Editing Antithesis (section)

== Rhetorical antithesis ==
In [[rhetoric]], antithesis is a figure of speech involving the bringing out of a contrast in the [[idea]]s by an obvious contrast in the [[word]]s, [[clause]]s, or [[sentence (linguistics)|sentences]], within a parallel grammatical structure.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Antithesis|volume=2|pages=146-147}}</ref>

The term "antithesis" in rhetoric goes back to the 4th century BC, for example Aristotle, ''[[Rhetoric (Aristotle)|Rhetoric]]'', 1410a, in which he gives a series of examples.

An antithesis can be a simple statement contrasting two things, using a parallel structure:

*I defended the Republic as a '''young man'''; I shall not desert her now that I am '''old'''. ([[Cicero]], ''2nd Philippic'', 2.118)

Often there is a double antithesis, as in the following proverb, where "man" is opposed to "God", and "proposes" is contrasted with "disposes":

*'''Man proposes''', '''God disposes'''. (anonymous)

Another type is of the form "not A, but B" (negative-positive), in which the point made is emphasised by first being contrasted with its negative:

*I came not to bring '''peace''' but a '''sword'''. ([[Gospel of Matthew|St Matthew's Gospel]], 10:34)

Another type involves an [[antimetabole]] (AB, BA word order), in which the contrasted words switch places:

*In '''peace''' you long for '''war''', and in '''war''' you long for '''peace'''.
*Two things show feebleness of mind: '''holding your breath''' at the time for '''speaking''', and '''speaking''' when you should be '''silent'''. ([[Saadi Shirazi|Saadi]])

The negative-positive antithesis and the antimetabole-antithesis can be combined, as in the following sentence:
*Ask not what '''your country''' can do for '''you''' – ask what '''you''' can do for '''your country'''. – [[Inauguration of John F. Kennedy]], 1961.

An antithesis can also be combined with synonymous [[Parallelism (rhetoric)|parallelism]]. In the following example, the first (A, A') and second couplet (B, B') are parallel synonymously with the same adverb and verb combination distinguishing the couplets: "still do"/"still be"//"still do"/"still be." An antithesis is formed with line A contrasting "evil" with "right" in line B.  Line A' contrasts the "filthy" with the "holy" in line B'.<ref>Craig R. Koester, 2014. Revelation (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014), 853.</ref>
::•	A Let the evildoer still do evil, 
::•	A' and the filthy still be filthy,
::•	B and the righteous still do right. 
::•	B' and the holy still be holy (Revelation 22:11).

Twentieth-century rhetorician [[Kenneth Burke]] discusses the rhetorical aesthetic and stylistic effects of antithesis in one of the most referenced passages of ''A Rhetoric of Motives'', one of his most famous works. In that book, Burke describes how antithesis can invite people to hold an "attitude of collaborative expectancy"<ref>Burke, Kenneth. ''A Rhetoric of Motives''. University of California Press, 1969. p. 58.</ref> through the rhetorical aesthetic principle of form.<ref>Slater, Jarron. "Attitudes of Collaborative Expectancy: Antithesis, Gradatio, and A Rhetoric of Motives, Page 58." ''Rhetoric Review'' 37.3 (2018): 247-258.</ref>

=== Some literary examples ===
Some other examples of antithesis are:

* Give '''every''' man '''thy ear''', but '''few''' thy '''voice'''. ([[William Shakespeare]], ''[[Hamlet]]'')
* For '''many''' are '''called''', but '''few''' are '''chosen.''' ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22%3A14&version=RSVCE Matthew 22:14])
* Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing '''great''' or '''small''', '''large''' or '''petty''', never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. (by [[Winston Churchill]])
* It was the '''best''' of times, it was the '''worst''' of times, it was the age of '''wisdom''', it was the age of '''foolishness''', it was the epoch of '''belief''', it was the epoch of '''incredulity''', it was the season of '''Light''', it was the season of '''Darkness''', it was the '''spring of hope''', it was the '''winter of despair''', we had '''everything''' before us, we had '''nothing''' before us, we were all going direct to '''Heaven''', we were all going direct the '''other way'''... ([[Charles Dickens]], ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'')
* We must learn to '''live together''' as '''brothers''' or '''perish together''' as '''fools'''. ([[Martin Luther King Jr.]], speech at [[St. Louis]], 1964.)
* The world will little note, nor long remember '''what we say here''', but it can never forget '''what they did here'''. ([[Abraham Lincoln]], [[The Gettysburg Address]], 1863.)
* He who desires '''peace''', should prepare for '''war'''. ([[Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus|Vegetius]], ''Epitoma Rei Militaris'', book 3, introduction.)
* For '''now''' we see in a mirror dimly, but '''then''' face to face. '''Now''' I know in part; '''then''' I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. (St Paul, 1st Epistle to the Corinthians 13:12, Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition)
* My '''men''' have become '''women''', and my '''women''', '''men'''. (King [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]] at the [[Battle of Salamis]] (480 BC), according to [[Herodotus]] 8.88.3)
* Senator, in everything I said about Iraq '''I''' turned out to be '''right''' and '''you''' turned out to be '''wrong'''. ([[George Galloway]] at a US Senate hearing, May 2005.)<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4557279.stm BBC News online, 17 May 2005].</ref>
* I'm not saying that '''this or that statue''' was stolen from there; I'm saying this, that you, Verres, left '''not one single statue''' in Aspendus. ([[Cicero]], ''In Verrem'', 2.1.53.)
* I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the '''color of their skin''' but by the '''content of their character'''. ([[Martin Luther King Jr.]], 1963.)
* For contemplation he and valour formed, For softness she and sweet attractive grace; He for God only, she for God in him. (John Milton, Paradise Lost)