Question

Read the descriptions below. • Not often in the story of mankind does a man arrive on earth who is both steel and velvet, who is as hard as rock and soft as drifting fog, . . . (paragraph 1 of the speech)

• Great he was—so great that he rose above the greatest that he met without arrogance; and so great that he stooped to the lowest without conscious condescension. (paragraph 1 of the eulogy)
Which technique is used for effect in both descriptions?

Question 1 options:

contrasting images
literary allusions
understated claims
familiar symbols

Answer 1

The answer is: contrasting images.

Contrasting means differing strikingly or in opposition to.

In the first description, the man is portrayed as representing "both steel and velvet," which means that he is as hard and strong as an alloy of carbon and iron, and as soft as velvet at the same time. In the second writing, the man is depicted as being both intensely exceptional and incredibly modest, without the least feeling of superiority.