1. What It Is… and What It Isn’t
Irony
What It Is… and What It Isn’t

2. Irony: a Definition
Irony is the difference between what someone would reasonably expect to happen and what actually does.
Important idea: a difference between expectation and reality

3. Irony… is NOT the same as Coincidence
Coincidence is the striking occurrence of two or more events at one time apparently by mere chance.

4. Verbal Irony…
… is when an author or character says something, but means something else.
What is said is often the opposite of what is meant.
Verbal irony is similar to sarcasm.

5. Example… Verbal Irony
You have just finished babysitting the worst-behaved child on the planet. His parents come home and ask how the night went. You respond by saying, “Oh, Johnny was just a perfect angel.”
What you mean is “Your child was horrible,” which is the opposite of what you said, “Johnny was a perfect angel.”

6. Dramatic Irony…
…is when the reader knows something about a character’s situation that the character doesn’t know.

7. Examples… Dramatic Irony
In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet and Friar Laurence decide that Juliet should take a sleeping potion and fake her own death so she does not have to marry Paris (since she’s already secretly married to Romeo). The reader knows this, but Romeo doesn’t. When he goes to the tomb and sees Juliet “dead,” he kills himself. Juliet then wakes up, sees Rome dead, and kills herself for real.

8. Situational Irony…
… is when what happens is not what one would reasonably expect to happen.

9. Example… Situational Irony
A fire station catches fire.
You would reasonably expect a fire station to be the most fire-proof building, making the situation ironic.

10. Irony Assignment Example from the Story
Describe a detail or event from the story.
Type of Irony
Verbal, Dramatic, or Situational?
Explain
How is this ironic?
1. The girl's family moves her to Cincinnati and she believes her life there will be unhappy and miserable.
1a.
1b.
2a.
2. situational
2b.
3a.
3b.
3. This is ironic because the reader knows that the girl has been daydreaming about the boy for weeks and weeks, but the boy has no idea as to what the girl has been thinking.