Analysing sentence structure in Critical ReadingJuxtaposition, contrast and oxymoron
In the first section of the National 5 Critical Reading assessment, you will be asked to comment on examples of language including sentence structure. Revise how to analyse sentence structure in this guide.
Writers can use metaphors and similes to make a comparison and show the similarity between different things. But they can also deliberately use contrasting words and ideas to make us pay attention to the differences. Techniques include:
Contrast: a difference between two or more people or things that you can see clearly when they are compared or put close together. For example, a character might seem even braver if contrasted to a cowardly character.
Juxtaposition: placing two things side by side so as to highlight their differences. Writers often juxtapose rich and poor, darkness and light, good and evil.
Oxymoron: a phrase that combines two words that seem to be the opposite of each other, for example a deafening silence or bittersweet. These unexpected phrases make us think and help to reveal deeper meanings.
Examples
All's fair in love and war This well-known proverb puts two seemingly very contradictory ideas (love and war) side-by-side to show they actually have something in common.
That is hot ice, and wonderous strange snow. We would expect ice to be very cold so it is an oxymoron.
