Verbal Irony Research Paper

Irony and foreshadowing are literary devices used in literature. Foreshadowing is when an element in the story is used to hint an event that will occur further along in the story. There are many different types of Irony. One of these is dramatic irony, which refers to when a character thinks something is true yet the audience know the actual truth of the situation. Another type of irony is

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.

"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.

There are three principal sources of interest in narratives: suspense, mystery, and irony. In the narratives “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Ronald Dahl, irony is a primary source of interest. Irony is defined as a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. In both of these cases, the use of irony by the authors greatens the impact the pieces have on their audience. In both “A Rose for Emily” and “Lamb to the Slaughter”, the authors have numerous pieces of irony throughout their respective stories; this use of irony creates a better reading experience for the reader.

There are three main types of irony to familiarize yourself with: dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal irony. Firstly, lets start off with situational irony. Situational irony occurs when the expected outcome does not happen. Situational irony is used in stories to add humorous effects. For example, in the Most Dangerous Game, when Zaroff, the man who hunts people for entertainment, tells Rainsford, the unwilling victim of Zaroff, “We’ll visit my training school… It’s in the cellar. I have about a dozen pupils down there right now” (PG). Basically, Zaroff is not referring to a training school, he is referring to a prison where he keeps his unwilling victims who will eventually be hunted. This quotation shows how dramatic irony affects the tone and the

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.

Authors use irony in literature in order to give double meanings and make it more interesting to the reader. In the play “ The Death of a Salesman” Arthur Miller uses irony as a strong writing technique in order to express the character's behavior. In “The Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller moments of situational and dramatic irony helps to illustrate the story's theme in which Willy is a man trying yo achieve the American dream, however he have created a world of illusion.

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.

-Dramatic Irony is when the words and actions of the characters in a work of literature are known to the audience or reader, but they are not known to certain characters in the story. The reader or audience has a greater knowledge of many of the characters themselves.

Irony is when someone says something, but really means another thing. An example of irony is in Edgar Allen Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart” in this the narrator says ‘I loved the old man”. Later In this story the narrator kills the old man. This is an example of irony because if he loved the old man he would not of killed him. Irony can create suspense by implying confusing upon the reader.

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.

Irony is usually termed as a technique or way or presenting a topic with one meaning, not disclosing to the reader that a totally different thing has happened. For instance, one might say it is ironic to save up the money to buy your dream car and it sells minutes before you get there. In the mind of someone like Edgar Allan Poe, irony can take one a far deeper meaning. One piece of irony is the name of the victim, Fortunato. This is an Italian word suggesting good fortune. (Cummings, 2005) However, we know from the beginning of the story that his fortune is not good. The more one looks for it, sometimes the more minute the irony can be. Take the description of Fortunato:

People watch other individuals experience irony all the time. When something is ironic it means that the thing that was to happen, did not happen the way it was thought to happen. Sometimes irony happens to those who least expect it or irony happens to everyone. There have been songs, television ads, and stories written about irony or that have included ironic events or details. One piece of literature that contains a lot of irony is Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat”. Crane uses irony in many different ways in the story to tell of four individuals who survive their ship being wrecked and everyone else aboard has drown.

Dramatic irony is the type of irony that is used the most and the type that is the most obvious, but situational and verbal irony are used too.         First of all, verbal irony is when the speaker says the opposite of what they mean. This is used in Animal Farm throughout the book as

The irony in this story can be seen in different areas of this story. An example of situational irony in this story is that Elisa does not get time to experience actually motherhood because of work, and she puts all of herself into raising her plants and making sure they are taken care of. “With her trowel she turned the soil over and over, and smoothed it and patted it firm.” (DiYanni, 2007, 728). Also an example of verbal irony in this story would be when Henry offers to Elisa to take her to a boxing match, and he says "I don't think you'd like it, but I'll take you if you really want to go.” (DiYanni, 2007, 733). He is offering to take her, so he feels like he is doing good, but in reality he is just not what Elisa wants to hear. I believe