Irony
3 Types of Irony
“Irony is a literary technique and rhetoric device that has been used for many years in speech, art and everyday life. Although irony has been used for a long time, there hasn’t been an exact definition of the word itself.There are hundreds of definitions that have been suggested over the years, one of them being that irony is a figure of speech which is a contradiction or incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs.Most of the definitions of irony however seem to suggest that irony involve a contrast between appearance and actual reality. It is a discrepancy between what is anticipated to be true and what is actually true.”
Verbal Irony
Verbal irony is the use of words to mean something different from what a person actually says. Sarcasm is similar but used to insult or make fun of someone.
Overstatement – when a person exaggerates the character of something.
Understatement – when a person undermines the character of something.
This type of irony is popular in works of art such as movies, books, poems and plays.
It occurs when the audience is aware of something that the characters in the story are not aware of.
Three Types of Dramatic Irony
Installation – audience is informed of something the character does not know about
Exploitation – using this information to develop curiosity among the audience
Resolution – what happens when the character finally finds out what is going on?
Situational Irony
It involves a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.
Situational irony occurs when the exact opposite of what is meant to happen, happens.
For situational irony to occur there has to be something that leads a person to think that a particular event or situation is unlikely happen.
Don’t confuse it with bad luck.
Examples:
View the following Videos, Record in your notes what type of irony it is and why.
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