Compare the ways in which (at least) three writers use juxtaposition to convey their intended message. By Dense Law, Hou Hiu Wan, Jane Wong, Natalie Pang

1. JUXTAPOSITION
O

2. what is
JUXTAPO
OSITION?
Juxtaposition is a placement of
two words / descriptions / concepts
literally or figuratively next to each
other to present a comparison or
contrast

3. what is
JUXTAPO
OSITION?
Juxtaposition causes readers to
stop and reconsider the
meaning of the text through
contrasting images / ideas /
motifs

4. what is
JUXTAPO
OSITION?
Modernist poetry played
extensively with juxtaposing
images, inserting unrelated
fragments together to create
wonder and interest in readers

5. juxtaposition in
BISHOP,
PLATH,
FROST,
STEINBECK’S
selected works

6. JUXTAPOSITION
in
BISHOP’S
ork
w

7. SANDPIPER

9. SANDPIPER
juxtaposition in
The
power
&
The vast and large: immensity
of
the
“roaring alongside” surrounding
“bound to shake”
“Atlantic drains”
“Sea
of
Atlas”,
the
2nd
largest
of
world’s
oceanic
divisions

10. SANDPIPER
juxtaposition in
The vast and large:
“a sheet/of interrupting
water comes and goes/
and glazes over his dark Ability
to
encompass;
the
and brittle feet”
vastness
meets
the
sandpiper

11. SANDPIPER
juxtaposition in
The minute:
Small
parts
of
“watching his toes” the
body
“His beak is focused”
“spaces of sand
A
minute
focus
between them”
“grains”
The
smallest
parAcle
for
one
to
discern

12. SANDPIPER
juxtaposition in
Purpose and message:
To mark and address the coexistence
of the vast and the minute

13. SANDPIPER
juxtaposition in
Purpose and message:
Though the world is large and
encompassing, one can still observe
minute details, and find deeper
meaning in the minute

14. THE FISH

16. THE
juxtaposition in
FISH
Beauty:
“full-blown roses”
“fine rosettes of lime” A
romanAc
reading;
“like a big peony”
see
parts
of
the
fish
as
beauAful
elements
rather
than
ugly
fixtures

17. THE
juxtaposition in
FISH
Ugliness: A
grotesque
“speckled with image;
an
barnacles” existence
of
the
undesirable
“frightening gills,/fresh
and crisp with blood”

18. THE
juxtaposition in
FISH
Purpose and message:
The recognition of ironic beauty –
finding beauty in the ugly

19. THE
juxtaposition in
FISH
Purpose and message:
Finding beauty in the ugly becomes
Bishop’s revelation and victory –
“rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!”

20. JUXTAPOSITION
in
PLATH’S
ork
w

21. YOU’RE

23. YOU’RE
juxtaposition in
The pleasant:
“clownlike, happiest A
suggesAon
on your hands” of
clumsiness;
affecAonate
and
upliFing
descripAon
“my little loaf”
A
warm
image;
tone
of
affecAon
and
tenderness

24. YOU’RE
juxtaposition in
The pleasant: SuggesAon
of
a
potenAal
to
“snug as a bud bloom
in
beauty
and at home”
SuggesAon
of
comfort
and
security

25. YOU’RE
juxtaposition in
The less appealing:
“moon-skulled” A
darker
and
unseHling
image
“gilled like fish”
A
grotesque
image

26. YOU’RE
juxtaposition in
The less appealing:
“trawling your dark
as owls do”
Heaviness
in
image,
suggesAon
of
something
sinister

27. YOU’RE
juxtaposition in
Purpose and message:
The juxtaposition reflects Plath’s
ambivalent attitude towards
pregnancy and motherhood

28. JUXTAPOSITION
in
FROST’S
work

29. BIRCHES

31. juxtaposition in
BIRCHES
Truth versus imagination: The
persona
“I like to think some boy’s fantasizes
about
a
boy
bending
been swinging them./But the
branches.
swinging doesn’t bend
The
truth
behind
them down to stay/As ice the
bending
is
storms do”
the
ice-­‐storm

33. juxtaposition in
BIRCHES
Earth versus Heaven:
world of the treetops and above
earth below

34. juxtaposition in
BIRCHES
Earth versus Heaven:
EARTH
”It’s when I’m weary of Burdens;
difficulAes
and
considerations,/And life is drudgery
of
the
too much like a pathless everyday
wood”

