Unit 8 · Poetry III

Juxtaposition ● (core concept) — Setting two elements side by side so their differences stand out. Contrasts often result from juxtapositions (or shifts), and a juxtaposition may create or demonstrate an antithesis.

Antithesis ● (core concept) — The direct opposition of ideas — contrast pushed to its sharpest form. A juxtaposition may create or demonstrate an antithesis.

Situational irony ● (core concept) — Irony built from events: what happens runs counter to what readers expected — or to what the text itself had led them to expect.

Verbal irony ● (core concept) — Irony built from statements: what is said is inconsistent with what readers expected — or with what the text itself had led them to expect.

Paradox ● (core concept) — Opposites held together in one place — a contradiction that may or may not resolve, but that opens up some hidden or unexpected idea.

Ambiguity ● (core concept) — Language or situations open to more than one reading, so that different readers can understand the text differently.

Conceit ● (core concept) — A poetry-typical extended metaphor: an elaborate, often startling or paradoxical comparison — frequently linking the natural world to a person — built out of images, concepts, and associations.