Daren Young's Irony

Yesterday, Sloan Jackson, age 18 was put on trial for stealing a shirt from Famous Fashions in Merchandise Mall. He supposedly ran out of the store with a lump (which was the same color as the stolen shirt) in his jacket to go to Record Mart because there was a big sale going on. He then was found sitting next to the yogurt stand and the shirt was found in a trash barrel near the yogurt stand. He then ran away from the security guard but he was in the end caught and brought back to the store to return the shirt. At the trial yesterday the jury came to a verdict of being guilty after talking in the jury room for about 10 minutes. He could possibly be sentences to 4 years in prison or he might need to pay a fine of up to $2,000 or both.

In the short story “The Catbird Seat,” the author James Thurber develops verbal, dramatic, and situational irony by his plot structure. In the beginning of the story Mrs. Barrows says phrases like “Are you tearing up the pea patch?” Right after that an employee explains to Mr. Martin what is means. He says, “‘Tearing up the pea patch’ meant going on a rampage.” That section of the story is verbal irony because Mrs. Burrows is saying phrases she doesn't really mean. Later in the story Mr. Martin says, “‘Gentlemen of the jury,’ he said to himself, ‘I demand the death penalty for this horrible person.’ When he says this he is talking about Mrs. Barrows because he is frustrated with her. This evidence shows dramatic irony because we know Mr. Martin

The television series Shameless depicts a dysfunctional family of Frank Gallagher who is a single father of six children in which he spends most of his days on drugs and having misadventures while his kids learn to take care of themselves and survive with doing petty jobs to keep their house. Among the many characters are Fiona, Carl, and Frank. Fiona is the main protagonist who is like the mother of the family and maintains the family afloat but the other siblings have to do their part in the household. Carl is the second youngest boy in the family who has struggles with fitting in society and tries to find who he is by being apart of different groups. In season six, episode three of the series, each characters uses satirical and comedic devices to address social issues of poverty, society, and parenthood that is shown through verbal irony, dramatic irony and understatement.

In Advice to Youth, Twain satirizes violence and lying by using juvenalian satire. What is satire? Satire is a literary term that refers to the use of reversal, exaggeration, humor, incongruity, irony, or parody to criticize an issue or person. Twain’s style of writing in this reading is indicated as juvenalian satire. He uses irony in a humorous way to give advice to the youth about lying, violence(including the use of firearms), obeying authority, going to bed early, and reading books.

Authors use irony to make their audience stop and think about what has just been said, excite the reader, build suspense, or to even emphasize the idea. There are three types of irony: Verbal, Situational, and Dramatic. In Federigo’s Falcon by Giovanni Boccaccio, all three types of irony are used in different ways throughout the story.

In “The Drunkard” by Frank O’Connor, situational and dramatic irony are used in the story in order to illustrate Larry’s leadership and maturity and Mick Delaney’s negative behavior and selfishness, while also introducing a humorous element. The use of irony helps to establish the idea that alcohol causes problems within a family.

They were a time of “general revenge” because people would blame each other for supposedly doing witchcraft and then being punished by the church even if there was no actual evidence to consider them guilty.

The short stories “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?” by Tim O’Brien and “The Storyteller” by Saki, display irony throughout the read, that expose the characters to develop realization. Paul Berlin, in the beginning of “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?” has fear of war, and states to us, readers, “Once they reached the sea, thing would be better… and they would be safe” (O’Brien 213). Irony then comes into play and contradicts Berlin’s beliefs of the sea causing the author, Tim O’Brien, to write, “But even when he smelled salt and heard the sea, he could not stop being afraid” (216). Irony grows to be the source of Paul’s realization that the sea will not keep him safe. Likewise to irony establishing character realization in “Where Have

This story had some really hilarious parts. This story made me guffaw a lot. There is parts i bet that will make a baby laugh. This study is a high comedy story because, it makes you think about what Barry is saying. In Dave Barry’s anecdote “Dave Barry teaches his grandson life’s lessons..”. This Story is a high comedy story. Barry uses Situational Irony and Clever Wordplay.

In Edgar Allen Poe’s, The Cask of Amontillado, there are several ironies that occur. I am torn as to if Montressor actually achieved his actual goal which is retaliation against Fortunado. Once Montressor locks him away he states that his heart grew sick because of the dampness. It was for a second that his concious got to him about what he did to Fortunado. Although Fortunado is essentially locked away for the rest of life I think Montressor is still not fully sastisfied. He is torn because he is not fully at peace with his decision. On the other hand, verbal damage, or abuse can be more damaging long term than physical abuse or misdeeds. I think he was very diabolical and calculating in his approach,

In this passage, Bryson uses situational irony to poke fun at the security guard and create a humorous tone. The "cross and officious" (Bryson 265) security guard uses an arrogant tone towards Bryson, but his argument is based on a falsehood. When the security guard tells Bryson that a sign says that the area is private property, one would expect a sign to proclaim it; however, no sign exists. This irony – a contrast of expectations and reality – characterizes the security guard as clueless; how could the guard not see that no sign existed? This apparent lack of knowledge also makes the guard seem stupid and non-credible. This, in turn, creates humor when the reader laughs at the security guard’s lack of knowledge, which is absolutely absurd.

What is irony, and what is its’ role in literary works that makes it so important to us? Irony can be defined as a contrast or incongruity between expectations for a situation and reality, which can further more be broken down into three main types of irony: verbal, dramatic, or situational. In both Young Goodman Brown and Sweat, irony is displayed in each story’s situation, from the world not being as good as one sees in Young Goodman Brown, to the epitome of a bad marriage as seen in Sweat.