Question

name
understanding irony
irony is a literary device in which words are used to express a contradiction between
appearance and reality - in irony, reality is usually the opposite of what it seems. in
literature, there are three types of irony.

• verbal irony is when a speaker or writer says one thing but actually means the

opposite. for example, when your mom walks into your filthy bedroom and says,
i see youve cleaned your room! sarcasm is one type of verbal irony.
✓ to find the verbal irony, ask yourself, what is really being said? if what the
person actually says is not exactly what the person really means, you
likely have verbal irony.

• situational irony is when the outcome of a situation is inconsistent with what we

expect would logically or normally occur. it is the reverse of what we expect will
be or happen. an example of situational irony would be if a thiefs house was
broken into at the same time he was robbing someones house.
✓ to find the situational irony, ask yourself what were you expecting would
happen or what did you expect it to be? if the situation is something
different than what we expect would happen or is the opposite of what you
might expect someone would say or do, then it is likely situational irony.

• dramatic irony is when the audience or the reader is aware of something that a

character does not know. for example, when romeo believes juliet is dead,
but the audience knows that she has only been given a potion to sleep.
✓ to identify dramatic irony, ask yourself what did you already know
happened or was going to happen?
directions: to practice identifying and labeling the different types of irony, complete the
following activity.

1. if you have a phobia of long words, you must tell people that you are

hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobic.
a. type of irony:
b. explain your choice:

1. a rat infestation at the department of sanitation

a. type of irony:
b. explain your choice:

Explanation:

For 1:

• Type of Irony: Situational irony.
• Explanation: A person has a phobia of long words (which is an expectation of simplicity in relation to words), but the term for that phobia, "Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobic", is an extremely long word. The outcome (the name of the phobia) is inconsistent with what one would logically expect (a simple name for a fear of long words).

For 2:

• Type of Irony: Situational irony.
• Explanation: The Department of Sanitation is an entity one would expect to be free of pests like rats (a normal expectation of cleanliness and lack of infestations). But there is a rat infestation there. The outcome (rat infestation) is the reverse of what is logically expected (a clean, rat - free environment at a sanitation department).

Answer:

1.

• a. Situational irony
• b. A person fears long words, but the word for that fear is very long.

2.

• a. Situational irony
• b. The Department of Sanitation is expected to be clean (no rats), but there is a rat infestation.