The most amazing PowerPoint ever!

1. The most amazing PowerPoint ever! A lesson in the three types of Irony

2. Verbal Irony • Spoken words only. • When what is said is the opposite of the intended meaning. • The contrast is between what the speaker says and what they actually mean. • May be confused with sarcasm: • Verbal irony is IMPLIED • “Great, I forgot my umbrella.” • (This person is upset she forgot her umbrella, not actually thrilled) • Sarcasm is DIRECT AND HARSH – meant to insult or cause harm • “My brilliant mother forgot to put my umbrella in my bag.” • (This person is insulting her mother, she is not actually calling her smart)

3. Examples of Verbal Irony • “I can’t wait to start writing these forty-seven reports.” • “My walk home was only twenty-three blocks.” • “You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends.” – Mr. Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice” • It is obvious why, Lydia, with all her charm, would be the youngest Bennet sister to marry.

4. Situational Irony • Defies logical cause and effect relationships. • When the situation or outcome is the opposite of what was expected. • Usually accompanied by a sense of injustice.

5. Examples of Situational Irony • There is a poetic kind of injustice that often occurs in situational irony. Some sense of fairness often seems violated in examples of situational irony. • A man dies because he is allergic to the antibiotics that were supposed to save his life. • A refugee who is travelling across open desert to escape a violent regime is killed when a box of humanitarian aid is dropped from a plane and lands on him. • The Psychic Friends Network went bankrupt due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

6. Dramatic Irony • Occurs when the meaning intended by a character’s words is opposite of the true situation. • Further, the character does not see the irony, because they lack information, but the audience or reader sees the irony because they know things the character does not. • The difference between situation and dramatic irony is that that with dramatic, the character does NOT know they are being ironic.

7. Example of Dramatic Irony • “Romeo and Juliet” • Romeo believes Juliet is dead, the audience knows she is just drugged and sleeping. Romeo kills himself because of a lack of information he has, that the audience knows. • “Pride and Prejudice” • Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth Bennet • The audience knows there is no possible chance Elizabeth will accept the proposal because we know her thoughts and opinions on both Mr. Collins and marriage. Mr. Collins does not know either of these things and proceeds in a long and drawn out proposal in part due to his lack of information.

8. Coincidence is NOT irony • Rain on your wedding day is NOT ironic – it is just unfortunate. • UNLESS: You planned a wedding on a day that hasn’t had rain in the past 50 years and are wearing a dress made of paper because you are so certain that it won’t rain, because it never does. • The outcome is then the opposite of what you expected, so that is ironic. • It is NOT ironic that you and your sister got the same grade from the same teacher – just coincidence

9. Test your irony skills: • Dave’s blood pressure medication gave him a heart attack. • I missed the job interview because I overslept. • Batman doesn’t know that the Joker is waiting for him, but the audience does. • “Thank you for this ticket, Officer. You just made my day.” • “I heard that sun block causes cancer.” • Three celebrities died in three separate plane crashes yesterday.