Examples Of Situational Irony In The Gift Of The Magi

“... Thou shalt not bear false witness.” Have you ever heard a quote like this? Have you ever thought of what it meant? Well “...

Irony is one of the most powerful elements of figurative language. It creates a feeling of foreshadowing and sometimes humor in a rather unique way. Irony is a way of telling a story in that something happens that seems the opposite of what one would think. There are plenty of examples of the three types of irony in Night by Elie Wiesel. This essay will discuss the times verbal, situational, and dramatic irony were used in Night.

Situational irony is when the opposite of what is expected to happen happens. This type of irony can be found in many different works of literature, take The Interlopers and The Machine That Won the War for example. The Interlopers and The Machine that Won the War differ in many ways, like in characters and setting, but use situational irony in a similar way.

situational irony refers to circumstances in which characters find themselves which suggest a specific outcome but

Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

In the stories “Story of an Hour”, “Everyday Use”, “The Necklace”, and “The Lottery” it is evident that irony was quite a large part of the short story. There is situational irony, which is when the situation turns out differently than expected. Also, dramatic irony is present, which is when you as a reader knows more than the character. The authors seem to base their whole story around irony to surprise their readers.

Another example of irony would be the Story of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In this story, Adam and Eve have eternal life and God tells them not to eat the fruit from the tree, because it would kill them. The Devil convinces Eve that the fruit could make her and Adam like God, so they consume one of the fruits from the tree. This causes the two to lose their eternal life. The story shows irony in the same way that “Lamb to the Slaughter” does, because the fruit was supposed to give the two life but ended up taking it

In the short story The Gift of the Magi, foreshadowing plays a huge role along with irony. Foreshadowing is when you are able to predict what will happen based on the information the author is giving you. Irony is the difference between Anticipations and effects, and appearance and reality. Irony comes in three ways which are verbal, dramatic, and verbal. In the short story the type of irony that was used was dramatic and a little bit of verbal irony.

Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

Situational irony occurs when there is a situation which appears to have an assumed conclusion, but then something ironic happens and the end result is different than what was expected. Harrison, the unique son of George and Hazel, is a tall, strong man who is attempting to overthrow the government. He manages to break out of jail and takes control of the television station, declaring himself the Emperor. Just as it appears that he is going to succeed in his takeover, the Handicapper General came into the studio. ”She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.” This is not the expected outcome and creates irony in this situation.

An example of situational irony Poe uses in the story is simply the name Fortunato. Fortunato is an Italian name, which means good fortune or luck. This is an example of situational irony because his names meaning was the complete opposite of what he actually was. His name meant that he was lucky and fortunate. But, Fortunato was the complete opposite from lucky. First of all, he wasn’t lucky because he became friends with the wrong person. He got tricked and was buried alive at the end. It shows us how if we are friends with the wrong people, we can get into trouble and may suffer greatly because of it. Edgar Allen Poe probably knew

Irony is a technique that uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. For example, dramatic irony is a type of irony which is shown in the first Shrek movie. Fiona loves Shrek but only Donkey and the audience know. In this situation, dramatic irony is being created because the character Shrek does not know that Fiona loves him but the audience does. The short stories “The Lottery” the reader may find both situational and dramatic irony that both create the ironic ending.

The first example of situational irony would be Fortunato’s name, which means fortunate in Italian, an ironic name for someone who is about to be left in the catacombs to die. Another example of irony is when Montresor says, “It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation” (Poe, 3). Obviously this is dramatic irony as Fortunato has no idea that Montresor is smiling because he will kill him rather than actually being happy to meet him. Also verbal irony is present when Montresor says,

The twists and turns of the plot as it unfolds within O. Henry 's “The Gift of the Magi” are what simply captivate the reader in such a short amount of pages. The story of Jim and Della on a cold Christmas Eve at the turn of 20th century America is centered around what is remarkably relevant to what many readers have experienced in their own lives; the inevitable stresses, sacrifices, and joys of the holiday season.

An example of dramatic irony is when Fortunato tells Montresor not to worry about his health and that “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I will not die of a cough” (POE 238) Montresor then replies, “True–true.” When the reader reads this, they see that Fortunato is clueless of Montresor’s true plan is and while he tells Fortunato he will be all right. That he will not die, he is planning to kill him. This is dramatic because we as the reader feel a sense of sorrow because we know the truth about what will