Irony Irony Irony Do you remember juxtaposition Juxtaposition

Irony?

Irony

Do you remember juxtaposition? � Juxtaposition is a literary technique that relies on comparison and contrast for its resonance with an audience.

What is Irony � Verbal Irony- An author or character says something, but means something else. What is said is often the opposite of what is meant. ◦ Think Sarcasm � Dramatic Irony-The reader knows something about a character’s situation that the character(s) does not know. � Situational Irony-What actually happens is not what is expected to happen. Situational irony often defies logic.

Ironic � Look at the Lyrics to Ironic. Look at the lines and try to figure out which ones are verbal, dramatic, or situational.

An old man turned ninety-eight He won the lottery and died the next day It's a black fly in your Chardonnay It's a death row pardon two minutes too late And isn't it ironic. . . don't you think It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take Who would've thought. . . it figures Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye He waited his whole damn life to take that flight And as the plane crashed down he thought "Well isn't this nice. . . " And isn't it ironic. . . don't you think It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take Who would've thought. . . it figures Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you When you think everything's okay and everything's going right And life has a funny way of helping you out when You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up In your face A traffic jam when you're already late A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife It's meeting the man of my dreams And then meeting his beautiful wife And isn't it ironic. . . don't you think A little too ironic. . . and, yeah, I really do think. . . It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take Who would've thought. . . it figures Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you

Was it Ironic? � How much of the song contained irony? � Remember what Juxtaposition is?

Juxtaposition � Juxtaposition is a literary technique that relies on comparison and contrast for its resonance with an audience. � The side-by-side placement of two seemingly unrelated concepts, can ignite interest and keep a reader up all night just to see what happens next.

Irony or Juxtaposition � Does the song contain more Irony or more Juxtaposition? � Can you think of other times when someone has said, “That is ironic, ” when it wasn’t?

"She was always morbidly afraid of dentists, but then she married one. Isn't that ironic? " Yes, that's ironic. One would assume that if you are deadly afraid of someone, the last thing in your mind would be to marry him, but the opposite happened, that is, she married a dentist. That's irony.

"She always wanted to marry a doctor, and then she did. Isn't that ironic? " � No, it's not ironic. There are no opposites being compared here. (Yes, this kind of usage does happen. )

"Oh, the irony. I tried to fix a dripping faucet and ended up making such a mess that I had to call a professional plumber and it ended up costing me a kidney. " � Yes, that's irony. The attempt was to fix something, but it ended up being more broken than it was, ie. the total opposite result than intended.

"Do you know what's ironic? Your article about tesla coils gave me an idea for a school project. " � No, that's not ironic. No opposites happened here. (Yes, this kind of usage does also happen a lot. The example is almost verbatim from something I read, just changing the subjects. )

"I find it ironic that you pointed out grammar mistakes in my post but you ended up making grammar mistakes yourself as well. " � Technically speaking there are no opposites being juxtaposed here. Person A lectures person B about grammar, and makes grammatical mistakes himself as well. No opposites happening here, so no irony. "Hypocrisy" might be a better word in this case.

"The irony of writing a good fantasy story is that it must be realistic. " � Yes, because it's "fantasy" (containing supernatural and impossible elements) as opposed to "realism" (adhering to everyday natural phenomena and experience), so they can be considered opposites.

"The movie Star Trek: First Contact made a reference to the book Moby Dick, with captain Picard being compared to captain Ahab of the book. Ironically, Patrick Stewart played Ahab two years later in the Disney version of Moby Dick. " � No. That might be a curious coincidence, but it's not irony. There are no opposites being involved. (This is another actual example I grabbed from the internet. )