How to Write a Juxtaposition
In order to use juxtaposition,
- Think of one thing which has a characteristic you want to highlight or challenge.
- Juxtapose that thing or idea against something remarkably different from it.
Let’s see if we can use the tips to create juxtaposition.
1. For example, imagine that you are amazed with how delicious a new restaurant’s food is.
- Subject and Characteristic:
Restaurant and fantastically delicious entrée
- Subjects to juxtapose:
Your usual meals at home: ramen noodles with hot sauce
- Sentence using Juxaposition:
My entrée was beef tenderloin grilled over mesquite charcoal topped with gorgonzola butter and finished with a demi-glaze reduction of Tempranillo—it made a joke of my typical dinner of ramen noodles with hot sauce!
The juxtaposition of an in-depth description of a complicated and tasty entrée against a simple and uninteresting microwave meal highlights just how fantastic the entrée was.
2. For another example, imagine you have a friend who is painfully shy.
- Subject and Characteristic:
Friend and shyness
- Subject to juxtapose:
Another friend with great social skills
- Sentence using Juxtaposition:
Michaela was just fine at the party—socializing, dancing, and laughing—but Anne stood completely still in the corner, as if she were absolutely terrified!
The juxtaposition of Michaela as the social butterfly with Anne, the wallflower, serves to highlight just how remarkably shy Anne is.
When to Use Juxtaposition
Because juxtaposition is used to compare two distinct things, it may be used in any situation in order to encourage such comparisons. Juxtaposition is appropriate and advantageous to use in speeches, poetry and prose, advertisements, movies, television shows, and songs.
Because juxtaposition often promotes views of different things as uniquely different, it should not be used if the intention is to prove how similar two things are. For instance, imagine a girl is insecure about her plain dress for prom in a room full of other girls dressed in intricate and flamboyant gowns. Pointing out the details of others’ gowns would only increase her insecurity, whereas focusing simply on the beautiful aspects of her own gown would make her feel better.