Juxtaposition.  Isn’t that just the most amazing word?  It looks intriguing and sounds the same.  I think it’s the “x.”  The official dictionary.com definition calls it a noun and defines it as “an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.”

I guess that’s consistent with what I understood the word to mean, but I always believed it was more dramatic than that.  More like, unexpected items or events being placed near one another.  Like the strip joint next to the church.  Perhaps the two have more in common than most people are willing to admit, but that’s because they appear to be so diametrically opposed in goals and clientele.

I think juxtaposing happens more randomly in real life, but I look for ways to use it in fiction.