1. Unit #5
Irony and Ambiguity

2. Questions
What comes to mind when you hear the words irony and ambiguity?
Can you think of a story or movie that included irony?
Is irony vital for every good story?
After discussing what makes these movies
ironic, can we come up with a definition?

3. Irony
Definition: contradiction of expectations and some sort of discrepancy or incongruity.
Not just sarcasm or belittling and not always funny.
Far more complex!!!
Purpose: Meant to convey truth about a human experience by exposing some incongruity of a character’s behavior or a society’s traditions.
Operating through subtle indirection

4. 3 Types of Irony Verbal Dramatic Situational
Speaker says the opposite of intention
When a speaker uses words contradictory to what's expected.
“You sure can pick em’” or “You’re a smart one”
Dramatic
Contrast between what character says/thinks and what readers know to be true
Read is aware of what is in store but the character is not
Little Red Riding Hood, Interstellar, Romeo and Juliet, Breaking Bad
Situational
When a situation is expected to happen one way occurs in a contradictory form
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5. Ambiguity
Definition: offers a choice of more than one meaning or interpretation.
Keeps readers guessing, wondering, and reflecting.
Not rooted in particular event or ending but can be within the theme or mood
Young 19th century boy gets ill from working in coal mines.
Is the theme to keep a positive attitude? Is it the harshness of labor practices? Or both?
Purpose: to challenge imagination
Ambiguous stories tend to linger in our minds longer

6. Plickers Time!!! (P.1 and P. 4) Have your assigned card on your desk
Listen to the question and once you have your answer, turn your Plickers card with the correct answer on the top
Hold up your card so that it can be scanned by my phone

7. Which Irony is it? Why?
A high school student decides that he doesn’t want to attend class during 2nd period. Instead of going to Biology he goes to the gym to shoot hoops. The principal catches him and he gets put in detention for a week.
At a restaurant there is a fly floating in a customer’s soup and the customer says, “Mmmmm. Insect soup, my favorite!”
When watching a talk show, the audience knows why a person has been brought on the show. However, the person sitting in the chair does not know that he is going to be reunited with a former lover.

8. Which Irony is it? Why?
A mean old man ate a large meal at a restaurant. The waitress tried to provide him with excellent service, but every time she brought him a dish, he complained. First he thought that the soup was too cold when it was hot. Then he said that his steak was dry and chewy, when it was moist and succulent. Then he complained that one of her blonde hairs was in his mashed potatoes, but the hair was actually grey like his own. She remained patient and continued to try to help him until the end of the meal, when he left her a quarter for a tip. She replied on his way out, “Thank you for the generous tip, Mister.”

9. Which Irony is it? Why?
Tom has always liked Lucy, but Lucy has always thought Tom was annoying and unattractive. One day, Lucy comes home to find an eviction notice on her door. Apparently, her roommate had been spending the rent money that Lucy was giving her on other things. Lucy only has 24 hours to get all her stuff over to her mom’s house, and Lucy doesn’t even have a car. But Tom has a truck. So Lucy calls up Tom and asks him how he’s doing. She tells him that she’s always thought he was funny, and that they should hang out sometime. Tom thinks that Lucy has finally come around is beginning to like her. He also thinks that his jokes are funny because she is laughing after everything that he says.

10. Which Irony is it? Why?
The rapper Eminem is well-known for his song writing ability, but he is equally known for his shockingly profane and obscene lyrical content. Eminem has made a fortune selling his curse filled songs to millions of children around the world. But, on a 60 Minutes interview, Eminem claimed that there was no swearing in his own home and that his children were not allowed to play music with curse words, including his own tracks.