Isn’t it IRONIC?

Picture slide Oh, look! A “Dead End” sign located..

“Learn To Fly Here!”?

“Stops Rust”?

Hmmm…..

Irony is defined as… an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected

The following 3 slides are courtesy of… “If I were in charge of the networks”-excerpt from George Carlin’s book, Brain Droppings

Irony is not the same as coincidence… Irony deals with opposites; it has nothing to do with coincidence. If two baseball players from the same hometown, on different teams, receive the same uniform number, it is not ironic. It is a coincidence. If Barry Bonds attains lifetime statistics identical to his father’s it will not be ironic. It will be a coincidence.

Irony is not the same as coincidence… If a diabetic, on his way to buy insulin, is killed by a runaway truck, he is the victim of an accident. If the truck was delivering sugar, he is the victim of an oddly poetic coincidence. But if the truck was delivering insulin, ah! Then he is the victim of an irony.

Irony is not the same as coincidence… Darryl Stingley, the pro football player, was paralyzed after a brutal hit by Jack Tatum. Now Darryl Stingley’s son plays football, and if the son should become paralyzed while playing, it will not be ironic. It will be coincidental. If Darryl Stingley’s son paralyzes someone else, that will be closer to ironic. If he paralyzes Jack Tatum’s son that will be precisely ironic.

We’ll be looking at three different types of irony:

Verbal Irony: This is the contrast between what is said and what is meant. Most sarcastic comments are ironic. For instance, the person who says, "Nice going, Einstein," isn't really paying anyone a compliment.

Can you think of another example of something a person would say to someone else, when they don’t really mean it?: Most likely, your example is VERBAL IRONY.

Dramatic Irony Sometimes as we read we are placed in the position of knowing more than what one character knows. Because we know something the character does not, we read to discover how the character will react when he or she learns the truth of the situation. It's when you know the boogeyman is hiding in the attic, but the hero of the movie doesn't know that. You want him to get a clue and stay away from the attic. "Don't open that door! Get out of the house!" The irony is that the hero thinks he is safe, when you know he's in danger. There is that element of contrast again.

Can you think of a movie you’ve seen or a book you’ve read which demonstrates DRAMATIC IRONY?

Situational Irony: It is the contrast between what happens and what was expected. Irony of situation is often humorous, such as when a prank backfires on the prankster. It's the equivalent of a person spraying shaving cream in his own face when he was trying to spray his best friend. (Let’s watch a little cartoon, shall we?)

Think you can spot the difference between irony and coincidence (or just bad luck?)

Let’s have a listen to Alanis Morissette’s song “Ironic” When this song came out, many people gave Alanis Morissette a hard time, saying she didn’t know what irony really is. What do you think?

An old man turned ninety-eight He won the lottery and died the next day It's a black fly in your Chardonnay It's a death row pardon two minutes too late And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take Who would've thought... it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye He waited his whole damn life to take that flight And as the plane crashed down he thought "Well isn't this nice..." And isn't it ironic... don't you think

It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take And who would've thought... it figures

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you When you think everything's okay and everything's going right And life has a funny way of helping you out when You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up in your face

A traffic jam when you're already late A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife It's meeting the man of my dreams And then meeting his beautiful wife And isn't it ironic...don't you think A little too ironic...and, yeah, I really do think...

It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take Who would've thought... it figures

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out Helping you out

Figure it out! Go through each example in your group and decide whether or not you think they are ironic. WANT A CHALLENGE? If the example is not ironic, how could you change it a tiny bit to add irony?

Go!

Stop. What did your group decide? Did any group take the challenge?

Let’s see how someone else added to Alanis Morissette’s lyrics to make them ironic.

Lines From Alanis Morissette's "Ironic," Modified to Actually Make them Ironic by Patrick Cassels on January 12, 2007

An old man turned ninety-eight. He won the lottery and died the next day... of chronic emphysema from inhaling all of the little bits of latex coming off of the lottery tickets he scratched every day for 30 years.

A black fly in your Chardonnay... that you poured to celebrate finally getting rid of all of the flies in your winery in southern France.

A death row pardon two minutes too late... because the governor was too busy watching Dead Man Walking (a movie about a man on death row.)

Rain on your wedding day... to Ra, the Egyptian sun-god.

Mr. Play-it-Safe was afraid to fly. He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye. He waited his whole damn life to take that flight. And as the plane crashed down, he thought, Well isn't this nice... now I'll never make it to the National Association of Aviophobics (people who are afraid to fly) conference in Reno, NV.

A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break... at the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco corporate offices in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife... to cut your sandwich in the break room of the Specialty Knife Store.

Meeting the man of my dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife... who happens to be the female psychiatrist you recently hired in hopes of helping you learn how to pick the right man for yourself.