Highsmith, Carol M, photographer. An odd juxtaposition in Denver, Colorado: a popular ice cream stand in an oversized milk can, beneath a parking garage on which sits a local landmark, a neon sign for Olinger Mortuaries, whose location at this site isn't a mortuary any longer. It became a local restaurant called Linger, whose owner altered the neon to read “eatuaries” at night. Denver, Colorado, United States, 2016-07-09. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017885382/.
This source creates a joke for the viewer because of the juxtaposition of two very different signs. This image implies that eating ice cream leads to death. Meaning is implied in many images and texts by positioning two ideas next to one another. This is a device we can recognize and use in all sorts of media, and this image can be used in classrooms to teach this concept.
- An odd juxtaposition in Denver, Colorado: a popular ice cream stand in an oversized milk can, beneath a parking garage on which sits a local landmark, a neon sign for Olinger Mortuaries, whose location at this site is not a mortuary any longer. It became a local restaurant called Linger, whose owner altered the neon to read “eatuaries” at night.
In 2016, most people in the United States were more health-conscious than they might have been when either of these businesses was created. Ice cream is now seen as being bad for one’s health since it contains so much fat and sugar. This is why the juxtaposition of the sign for a mortuary is funny because in the eyes of most viewers in 2016, it suggests a cause/effect relationship—eat ice cream, and then die; if you patronize the first business in the photo, you will soon be a customer at the second one, too.
- What do you see in this image?
- What are the two images that are contrasting with each other in this image?
- What message or relationship is implied between the two signs because they are close together?
- How would the message change if the sign for the ice cream shop was to the right of the sign for the mortuary rather than it being on the left?
Alaska ELA standards Grades 9-12
Key Ideas and Details
1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as implicit inferences drawn from the text.
- The focus questions above lead students into analysis. And they can’t laugh at the image if they aren’t making an inference. This is a quick way to make the mental process of inference plain. These skills can then be more readily applied to other texts
Craft and Structure
5. Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, use literary devices appropriate to genre (e.g., foreshadowing, imagery, allusion or symbolism), order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
- By looking at juxtaposition in both the image and in poetry, students will readily see how the structure of a text creates meaning.
Students can go through the questions above to get a sense of how juxtaposition works to create meaning. From there, they can look for juxtaposition in poetry such as in Levi Romero’s poem “Juxtaposition.”
- How many contrasting images can they find in this one poem?
- What meaning is created by putting these contrasting images close together?
- Can they find more instances of juxtaposition in other texts or in other visual images? (See Additional References below.)
- It’s theoretically possible that someone might take exception to the implication that ice cream causes death. Is ice cream really the worst thing in the world that one can eat? It is certainly possible to argue that natural ice cream, eaten in moderation, is perhaps healthier than other heavily processed or chemical-laden foods.
Links to resources for approaching those topics
- What are the current US Dietary Guidelines (History of the Dietary Guidelines)? How and why have they changed over the years? Which foods might indeed be a stop on the way to a mortuary?
- Tipi with sign “American Indian Movement” on the grounds of the Washington Monument, Washington, D.C., during the “Longest walk] https://www.loc.gov/item/2011646498/. This image juxtaposes the Washington Monument with a tipi. Even though tipis are dwellings of the Plains Indians, not the people who originally inhabited the current site of Washington, DC, the juxtaposition of the tipi with the Washington Monument sends the message that the people who erected the Washington Monument are relatively recent immigrants to that land and that Indigenous people ought to have more of a say in politics.
- The juxtaposition of residential and industrial scenes in the tiny Gulf Coast settlement of Sabine Pass, Texas, https://www.loc.gov/item/2014630850. This image juxtaposes an industrial site with a boarded-up house. The combination of images implies that industry has made the area unlivable, possibly toxic.
- More examples of juxtaposition in poetry and analysis can be found here: https://poemanalysis.com/literary-device/juxtaposition/.
- More examples of juxtaposition in photographs can be found here:
“Juxtaposition in Photography: Definition, Tips, and Examples”
https://visualeducation.com/juxtaposition-in-photography/.