Contrasts

Contrasts are where the author puts two opposing (opposite) ideas together to make the difference seem even bigger. There are a few different reasons they might do this. Look at the example below:

• Politicians are claiming expenses for fancy meals while homeless people are freezing to death on the streets.

The author here is contrasting the idea of politicians spending a lot of money on expensive meals against the idea of homeless people not even having anywhere to sleep at night. Think about the effect of putting these two things together. Whilst these two things on their own seem like a normal (but terrible) part of everyday life, once you put the two together it seems totally unacceptable. A sense of shock is also created at just how different the lives of the homeless and politicians are.

The author uses a contrast in the statement, "Politicians are claiming expenses for fancy meals while homeless people are freezing to death on the streets." In this sentence, the author is taking the idea of politicians having a luxury lifestyle with "fancy meals" and opposing it with the idea of homeless people literally "freezing to death" because they have nowhere to live. The author does this to create a sense of shock and disgust towards the politicians. The author might also be trying to make us think about the situation and whether or not it's acceptable.