Copying The Formula

Worksheet Description

This Antithesis Worksheet is designed to exercise a student’s ability to create statements using the literary device of antithesis, which involves juxtaposing contrasting ideas in a parallel structure. The worksheet presents the students with well-known examples of antithetical phrases from figures like Muhammad Ali, Patrick Henry, and Goethe. It instructs students to craft their own phrases following the pattern of these examples, hence deepening their understanding of how contrasting ideas can coexist within a single statement to create a striking or thought-provoking effect.

In the first part of the worksheet, students are asked to generate phrases using the template provided by Ali’s famous quote about a butterfly and a bee, reflecting on the lightweight grace versus the sharp impact of the bee. This is followed by the challenge to conceive a dichotomy as potent as the one in Henry’s impassioned cry for liberty or death. Lastly, students mirror Goethe’s observation of the difference between the ideal and the real, encouraging them to reflect on abstract versus tangible concepts. Through this activity, students not only engage with historical examples of powerful rhetoric but also practice formulating their own impactful antithetical sentences, thereby honing a crucial skill for effective writing and communication.