Unit #5
Irony and Ambiguity
Questions
 What comes to mind when you hear the words irony and ambiguity?
 Can you think of a story or movie that included irony?
 Is irony vital for every good story?
 After discussing what makes these movies
ironic, can we come up with a definition?
Irony
 Definition: contradiction of expectations and some sort of discrepancy or
incongruity.
 Not just sarcasm or belittling and not always funny.
 Far more complex!!!
 Purpose: Meant to convey truth about a human experience by exposing some
incongruity of a character’s behavior or a society’s traditions.
 Operating through subtle indirection
3 Types of Irony
 Verbal
 Speaker says the opposite of intention
 When a speaker uses words contradictory to what's expected.
 “You sure can pick em’” or “You’re a smart one”
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiR-bnCHIYo
 Dramatic
 Contrast between what character says/thinks and what readers know to
be true
 Read is aware of what is in store but the character is not
 Little Red Riding Hood, Interstellar, Romeo and Juliet, Breaking Bad
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZFYuX84n1U
 Situational
 When a situation is expected to happen one way occurs in a contradictory
form
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqg6RO8c_W0&list=PL_ldIRvzME0u39iZL4YlsFNqd_PxAUff
Ambiguity
 Definition: offers a choice of more than one meaning or interpretation.
 Keeps readers guessing, wondering, and reflecting.
 Not rooted in particular event or ending but can be within the theme or mood
 Young 19th century boy gets ill from working in coal mines.
 Is the theme to keep a positive attitude? Is it the harshness of labor practices? Or both?
 Purpose: to challenge imagination
 Ambiguous stories tend to linger in our minds longer
Plickers Time!!! (P.1 and P. 4)
 Have your assigned card on your desk
 Listen to the question and once you have your answer, turn your Plickers
card with the correct answer on the top
 Hold up your card so that it can be scanned by my phone
Which Irony is it? Why?
 A high school student decides that he doesn’t want to attend class
during 2nd period. Instead of going to Biology he goes to the gym to
shoot hoops. The principal catches him and he gets put in detention
for a week.
 At a restaurant there is a fly floating in a customer’s soup and the
customer says, “Mmmmm. Insect soup, my favorite!”
 When watching a talk show, the audience knows why a person has
been brought on the show. However, the person sitting in the chair
does not know that he is going to be reunited with a former lover.
Which Irony is it? Why?
 A mean old man ate a large meal at a restaurant. The waitress tried to
provide him with excellent service, but every time she brought him a dish,
he complained. First he thought that the soup was too cold when it was
hot. Then he said that his steak was dry and chewy, when it was moist and
succulent. Then he complained that one of her blonde hairs was in his
mashed potatoes, but the hair was actually grey like his own. She remained
patient and continued to try to help him until the end of the meal, when he
left her a quarter for a tip. She replied on his way out, “Thank you for the
generous tip, Mister.”
Which Irony is it? Why?
 Tom has always liked Lucy, but Lucy has always thought Tom was
annoying and unattractive. One day, Lucy comes home to find an
eviction notice on her door. Apparently, her roommate had been
spending the rent money that Lucy was giving her on other things.
Lucy only has 24 hours to get all her stuff over to her mom’s house,
and Lucy doesn’t even have a car. But Tom has a truck. So Lucy calls
up Tom and asks him how he’s doing. She tells him that she’s always
thought he was funny, and that they should hang out sometime. Tom
thinks that Lucy has finally come around is beginning to like her. He
also thinks that his jokes are funny because she is laughing after
everything that he says.
Which Irony is it? Why?
 The rapper Eminem is well-known for his song writing ability, but he is equally
known for his shockingly profane and obscene lyrical content. Eminem has
made a fortune selling his curse filled songs to millions of children around
the world. But, on a 60 Minutes interview, Eminem claimed that there was
no swearing in his own home and that his children were not allowed to play
music with curse words, including his own tracks.