Liquor Makes You Smart (1927)
By Anita Loos
To Review: Irony is literary device where there is a perceived gap between what is expected and
what actually occurs. Situational irony is when there is a gap between what is expected and what
actually occurs (a reversal). Verbal irony is when someone says or writes one thing but means
something else (a double meaning). The tone can be said to be ironic when material is presented one
way, but it is meant to be interpreted in another (usually when “serious” material is really meant to be
read humorously).
DIRECTIONS: Answer ONE of the three prompts that
follow in paragraph format. Remember to use the
language of expectation and reality so that your
explanations (warrants) are coherent.
1. Given what you know about the character of the
narrator (Lorelei Lee), why is it ironic that she is the one
who ends up the big winner in the story? Explain how
this works in ONE paragraphs – the first half devoted to
the expectation that is built up throughout the story, and
second half devoted to the reality as revealed in the end
of the story. Use at least two quotations in developing
your argument.
2. What is ironic about the title of the story? Explain how
this works in ONE paragraph, the first half devoted to the
expectation that is built up throughout the story, and
the second to the reality. Use at least two quotations
in developing your argument. In your explanation,
make sure you are addressing what the literal meaning
of the phrase would seem to indicate and what the
author (not the characters) seems to really mean by,
“Liquor makes you smart.”
Anita Loos
1888-1981
3. Choose a passage in “Liquor Makes You Smart” and explain how the tone is ironic in one
paragraph, the first half devoted to the set-up and expectation (what the tone would seem to
be) and the second half devoted to how the tone is really supposed to be interpreted by the
reader. Your evidence and explanation should discuss the sorts of things included in the
following bullet points.
Red flags that the tone of a work may be ironic:




overstatement and exaggeration (hyperbole)
understatement and understated reactions
situational ironies
ridiculous happenings that are treated as if they were ordinary