Antithesis

Antithesis 
> a phrase using opposite or contrasting ideas.

The use of antithesis gives a sense of balance between two different ideas or elements.
A famous example is:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way"

I personally think that the best use of antithesis within this quote is "we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way" because the mention of 'the other way' ends the section on an unnerving feeling. Dickens never actually mentions 'hell' but instead implies of a darker version of heaven, this makes the reader question what they naturally think especially because heaven and 'the other way' are so opposite.