Understanding Irony: Types, Examples, and Applications, Study notes of English Literature

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Irony.

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What is Irony?

Irony is about expectations.

Irony occurs, plainly put, when the opposite of what is expected happens.

Verbal Irony.

Verbal irony occurs when a character says one thing but means the opposite.

Verbal irony is also called sarcasm or being sarcastic.

Verbal Irony.

Examples.

Middle school students smell especially good on days when they have conditioning.

Awesome! We get to learn about irony!

Situational Irony.

Examples. Just before he was shot, General Sedgwick proclaimed, “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.”

Today, Bill Gates was observed at Starbucks using an iPhone.

Dramatic Irony.

Dramatic irony occurs when the reader understands more about the events of a story than a character. Dramatic irony is, therefore, when you know something that a character does not.

Components of Irony.

Sarcasm: saying the opposite of what is meant for humorous or cruel intent

Ambiguity: having the property of being able to be understood in more than one way

Subtlety: the quality of being difficult to understand or perceive

Contradiction: a situation where circumstances are inconsistent or contrary to each other

Review.

Something that is ironic is so because it is unexpected.

• If unexpected by a character , it is dramatic.
• If unexpected by everyone , it is situational.
• If it is sarcasm , it is verbal.

IRONY: which type?

• A couple appears in court to finalize a divorce, but during the proceeding, they reconcile and decide to remarry instead.

IRONY: which type?

• Romeo and Juliet are secretly married, but her parents insist that she should marry Paris. Juliet tries to fake her death in order to run off with Romeo, but, being a typical teenager, neglects to tell Romeo about her plan. She becomes unconscious after drinking a sleeping potion given to her by the apothecary Friar Lawrence. When Romeo discovers Juliet, he thinks that she is dead, not knowing that she is merely unconscious. He consumes poison and kills himself.

IRONY: which type?

• On Friday night, Jim leaves with friends to watch a basketball game but when he arrives, there is a volleyball tournament going on instead. The basketball game is actually on Saturday night.

IRONY: which type?

• Dwight is seated at his desk working diligently when Jim sneaks up behind him silently. Jim, a great prankster, is dressed as a bear. Dwight is known to practice karate in case of bear attacks, and he takes bear attacks quite seriously, but Jim does not know this. Everyone in the office sees Jim about to “scare” Dwight out of his wits, but says nothing.

IRONY: which type?

• “Clear your desks,” says the teacher. “All you need is a pen.” The teacher then passes out clean sheets of college ruled loose leaf paper. “Please put a proper MLA heading at the tops of your paper,” the teacher continues, “and number your paper 1 – 10.” The students seem anxious and are oddly quiet. “Now,” says the teacher, “write down ten things you would like me to buy you at the mall this weekend.”

IRONY: which type?

• There is a massive, complicated assignment that is due today, and the teacher asks students to place them in the green box. All of the students turn in their work on time, in good order, correctly done, and without making a fuss of any kind or asking any repetitive questions.