The antithesis is a stylistic resource in which oppose two terms that are contrary or complementary. Two phrases, phrases or verses can be contrasted in which the ideas of meaning are opposed or opposed.
In the antithesis the most subjective and indefinite impressions are proposed that oppose each other.
The term antithesis has Greek origin and is formed by the root"anti"which expresses"against"and"thesis"meaning"position", therefore, the antithesis is the opposition or contrariety of 2 statements.
The antithesis is not only used in the literature, but can also be used in philosophy. It is used as a refutation resource for an idea.
It can be defined as a counter-affirmation to a previous proposition. To introduce an antithesis is usually used the expressions"but","however"or"to the contrary".
The antithesis as a stylistic resource establishes a balance of opposing qualities. One must be careful not to confuse the antithesis with paradox or oxymoron.
The paradox unites two contradictory ideas, and the oxymoron is the contradiction of two words that are united.
Outstanding examples of antitheses
1-A small step for a man, a great step for humanity.
2-"Love is so short and so long forgetfulness." Pablo Neruda
3-Give me freedom or give me death
4-Men are from Mars and the women from Venus
5-In my loneliness I go
I come from my solitudes
Where I live and where I die
I'm not good or bad with me
6-My harness is the weapons,
My rest, fighting
My bed, the hard rocks
My sleep always watch
7-I veil when you sleep
I cry when you sing
8-Before the vice of asking, the virtue of not giving
9-I try hard to forget you and I do not want to remind you
10-This love deeper than the sea, can reach the sky and follow
11-How fast is the time
And that cuts off your glance,
How close is it to you?
And so far to have you
12-The worst loneliness is to feel only being accompanied.
13-My rest is to fight
14-Eat to live or live to eat
15-This warm winter
16-There are loves that kill
17-I am an atheist, thank God
18-In my solitudes I go,
I come from my solitudes
Where I live and where I die
I'm not good or bad with me
He will say that I am
Because in him and * in me * I contemplate
Some by letter of more,
Others by letter of less
The own and others
The silver the strangers,
And our copper
Middle-Above Romans,
Half-down rosemary
Of the mighty great
Avenged the small ones
Without being poor and being rich
Nor did they murmur of the great,
Nor offended the little one
19-You are like the rose of Alexandria, open at night and close by day.
20-The ice fire
21-The cold of your mind warms the heart.
22-Children go for the sun and women for the moon.
23-When I want to cry I do not cry, and sometimes I cry without meaning to.
24-Love is so short and oblivion so long.
25-It hurts like own the other's scar
26-All my life is yesterday
27-That stops me in the past
28-Eternal and old youth
I speak of that untimely lover who is called loneliness
If I am night, you are cold
If I am life, you are agony
If I am crying, you are laughing
29-Eternal life only lasts for a while
30-I would like to give you a little more than I ask
31-Love me like lovers hate
32-The sweet taste of memory, bitter taste in my dreams
33-The cost of living rises again, the weight that falls, no longer seen
34-To emphasize that I am alive among so many dead
35-I will dream only because I have fallen asleep
I will not wake up because the sun rises
I know how to cry every time I laugh
36-As hard as he tried, he was determined to learn
At last he recognized that evil did not suit him
37-That sweeten the salt
38-Laugh again at that end in which the good ends badly
39-The fire that existed is turned on and off
40-The great thing is in the small details
41-If you are imperceptible, if remote
I soft, easy, elegant and pure;
As clear as I write you are dark
The valley is plain and intricate the soto
42-My weapons are weapons,
My rest, fighting,
My bed, the hard rocks
My sleep, always watch
43-Among thorns are usually born fine roses
Between beautiful flowers
And in pots of sweet-smelling Labradors
44-When I want to cry I do not cry
And sometimes I cry unintentionally
45-Yesterday he was king of Spain,
Today I am not from a village;
Yesterday villas and castles,
Today none possessed;
Yesterday I had servants
And people who served me;
I do not have a battlement today
That you can say it's mine
46. In the sentence of reparation,
Because they leave the pen and the punishment
Dark eraser and clear verse
47-Give me something sweet baby
I make it bitter
48-Everything I did not learn has never been forgotten
I have not lost my mind and I have not found it either
49-The triumph was to lose,
The defeat was to win,
Get what you are looking for
Can be the worst
50-It was a dream yesterday; Tomorrow will land!
Shortly before, nothing, and shortly afterwards, smoke!
References
- Dictionary of literary terms . Alianza Editorial, SA, 1996.
- MORALES, Leonidas. Literary figures, cultural ruptures: modernity and traditional cultural identities . PEHUÉN EDITORES LIMITADA, 1993.
- ROQUE, Consuelo. Methods of analysis, techniques and literary figures. Printed Masatli, 5th ed. San Salvador , 2000.
- FERNÁNDEZ, Pelayo Hipólito. Stylistics: style, stylistic figures, tropes . J. Porrúa Turanzas, 1979.
- BARRIENTOS, José Luis García; Luis Jose. The rhetorical figures . Arch Books, 1998.
- GALIANA, Antonio Azaustre. Parallelism and syntax of style in the prose of Quevedo . University of Santiago de Compostela, Publications and Scientific Exchange Service, 1996.
- ROIG, Mercedes Díaz. The Romance and Modern Folk Lyric . The Colegio de México, 1976.