Irony

situational irony DEFINITION

An outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected

dramatic irony EXAMPLE

Mr. Bath is the president of Make-A-Bath Industries, a small company that employs fifteen workers, including Tom Miller, father of six. Ever since the economy went down the tubes, Make-A-Bath hasn't been selling bath tubs like they once did, and now Mr. Bath has to fire three workers, one of whom will be Tom Miller. But Mr. Bath has never fired anyone before, so he has been delaying giving Tom and the other employees the bad news. But Christmas is approaching. Tom wants to buy nice gifts for his six children, but he doesn't have any money. So Tom charges a whole bunch of nice gifts on his credit card, figuring that he can pay it back with money from his checks that he will be getting from his job all year. Tom and his family don't have a lot of extra money to spend, so he likes to get his kids nice Christmas presents. Tom is looking forward to one of the best Christmases ever.

situational irony EXAMPLE

The rapper Eminem is well-known for his songwriting ability, but he is equally known for his 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 track.

verbal irony EXAMPLE

Though the police considered him a criminal, and property owners considered him a menace, Noodles considered himself an artist. Noodles would paint huge murals and spray can artwork on everything he could reach, water towers, billboards, shop windows, overpasses, anything he could reach. One day, Noodles spray painted his name in big block letters over the window of the local grocery store. When the store owner arrived the next day, he was heard to utter, "Oh! Thank you. How nice of you, Noodles, to spray paint your term-8name over my store window like that. I really appreciate it."

verbal irony DEFINITION

irony in which a person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning.

dramatic irony DEFINITION

when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't