not only in the names, but also in content. So, Leo Tolstoy throughout the novel constantly compares the two poles - peace and enmity, good and evil. This is manifested both in the course of the story, when the author alternates scenes of peaceful life and battles, and in the character of some heroes, for example, Napoleon and Kutuzov or Helen and Natasha.

But Dostoevsky uses other methods. He "places the antitheses" inside one character. This is most clearly manifested in Raskolnikov, who before the crime was a good man, and then became a murderer, and his ideals and behavior changed accordingly.

And finally, Turgenev uses the conflict of generations and their views on life as an antithesis.

Examples in poetry

Comparison of opposites is often used by advertisers. With this technique, they create short, but memorable slogans.

We work, you relax (Indesit technique)
In the cold - warm, in the heat - cool (air conditioners "Samsung")
Easy to turn on, hard to stop (unlimited internet)

And even more often you can find slogans based on the opposition "minimum - maximum". For example, “minimum calories, maximum pleasure” (Coca-Cola light), “minimum space, maximum possibilities” (mobile phone), “minimum labor, maximum effect” (washing powder).

Instead of a conclusion

By the way, thanks to the antithesis, another trick appeared -. So called stable expressions that use words with completely opposite meanings. For example, "hot ice", "terribly beautiful", "living corpse", "bitter joy". You can read more about this on another page of our website.

Good luck to you! See you soon on the blog pages site

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