Tragic irony

In the story, The Gift of the Magi, the author, O. Henry, does a great job using irony throughout the story. In the story, irony is used multiple times, and in many different ways. There are examples of irony in the beginning, middle, and end of The Gift of the Magi. The two different types of irony used in the story are dramatic and situational irony. In the beginning of the story, irony is used right away. Della wants to buy her loved one a nice Christmas gift, but she does not have the money.

Both real life and literature often contain irony. Irony is an ancient Greek term we use to describe our perception of an amusing mismatch between people, words, or circumstances where we were expecting a normal and proper fit. When we notice such a mismatch, we usually sense a grim kind of humor or comedy in the resulting oddity, something inappropriately appropriate. This discrepancy between our expectations and the actual mismatched outcomes may be intentional (the result of human planning, as

the author is creating situational irony. This device is an unexpected or surprising event in the story. Situational irony creates many emotions such as humor and sadness. For instance, in the short story “Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry he does this in a humorous manner. Guy de Maupassant, the author of the short story “The Necklace” does this is a sad way. By reading and containing information from these two stories, the author clearly is using situational irony to affect the readers’ emotions.

Literary Term #1: Verbal Irony Verbal Irony: When a character says something, but really means another thing. Example: “Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence everyday”(30)? Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Bookbyte Digital, 2011. Function: After getting into a fight with a boy he just met, Tom Sawyer’s Aunt decides to punish Tom Sawyer by making him paint a fence on his day off school. Not wanting to do the task or be humiliated

Irony is very common throughout literature. Irony is a literary technique that some authors use to make a reader stop and really ponder what has happened or what the centralized idea of the story is. In Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby, irony is ever so present. According to the dictionary by Merriam-Webster, situational irony is irony that involves a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected. In Desiree’s Baby

Irony is a way to express the meaning of the opposite of a situation or saying, and is usually used for comedic or emphatic purposes. Both Stephen King’s “Sorry Right Number” and Rod Serling’s “Back There” use verbal and situational irony. Irony helped both the stories out by creating suspense and unexpected outcomes. Without this irony, there would’ve been many missed opportunities. Verbal irony is used in “Sorry Right Number” in the scene where Bill and Katie can’t reach Katie’s sister Dawn. Connie

The three types of irony used in the play “Importance of Being Earnest” are shown throughout the play. Each one can be found easily but others are really hidden in the text. The three types consist of Situational, Verbal, and Dramatic. During this essay I will be providing many parts of the play that use the different types of irony. I will begin with the first type of irony, which is Dramatic. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something the characters do not. This is shown throughout

Irony in Chopin's Story of an Hour   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

elements in this novel. Satire, "the use of irony, sarcasm, or ridicule in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice or folly" (Webster 1193), is very prevalent in Cat's Cradle. Vonnegut hits on many aspects of human life with this satire. Government, religion, medicine, and business are just a few of these aspects. In focusing on government, Vonnegut shows us a leader ("Papa" Monzano), who attempts to create a utopia, but just like in

4. In what respect is the title ironical? What kind of irony is this? Why does "The Guest" make a better title than "The Prisoner"? In the short story “The Guest” by Albert Camus, irony is show in many aspects throughout the story. In the main title, the irony of it is that the word “guest" is not necessarily used to really describe a guest, because “the guest” is the prisoner of the French government. The