Irony

1. Irony All is not what it seems!

2. Irony- A contrast between what is expected and what really happens or exists.

3. Types of irony based on incongruity • Paradox- seeming contradiction • Statement: the joining of two seemingly contradictory statements or images. • Situation: the joining together of unexpected or contrasting events. • simply irony- a contrast between what is reasonable to expect and what actually happens • dramatic irony- a contrast between what characters in a work know and what the reader or audience knows

4. Types of irony based on incongruity • Pretense- the intentional use of irony to emphasize something other than what is being expressed. • Simple verbal irony- language that means something other than what it actually states • Sarcasm- mock praise • Hyperbole- overstatement • Understatement- saying less than the intended meaning, saying something by denying its opposite

5. Verbal irony based on ambiguity • Intentionally blending or obscuring meaning; uncertain statements that appear to have several possible meanings. • Foreshadowing- prophetic statement, a hint as to what may or may not follow • Pun-the use of a word or phrase in order to convey more than one meaning • Satire- corrective ridicule in literature, usually involves mockery

6. “The Golf Links Lie Near the Mill” • Situational irony • The men are playing and the children are working. • The purpose is to arouse indignation against the industrialists and government officials who are abusing children and allowing child labor.

7. “Earth” • Speaker- Martian astronomer • Situational irony • The people are smart enough to find a way to stupidly blow the world up. (Intelligently stupid) • Man’s survival depends upon more than his technological advances.

8. “A Special Occasion” • Situational Irony • Ironic incident demonstrated in their facial expressions • The nurse is attempting to understand the children’s behavior from an adult perspective. • Do you ever attempt to look at something from another’s perspective?

9. “Letter from a West Texas Constituent” • Satire using LOTS of verbal irony • Fictional writer • Attempting to make a statement against the government farm subsidy policies • Ironic- the man NOT working is making more money NOT working than he did working. • Real situation with mock seriousness

10. “A Considerable Speck” • Hyperbole- exaggerating a trivial incident. • Situational irony • The speck (mite) wants to live and thereby shows intelligence and how imagination wants to live. • Satire against mindless writing- To him, his speck is smarter than lots of the people that write “creatively”

11. “Scylla Toothless” • Scylla talks too much! • Hyperbole • She talked so much that she wore her teeth out. • The point- some people talk so much unnecessarily • End rhyme for emphasis

12. “At the Aquarium” • Who is watching who? Both • Both groups are wandering around looking at each other. • Reversal of position • Couplets or pairings for emphasis • Who is captive? Who is lost or wandering?

13. “A Germ Destroyer” • Dramatic Irony • Not coincidence • Understatement • Paradox- “hard man with a soft manner” • Verbal irony- “bore”

14. “Yet If His Majesty, Our Sovereign Lord” • Paradox • Situational irony • How do we prepare for the visit of a king? • Yet, But …why does the author do this?