1. IRONY Derived from the Greek “eiron”
The appearance of things differs from their reality, whether in terms of meaning, situation, or action

2. TYPES OF IRONY
VERBAL
SITUATIONAL
DRAMATIC

3. VERBAL IRONY Figure of speech
Difference between what is spoken and what is meant
e.g. When you say "Interesting," when someone says something that really isn't interesting

4. Types of Verbal Irony Sarcasm
e.g. A person reports to her friend that rather than going to a medical doctor to treat her ovarian cancer, she has decided to see a spiritual healer instead. In response her friend says sarcastically, "Great idea! I hear they do fine work!”
* Element of ridicule, mockery

5. Overstatement (Hyperbole)
The meaning is an exaggeration of
what the speaker means
e.g. This book weighs a ton.

6. Understatement
Opposite to overstatement
e.g. Plane about to crash due to engine failure, and Captain says, “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped.”

7. SITUATIONAL IRONY
Difference between what is thought about a situation and what is actually the case
e.g. A shy, demure nun wins a Harley
Davidson bike in a lucky draw

8. DRAMATIC IRONY
Difference between what is intended by actions and what is their actual outcome
A situation in which the reader or audience knows more about the immediate circumstances or future events of a story than a character within it; thus the audience is able to see a discrepancy between characters' perceptions and the reality they face

9. e.g. Oedipus Rex
Oedipus slays his own father and commits incest with his mother (he was not aware of these facts).
Oedipus says: A man is a fool if he thinks that he can sin against his kinfolk and escape the wrath of the gods.
The audience, however, the moment it hears Oedipus make this declaration, knows
(1) the facts about Oedipus' parricide and incest,
(2) the fact that Oedipus is unaware of these,
(3) the fact that Oedipus will suffer terribly at this revelation

10. WHY IRONY?
Its indirectness, its refusal to state something simply as "the way it is."
Entails the avoidance of sentimentality through the incorporation of multiple attitudes in a single work.