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The first principle of highlighting anything in any work of art is contrast. If you want a white dot to stand out, you put it on a black wall. If you want a high note to stand out, contrast it with...
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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31004 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31004 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
The first principle of highlighting anything in any work of art is contrast. If you want a white dot to stand out, you put it on a black wall. If you want a high note to stand out, contrast it with a low one. If you want a character to appear more saintly, compare their conduct to that of a sinner. Antithesis is simply maximum contrast. Instead of light grey and dark grey, it is black and white. Instead of naughty or nice, it is angel and devil. Stories ultimately revolve around choices, and particularly around great choices that are made at significant cost. The impact of the choice can be heightened by making it a choice between one value and its antithesis. This is a choice without compromise. The problem with such extreme contrast, though, it that it seldom occurs in nature. Most choices are not between unalloyed good and unalloyed evil, and even where such choices exist, they are not the most interesting choices. Employing such an extreme level of contrast, therefore, is a very powerful tool that has to be use sparingly in order to be effective.