IRONY

What is Irony? The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. An outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected. It can be persons and events coming together in improbable situations.

Irony: There are three common types of irony: Verbal Situational This is the contrast between what is said and what is meant. Many sarcastic comments are ironic. Verbal 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. Situational This is the contrast between what the character thinks to be true and what we (the reader) know to be true.  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.  Dramatic

Verbal Irony: This is the contrast between what is said and what is meant. Many sarcastic comments are ironic. For instance, if Johnny says, "Nice going, Einstein," he isn't really paying anyone a compliment. Maybe he said this when his lab partner blew up their experiment. He is criticizing the person for their actions…which he obviously didn’t think was an intelligent thing to do.

Verbal Irony: The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. After being yelled at by the mean customer, the cashier said to the next person in line, “He was a pleasant person, wasn’t he?” Did the cashier really think that the angry customer was nice? No, the cashier was using irony to convey the complete opposite.

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. This does not, however, mean that the result is always funny. For example, if the president of Microsoft, Bill Gates, were to win a contest whose grand prize was a computer system, the irony would be situational because such a circumstance would appear ridiculous or "funny" for a number of reasons. Bill Gates doesn't need a computer, he runs the world's largest software company, and he's filthy rich, so winning a computer seems silly and "ironic". “I’m going to get you!” yelled Lillie to her friend Nick. Shaking the can of silly string, she took aim at Nick and pushed down on the trigger. Unfortunately, the can was pointed in the wrong direction, and Lillie sprayed herself right in the face.

Situational Irony: Sam studied the entire weekend for his test on Vocabulary Unit 2; unfortunately, the test was on Unit 3. This is ironic because Sam expected to do well on his test. He even spent time preparing for it…only to find out he had been studying the wrong unit. OR Jadin complained to the teacher that Emily had hit him. Ironically, he ended up being in trouble for tripping her. This is ironic because Jadin expected Emily to get in trouble. He did not expect to get in trouble for tripping her-he didn’t think that he would get caught.

Dramatic Irony: This is the contrast between what the character thinks to be true and what we (the reader) know to be true.  It's when you know the monster is hiding in the closet, but the hero of the movie doesn't know that. You want him to get a clue and stay away from the closet. "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.