Black fishnets and white snow

In class we talked about a couple of ways juxtaposition of tone and subject creates an emotion, or tension, between what and how something is said. In the opening of Middlesex the narrator lays bare pithy issues ranging from gender identity, rebirth, and social alienation in a detached and journalistic voice, yet in Madeleine is Sleeping we see simple images of sleep and the human figure portrayed through highly dramatic language.

How do you see juxtaposition appear in your own work? It could be between two images portrayed, between images and tone, setting and dialogue, for instance. What kind of tension is created by your use of juxtaposition? And how does that tension serve to drive your piece forward?

Schedule updates:
We're spending the 2/6 class finishing up workshopping our first two pages. Be ready having read Ruby for group discussion on 2/13.

To recap the homework for this week:

1. Send me the titles and authors of the books you chose to model for your first two pages, or post them on the blog yourself. If you send a link to the books themselves, I'll post that too!
   
2. Write a rambling, informal letter to Elmaz and Emily on what you want your thesis to be about by Friday 2/2.
   
3. Breathe.
   
4. Read and write comments on the first two pages submitted by your classmates. This can either be notes in the margins and/or a short written critique, however you are so inspired.
   
5. Maybe start reading Ruby for the 2/13 class.
   
6. Are you still breathing? Phew.