1. Irony The difference between what is said and what is meant. The difference between what is intended/expected and what the actual result is. Eg.

2. Dramatic Irony When the reader knows more than the characters. Eg.

3. While Christopher may not want to be funny in his book, humor nevertheless arises from his unique view of theworld around him. "This will not be a funny book," he tells us. There is irony here, for this is a very funny book.

4. All the other children at my school are stupid. Except I'm not meant to call them stupid, even though this is what they are. I'm meant to say that they have learning difficulties or that they have special needs. But this is stupid because everyone has learning difficulties because learning to speak French or understanding relativity is difficult and also everyone has special needs, like Father, who has to carry a little packet of artificial sweetening tablets around with him to put in his coffee to stop him from getting fat, or Mrs. Peters, who wears a beige-colored hearing aid, or Siobhan, who has glasses so thick that they give you a headache if you borrow them, and none of these people are Special Needs, even if they have special needs. (43-44)

5. Why is there humour here? - the unexpected - the irony - the truth/honesty - the logic Does Christopher intend it to be funny?

6. Christopher’s style of narration reflects his mind. Voice – talking about Asperger’s Syndrome from the inside out. Given the antisocial symptoms of conditions like autism and Asperger Syndrome, doesn’t usually have a voice in our cultural conversations, Christopher’s story puts a human heart and a human face on a “syndrome.” He makes it real.

7. How does he do this? Language choice: Sentence structure: Visual features: What does he add in that other authors don’t? What does he miss out that other authors don’t?

8. Haddon brings a sense of nobility−−indeed superiority−−to his character by letting him define his condition and behaviours in his own terms. This is an immensely complex creative process that can flow smoothly and credibly only from the pen of a truly gifted writer.