Theme In O. Henry's The Gift Of The Magi

Irony happens in a lot of places in the stories Flowers for Algernon and The Necklace. Irony happens in The Necklace when Mathilde loses her friends Necklace she bought a 36 thousand franc necklace. Meanwhile, the necklace that she actually lost was only worth about 500 francs. In The Necklace, the irony is shown when “Madame Forestier, deeply moved, took her hands. “Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was at the very most five hundred francs!..” (Maupassant, 5). It is ironic that she spent ten years paying for something that was worth less than the necklace that she bought to replace the false necklace with. There is also irony in Flowers for Algernon when Charlie is unhappy due to the operation that

Descriptive language is been used thoroughly throughout this text and has been able to make a point of Josephine’s life and the challenges that adolesces’ face throughout their teen years. This novel was also written in first person form so when you team that up with descriptive language it allows the reader to understand Josephine’s thoughts, feelings and opinions on the issues, which she faces. Marchetta has done this by using the descriptive language repetitively so the audience gets a detailed idea on what she is thinking and feeling. If this technique wasn’t used us as the audience wouldn’t have gotten to know what she really was feeling and how important it was for her to overcome the challenges she was faced with for the new phases of her

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.

The second use of irony is the fact that the necklace turns out to be a fake, and they have to replace it with a real diamond necklace worth thirty-six thousand French francs. Madame Forestier tells Madame Loisel that she lent her a fake necklace, meaning that all ten of the years she has worked to repay it are worthless (10). Madame Loisel and her husband work ten long and hard years to pay off their necklace because of her pride and inability to tell Madame Forestier what truly happened to the necklace.The third example is Madame Loisel borrowing the necklace to appear richer when it reality it’s a fake intended to make Madame Forestier look richer. Maupassant demonstrates Madame Loisel’s middle-class station by writing, “He

Generally, irony is placed in stories to get the readers to think and emphasize what had just been said or done. In the short story, “Paper,” by Catherine Lim, irony is explored verbally, situationally, and dramatically. Verbal irony is shown through Tay Soon’s mother while she scolds her son saying; “You’re a show-off... Why don’t you put your money into better use?” Prior to this quote, she often expresses her dislike of obsession over a dream house. The verbal irony is found in that quote because she’s bluntly advising the couple to make smarter choices. An example of situational irony is when Tay Soon firmly states: “I’ll hold on... I won’t be so foolish.” This statement turns against him as he gets a slap on the face when

"Irony is a device that protects him (the artist) from the pain of his experience so that he may use it objectively in his art(Susquehanna. "New Critical")." In The Glass Menagerie, it is ironic how Tom speaks badly of his father and his leaving home but in the end he leaves home just like his father, the man "in love with long distances (Williams 30)''. The fact that Amanda wants what is best for her children is ironic because she worries so much over it that she doesn't realize what is best for them.

This leads to her idea of selling her most prized possession: her hair, to get Jim his present. Meanwhile, Jim decides to sell his most prized possession which was a pocket-watch that was passed down from his grandfather to his father and then to him. He sells that watch and buys Della a set of beautiful tortoise shell combs for her hair. Thus leading to the use of situational irony in which they both receive gifts for something they gave up in order to give the other a gift.

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.

The big vein on his neck had made the barber crazy nervous. He could just kill him at that moment. The reader at this point is expecting that he will kill the murderer but that’s when irony comes in. “I don’t want blood on my hands. Just lather, that’s all. You are the executioner and I am the barber” (Tellez 127). This quote sets off irony because the readers thought that the barber was going to kill the murderer but he does not. When Torres is about to leave the barbershop, he says, “‘They told me that you’d kill me. I came to find out. But killing isn’t easy. You can take my word for it.’” (Tellez 126). This is another example of irony because the readers did not expect the murderer to know he was thinking on killing him. This story is a great example of irony because it basically examples the definition of the word.

The author of the story “Lamb to the Slaughter”, Roald Dahl, uses a significant amount of irony throughout the story. Dahl uses irony to make his story more appealing to the reader by keeping them engaged. An example of irony in the story is when Mary is six months pregnant and her husband expresses he is leaving her, so she murders him. The audience would have never seen this coming because the author expresses Mary’s feelings from the beginning of the story by saying, “She loved him for the way he sat loosely in a chair, for the way he came in the door or moved slowly across the room with long strides. She loved the intent, far look in his eyes when they rested on her, the funny shape of the mouth, and especially the way he remained silent about his tiredness, sitting still with himself until the whiskey had taken some of it away.” (Dahl 1-2). When Dahl shares Mary’s feelings, the reader concludes that Mary is an innocent, loving wife that truly loves her husband and would do absolutely anything for him. But when Mary murders him after he decides to leave, situational irony appears. This is an example of situational irony because the reader would never expect Mary to murder her husband, but the exact opposite occurs. Dahl also uses situational irony as an example of language. The language makes the story more intriguing and exciting. The situational irony is used in the story to shock the reader and to create the climax of the plot.

Without doubt, Edgar Allan Poe’s story is one of the author’s masterpiece. The story is an exhibit of artistic genius with various literary features well incorporated. Among them, irony, defined as, “A figure of speech which is a contradiction or incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs”, is the most evident. Allan Poe demonstrates the use of various types of irony throughout the play, which he uses to pass the intended message to the audience.

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.

Stories of love and sacrifice abound in literature. Perhaps one of the most well known stories among teens and adults is the tale of a poor, young couple struggling to find the perfect Christmas gifts for each other using their very limited means. They each manage to get what they think is the perfect gift for the other, but only accomplish this by selling a prized possession which effectively makes the new gifts impractical. This bittersweet narrative, “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, illustrates the moral idea that a person, motivated by nothing but love for another, can possess a willingness to give in a self-denying way which necessitates that the reader consider that wealth be measured by something more than having money

Irony is also utilized when Miss Prism calmly discusses her missing handbag, saying: “I am delighted to have it so unexpectedly restored to me. It has been a great inconvenience being without it all these years” (52). The fact that she believes she was inconvenienced for a lost bag seems so miniscule compared to the inconvenience Jack experienced because of it. The lost bag kept his whole entire family tree a secret and caused him to grow up without knowing who he truly was. So for Miss Prism to think her material bag was an annoyance simply because it was gone shows the irony in the entire

Irony is an element which is found all throughout the best and worst pieces of literature. This is an element of literature which gives the reader an understanding of the story. In Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”, he uses three distinct forms of irony which add to the story. Irony is basically the expression of one’s meaning by using language to signify the opposite. In this story, Chaucer uses dramatic, situational and verbal irony all throughout his story. By incorporating these kinds of ironies, Chaucer is able to paint a picture through his story. This in turn adds to the overall theme of the story.