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Juxtaposition

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A literary device placing contrasting ideas, images, or tones in close proximity to highlight their differences.

Detailed Definition
Juxtaposition: The poetic placement of contrasting images, ideas, or tones in close proximity to generate tension, irony, or new meaning through implicit comparison, a foundational technique in Imagism and modernist poetry.
Example
Example in poetry:
Eliot juxtaposes “ragged claws” with “Prufrock’s tea parties” in “The Love Song”; Dickinson juxtaposes “a funeral in my brain” with domestic stillness; Neruda juxtaposes ocean vastness with intimate love in “Ode to My Socks”; Haiku often juxtapose seasons and emotions: “old pond—frog leaps—splash”; Plath juxtaposes nursery rhymes with Holocaust imagery in “Daddy”
Additional Notes
Placing contrasting elements side by side to highlight differences. Fundamental poetic technique. Creates tension, irony, or revelation through proximity. Related to antithesis but broader. Essential to metaphor and comparison.
Also Known As
Side-by-side placement Contrast positioning Adjacent comparison Neighboring elements Contrast Juxtaposed Elements
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