35. juxtaposition in
BIRCHES
Dante’s
Inferno:
Earth versus Heaven: “I
found
myself
obscured
in
a
s when I’m weary of
EARTH
great
forest,/
nsiderations,/And life is too Bewildered,
and
I
knew
I
had
lost
uch like a pathless wood
the
way.”
Dante
firstly
reaches
upon
a
great
forest
in
his
journey
to
heaven.
Frost
describes
life
as
a
pathless
wood

36. juxtaposition in
BIRCHES
Earth versus Heaven:
HEAVEN
“I’d like to get
”Toward heaven”
away from earth
Swinging
and
climbing
away
awhile”
from
earth,
toward
the
ethereal,
transcendence

38. juxtaposition in
BIRCHES
Permanence versus impermanence:
“not to return” “swinger of birches”
Heaven
as
a
permanent
Swinging
to
experience
escape;
transcendence
a
temporary
escape;
as
a
final
desAnaAon
A
two
way
journey:
“good
both
going
and
coming
back”

39. juxtaposition in
BIRCHES
Purpose and message:
After presenting the two ends of the
spectrum, Frost chooses one end
over the other

40. BIRCHES
juxtaposition in
Purpose and message:
He rejects the true reason behind the
bending of the birches, favoring
imagination and escape, but…

41. juxtaposition in
BIRCHES
Purpose and message:
… on the other hand makes it clear
that a complete escape into heaven is
not desirable (favoring reality, earth)

42. juxtaposition in
BIRCHES
Purpose and message:
Resolution:
Earth as “the right place for love”
Life, an embodiment of imagination
holds a potential for liberation

43. JUXTAPOSITION
in
STEINBECK’S
work

44. The
Chrysanthemums

46. The
juxtaposition in
Chrysanthemums
Entrapment/suffocation:
“on every side it sat like a
The
landscape
lid on the mountains and harbors
a
macro
made of the great valley a sense
of
suppression
closed pot”

47. The
juxtaposition in
Chrysanthemums
Hope:
“positive yellow flowers”
“there’s a glowing there”
SuggesAon
of
glimmer
of
hope

49. The
juxtaposition in
Chrysanthemums
Strength :
“terrier fingers”
Strength
and
power
in
“over-eager, over exhibited
in
Elisa’s
powerful” hands
and
movements

50. The
juxtaposition in
Chrysanthemums
Vulnerability:
“she was crying Tears
as
sign
of
weakly-like an weakness;
vulnerability
is
old woman” demonstrated
in
Elisa’s
behavior

51. The
juxtaposition in
Chrysanthemums
Purpose and message:
Steinbeck presents Elisa as a
complex character who possesses
both strength and vulnerability

52. The
juxtaposition in
Chrysanthemums
Purpose and message:
While her vulnerability may mark her
predetermined or self-imposed role
as a housewife, her strength marks
her potential to be a liberated woman

53. The
juxtaposition in
Chrysanthemums
Purpose and message:
The juxtaposition of natural elements
in the setting helps to establish a
macro sense of suppression with the
presence of a possibility, or a spark of
hope for Elisa

54. comparison of
writers’ usage of juxtaposition in
selected works

55. Use of juxtaposition to Use of juxtaposition
EMPHASIZE on the t o m a r k t h e
subject of greater CONTRADICTION
s i g n i f i c a n c e a n d E N I G M AT I C
nature of the subject
of discussion

56. BISH
OP
Use of juxtaposition to EMPHASIZE on
the subject of greater significance
Sandpiper
× let life be frittered
away by greatness
and complexity
find treasures in
particularities
The
vastness
The
minute,
and
the
treasures
found

57. BISH
OP
Use of juxtaposition to EMPHASIZE on
the subject of greater significance
The Fish
The ability to see
beauty in ugliness is
one thing worthy of
celebration
Beauty
–
part
of
Ugliness
her
revelaAon
and
victory

58. FRO
S T
Use of juxtaposition to EMPHASIZE on
the subject of greater significance
Birches
Earth is the better
place for love
Being a swinger of
birches is the best
place one could be in
Truth
ImaginaAon
Heaven
Earth
Permanent
escape
Temporary
escape

59. PLAT
H
Use of juxtaposition to mark the
CONTRADICTION and ENIGMATIC
nature of the subject of discussion
You’re
Ambivalence
towards pregnancy
and motherhood
Pleasant
Less
appealing

60. STE
INBE
CK
Use of juxtaposition to mark the
CONTRADICTION and ENIGMATIC
nature of the subject of discussion
The Chrysanthemums
Entrapment
Hope
Strength
Vulnerability

61. THANK YOU
O