The novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, is a novel that would appear to be easily considered a tragedy at first glance. However, after reading and examining the novel, it becomes questionable as to what the genre of the novel actually is. The story of the Bundren family and their quest is surrounded by a tragic event, the death of a mother and wife, Addie. In spite of this, the Bundren’s quest to bury Addie in her hometown creates a series of events and actions that cause characters and the quest to spiral out of control. The death of Addie is truly a tragedy, but it is the tragedy that generates situations and circumstances that are so strange that the novel becomes comical. Through exploring the purpose of
Irony is the most powerful literary device used in the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. First, a good example of irony in the story is “They were burdened with sashweights sand bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.” (P,2 Line, 11-13) This quote is Ironic as it tells how this system was designed to hide beauty, yet beauty was still shown by the amount of restraints on the person. Second, another good example of irony is, “The spectacles were intended to make him not only half-blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.”(P,11 Line,4) This is an example of how gifted people’s lives were harder than
A portion of verbal irony is the party slogan “War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength” (Orwell page 5). It’s a statement which on the surface is contradictory, but it contains truth. An example of dramatic irony is Winston is worried about getting caught writing in his journal.
Irony is one of the rhetorical devices in which it it uncovers the difference between the truth and something expected. Predominantly, it detects the misconceptions or the unfairness of a specific situation. (http://figurativelanguage.net/Irony.html)
Irony can clearly be stated as the use of words that mean the opposite of what we think it means. An example of a story that uses irony is The Cask of Amontillado. Which is about a man named Montresor who believes this other man named Fortunato insulted him. Montresor’s family motto is “no one insults me with impunity”, he feels justified in taking revenge on Fortunato. In the short story by Edgar Allen Poe, there are countless examples of irony to convey Montresor’s unlawful act, while applying an additional layer of irony to sabotage his revenge.
Firstly a great example of irony would be Miss Gates. Miss Gates plays the role of scouts teacher in to kill a mocking bird, she lectures her students on Hitler’s doings and how persecuted millions of Jews. She says she doesn’t understand what the Jews did to Hitler that gave him the right to slaughter and persecute them. Miss Gates vilifies Hitler for targeting one ethnic group and compares the American society with Germanys. “Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced. Prejudice” (chapter 26) this quote is extremely ironic throughout this novel and she is showing complete arrogance as she is acting in the same mannerisms as Hitler as she targets a single group of people but instead
Irony is the expression of one 's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect. In George Orwell’s 1984 there are four branches of government, known as ministries, that have names that mean the opposite. For example, in the Ministry of Peace they declare and conduct wars, and there is nothing peaceful about war. Along with the Ministry of Peace, there is the Ministry of Plenty, Ministry of Love, and Ministry of Truth, and through these ministries, the government, known as the Inner Party, has the power to make policies and control the Outer Party members. Behind this great power is Big Brother; the fictional leader who strips the party members of their freedom of action or expression and demands complete
Throughout the Play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth is a man who goes through different characteristical shifts. With the clear use of different analytical techniques in the play macbeth, It makes it easier for us, the readers to deeply follow along from beginning to end. The two techniques that set this play apart from its close competitors are the use of irony and vampirism. These two techniques thoughtfully mentioned in the play macbeth are also related to the Book How To Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. After reading chapter 26 “It’s he serious? And other Ironies”, and Chapter 3 “Nice to eat you: acts of Vampires” from Foster’s book, I got to know these two techniques, making it easier for me to point
Authors use Imagery, Simile and Metaphor to put a clear picture in the reader's head.
Edgar Allan Poe is a phenomenal writer and makes many points in his writings. There are three different ways in Poe 's writing of "The Cask of Amontillado" that irony is used: verbal, situational and dramatic. Verbal irony can be seen when Montresor first sees Fortunato at the carnival. Situational irony is also used and can be seen between the meaning of Fortunato 's name and his destiny, as well as Montresor 's response to his own. The last way irony is used is dramatic irony, this can be seen by any reader, this occurs when Montresor tells Fortunato he is also a mason.
Irony is often used in literature to illustrate certain situations to the audience. In some pieces of literature that might be pointing out an unjust system, in others that might be to add a comedic effect, but whatever situation the author wants to illustrate, irony is very beneficial. Through small and witty, one-liners, or a bigger dramatic irony situation contrasting two very different situations, irony can be very beneficial for the reader to understand the story. Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins have a corrupt dystopian society. Through the use of irony, the author can portray the corruptness to the audience. Transition!!! Irony is used in both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to the sudden death of her husband. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as sad, yet happy that her husband has been killed. Kate Chopin’s “ The Story of an Hour” argues that when a person is controlled and made to live under another person their mental state of mind is affected. The story also argues that when that person is freed from the controlling person their true self can finally be achieved. Kate Chopin portrays these themes by the use of character development; plot control, and irony throughout the story.
Desiree’s Baby is a short story by Kate Chopin. “Desiree’s Baby” takes place before the Civil War in a time when black people were neglected and mistreated by the whites. Desiree was abandoned and left behind by her parents when she was a toddler by a big stone pillar. She was found and declared adopted by Madame and Monsieur Valmonde. Armand a man that was really harsh to blacks falls in love with Desiree and gets married with her without knowing anything about her ancestry. They end up having a kid but the boy turns out to be not white. Armand angry and upset kicks out both Desiree and her baby because of her mixed race. That night, Armand burns all of Desiree’s possessions. While doing this, he finds a letter that his mother wrote to his
Stephen Crane’s poem, “Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War Is Kind” quite clearly speaks to the horror and grief of war, but does so in a roundabout way that comes across as sarcasm; in fact, it is exactly this heavy use of verbal irony that drives his message home to the reader. Verbal irony, put simply, is the use of words to deliberately convey the opposite of their direct or literal meanings. For example, the first stanza of Crane’s poem reads, “Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind. / Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky / And the affrighted steed ran on alone, / Do not weep. / War is kind” (Crane 1-5). Here, the speaker is addressing a woman who has lost her lover in battle. Crane’s claim that war is kind and that the woman should
During war, authors like Stephen Crane,Wilfred Owen, Tim O’Brien, and Kevin Powers use literature to protest war. There were also authors who experienced the war first hand.. These authors use irony, imagery, and diction to help their anti-war protest.