Oxymoron


 * || __//Oxymoron//__
 * || __//Oxymoron//__

**Definition::** An **oxymoron** (plural **oxymorons** or **oxymora**) is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms. Oxymorons appear in a variety of contexts, including inadvertent errors such as //ground pilot// and literary oxymorons crafted to reveal a paradox..

Random examples of __oxymoron__:

1) The //deafening silence// filled the room. 2) Halloween is the night of the //living dead//. 3) Don't be a //moving statue//, dive for the ball!


 * Oxymorons are often surprising in that the contradiction illustrates some wisdom or unexpected truth. This may be done deliberately to put over a message or create some other dramatic effect.
 * Oxymorons can also be used to create confusion, and so grab attention, distract the listener or give a moment of inattention in which persuasive words may be added.
 * Sometimes fun is poked at legitimate terms by describing them as oxymorons, such as 'military intelligence' and 'government initiative'.
 * From Greek ὀξύμωρον, "sharp dull"

(Definition and bullet items are taken from changingminds.org)


 * Examples** from text:

1) We see an example of this device in A Rose for Emily. Faulkner is describing the house that Miss Emily Grierson lived and died in.

"It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the **//heavily lightsome//** style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street."

2.) Another example of an oxymoron from "Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. Mrs. Mallard is thinking about how she feels towards the news of husband's death.

"She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a //**monstrous joy**// that held her."

3) The Masque of the Red Death Edgar Allen Poe The prince's name, Prospero, generally denotes prosperity and a good, long life. The Prince possesses these characteristics yet is faced with a plague that he built a fortified castle to avoid. This oxymoron use of the Prince's name is used to hint that this man of prosperity will soon be faced with tragedy. 

Kelli Holland ||