🐈 Irony in everyday use. What Is Irony? Types, Examples and Meanings. 2022-10-28 (2023)

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What is an example of irony in Alice Walker everyday use? ›

For Mama, the best way to protect the spirit of the quilts is to risk destroying them while in Maggie's permanent “care.” The irony of this is not bitter but touching: preserving the objects and taking them out of everyday use is disrespectful because it disregards the objects' intended, original uses.

In an ironic phrase, one thing is said, while another thing is meant. For example, if it were a cold, rainy gray day, you might say, “What a beautiful day!” Or, alternatively, if you were suffering from a bad bout of food poisoning, you might say, “Wow, I feel great today.”

Verbal irony occurs when a speaker's intention is the opposite of what he or she is saying. For example, a character stepping out into a hurricane and saying, “What nice weather we're having!” Situational irony occurs when the actual result of a situation is totally different from what you'd expect the result to be.

Romeo & Juliet contains one of the best-known examples of dramatic irony in literary history. At the end of the play, Juliet fakes her own death with the intention of running away with Romeo. The audience knows she's not really dead, but Romeo doesn't, so when he sees her, he thinks she's killed herself.

The three most common kinds you'll find in literature classrooms are verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony. Verbal irony occurs whenever a speaker or narrator tells us something that differs from what they mean, what they intend, or what the situation requires.

Situational irony is the irony of something happening that is very different to what was expected. Some everyday examples of situational irony are a fire station burning down, or someone posting on Twitter that social media is a waste of time.

Some common synonyms of ironic are sarcastic, sardonic, and satiric. While all these words mean "marked by bitterness and a power or will to cut or sting," ironic implies an attempt to be amusing or provocative by saying usually the opposite of what is meant.

Irony occurs when there's a marked contrast between what is said and what is meant, or between appearance and reality. For example: "How nice!" she said when I told her I had to work all weekend. (verbal irony)

What is an example of dramatic irony in a sentence? ›

dramatic irony Add to list Share. If you're watching a movie about the Titanic and a character leaning on the balcony right before the ship hits the iceberg says, "It's so beautiful I could just die," that's an example of dramatic irony.

Irony is a literary technique that storytellers use to contrast expectations and reality. There are primarily three types of irony: dramatic, situational, and verbal.

Verbal irony is a figure of speech. The speaker intends to be understood as meaning something that contrasts with the literal or usual meaning of what he says.

Tragic Irony Example:

A man takes a drink of tea — we know that is has been poisoned but he doesn't. We wait and watch for his inevitable and unfortunate death.

Irony is about expectations and opposites. I teach students that there are three types of irony. Verbal irony is when a character or person says one thing but means the complete opposite. This is more commonly known as sarcasm. Dramatic irony is when a character believes something and the opposite is true.

Sarcasm refers to the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say, especially in order to insult someone, or to show irritation, or just to be funny. For example, saying "they're really on top of things" to describe a group of people who are very disorganized is using sarcasm.

1. Dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is when your audience has more information than your character(s) in a story. This nifty literary device became popular in Greek tragedy – and, true to the genre, the different point of view often leads to tragic outcomes.

When Romeo's friends can't find him, they assume he is mad about Rosaline when really he has fallen in love with a new girl. It's irony because we already know he is love with Juilet, but they think he is still mad about Rosaline.

dramatic irony, a literary device by which the audience's or reader's understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses that of its characters.

irony noun [U] (OPPOSITE RESULT)

a situation in which something which was intended to have a particular result has the opposite or a very different result: The irony (of it) is that the new tax system will burden those it was intended to help. More examples.

What does irony mean another word? ›

Some common synonyms of irony are humor, repartee, sarcasm, satire, and wit. While all these words mean "a mode of expression intended to arouse amusement," irony applies to a manner of expression in which the intended meaning is the opposite of what is seemingly expressed. the irony of the title.

The term irony has its roots in the Greek comic character Eiron, a clever underdog who by his wit repeatedly triumphs over the boastful character Alazon. The Socratic irony of the Platonic dialogues derives from this comic origin.

Verbal irony: a statement in which the meaning that the speaker implies differs sharply from the meaning expressed. For example: When in “The World is Too Much With Us” William Wordsworth writes, “Great God! I'd rather be a Pagan suckled in a creed outworn,” he is using verbal irony.

Walker uses dramatic irony—the technique of introducing a situation in which the audience grasps the full significance of a character's words/actions but the character does not—to build up tension.

She uses situational irony to reveal the implausible happiness that Mrs. Mallard experiences, after seeing her husband alive, after her husband's supposedly subsequent death. The author uses verbal irony to explicate Mrs. Mallard's change in her state of being from being depressed and sad to being joyous and ecstatic.

The irony comes about when Crane uses the mock heroic or mock melodramatic style. He imitates these styles with an ironic distance. So, for instance, Mrs. Johnson, one of the most violent characters in all of literature, pictures herself as the dejected and bereaved mother grieving her daughter's death.

These are a few famous examples: "But Brutus says he was ambitious; / And Brutus is an honourable man." Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Mark Antony appears to praise Brutus and the other assassins, while in reality he is condemning them.

It is ironic that Jim sold his most prized possession, his watch, to give Della something she would use for her most prized asset—her hair—and it is ironic that Della sold her hair to purchase a chain for Jim's watch, which he no longer has.

What kind of irony is lady or the tiger? ›

In ''The Lady or the Tiger?'' , verbal irony is used to describe the semi-barbaric king who subjects his people to unjust punishments for his own enjoyment. The narrator sarcastically refers to the king as being such an authority that his whims become facts at will.

''A Rose for Emily'' contains verbal irony when Colonel Sartoris promises the Grierson family that if they loan the town money, they won't have to pay taxes and when Emily tells the new mayor to see Colonel Sartoris, who has been dead for ten years, about her taxes. Neither party means or believes what they are saying.

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills. This outcome is situationally ironic because it upends both the characters' and the reader's beliefs, and it's dramatically ironic because the reader understands Louise's cause of death in a way that the other characters don't.

One example is when the father says that the yellow stars they are being forced to wear aren't lethal. In fact, the stars are lethal because they identify Jews, which is the first step toward their mass genocide. Another example of irony in Night is when the families think that they are going on vacation.

In The Odyssey, Homer uses dramatic irony in order to enhance the emotional effect of crucial moments in the storyline, especially during the journey of Telemachus, the initial return of Odysseus, and the restoration of Odysseus to his rightful place in the kingdom.

It is often used to make a point or to express sarcasm, both in literature and in everyday conversation. It can also be used to bring humor to a situation, foreshadow events, or express frustration.

In Animal Farm, George Orwell utilizes situational irony, displaying the pigs as corrupt leaders, to support Lord Acton's quote: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Situational irony is displayed when the pigs are ordering the animals to work, because it contradicts what most readers would ...