trrony
Definision
Iroty: A ccntradictory statefient or situation. Ve*al iro*y
occurs when a
character says one thing but means the opposite. [n drama, verbal irony is often
accompanied by an ironic cone of voice and ironic expressions. Siuutional irony
occurs when what happens ia a story is the opposite of what is expected to
happen. Dramatic irony occurs when the reader has information that one or
more of the characters does not have.
Examples hurm Literature
Yerbal lrany
The antagonist in Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" kidnaps and then hunts
people.'When he says, "We'll visit my training school.... It's in the cellar. I have about a dozen pupils down there now," he is not referring to pupils and a school, but to captives and a
prison.
Situational lrony
The protagonist in Guy de Maupassant's ooThe Necklace" works for years to replace an expensive necklace she borrowed and lost only to learn in the end that the necklace was a fake.
That plot exemplifies situational irony.
Dramati.c lrany
Shakespeare's As You Lihe Ir is a story of mistaken identity in which the audience is aware of
the true identities of the players involved, but the characters are often confused by disguises.
This is an example of dramatic irony.
Copyrigfit
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?004 The leomiry
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LITERARY TECHNIQUES
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1. The antagonist in "The Most Dangerous Game" brags that he hunts the most
dangerous animal of all.'What is ironic about this claimi
2. What is ironic about the ending of *The Necklace"l
3. Explain irony in your own words.
4. Give an example of dramatic irony from
Predicting .lrony
1,.
a movie you have watched.
_
Hans Christian Andersen wrote a famous story about a family of ducks who make
fun of a young waterfowl for his ugliness.'IVhat irony reveals itself ar rhe end of
"The Ugly Duckling'?
2. O. Henry was a master of surprise endings. In one story called *The Cop and the
Anthem," he tells of a homeless rnan who makes nlrmerous attempts to get arrested
so he can spend the cold winter months in a warm jail cell. After all of his anemp$
fail to get him arrested, he stops beside a church where he stands listening to a choir
sing. The beautiful music inspires the homeless man to get a iob and straighten out
his life. He no longer wishes to spend the winter in fail. Predict the ironic ending t<r
this O. Henry classic.
84 r III. TITERARY TECHNIQIJES
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ldentifying lrcny
1. Your friend asks how you did on your spelling test. You failed, but respond
o'Marvelously." Your response is an example
of which type of irony?
2. You buy a pizza at full price after looking all over the house and not finding your
five-dollars-off coupon. You return home with the pizza and grab a paper plate out
of the cupboard. Just as you are about to place a slice of. pizza on the plate, you
notice a piece of paper on top of the plate. The piece of paper is the coupon you
couldn't find. This scenario is an example of which type of ironyi
3. You are watching a scene in a movie. The shot shows a split screen on which the
viewer can see two characters talking to each other on the phone. The characters, of
course, cannot see each other, and have somehow mistaken each others' voices for
those of other characters in the movie. This mistaken identity confusion is an
example of what kind of irony?
4. On his last day of work
before retirement, a policeman survives a fight with a
burglaq a car chase with a speedeq and a shoot-out with a kidnappeq only to be
struck dead by lightning as he walks home from work on a clear night. \[/hat is
ironic about this scene?
U4!rg lrcny
On another sheet of paper, write the following scenarios:
1. A brief scenario of your own demonstrating verbal irony.
2. A brief scenario of your own demonstrating situational irony.
3. A brief scenario of your own demonstrating dramatic irony.
not. Is i
it's not?
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LITERARY TECHNIGUES
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