An oxymoron is when two opposite, contradictory things are placed next to each other in a sentence, creating a meaning that seems counter-intuitive. For example, in Farenheit 451, it says "Books are meant to be informative, but they are illegal because they are informative." This is an oxymoron because the purpose of the books themselves makes them illegal. Another example is: "The firefighters start the fires." This is an oxymoron because firefighters are supposed to put fires out, rather than start them.
