irony,+ironic

=irony/ironic= media type="file" key="irony002.wav" media type="file" key="ironic01.wav"

[ahy-r//uh//-nee, ahy-er-] [ahy-ron-ik]

The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or difference between what appears to be and what is actually true. Irony is often used to create poignancy or humor. In general, there are three major types of irony used in language.

Example:

(Resource 14)

//**verbal irony**// [vur-buh l] [ahy-r//uh//-nee, ahy-er-]media type="file" key="verbal01.wav"

When the words literally state the opposite of the writer's (or speaker's) meaning.

Example: "Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;/And Brutus is an honourable man".(Antony) Antony actually means that Brutus is dishonorable. He mocks Brutus with this phrase. (Resource 9)

"The simple comment, 'Oh Great' after something rotten happens is verbal irony." (Resource 12)

//**situational irony**// [sich-oo-ey-shuhn l][ahy-r//uh//-nee, ahy-er-]media type="file" key="situat04.wav"

When events turn out the opposite of what was expected; when what the characters and readers think ought to happen is not what does happen.

Example:

"Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;/ He thinks too much: such men are dangerous" (Caeser) "Fear him not, Caesar; he's not dangerous;/ He is a noble Roman and well given."(Antony) "Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through" (Antony)(Resource 9) - This sequence of events is irony. Caeser thinks Cassius is dangerous and tells Antony who disagrees. Then later in the story Ceaser is litterally stabbed in the back by Cassius.

"If the president of Microsoft, Bill Gates, were to win a contest whose grand prize was a computer system, the irony would be situational because such a circumstance would appear ridiculous or 'funny' for a number of reasons. Bill Gates doesn't need a computer, he runs the world's largest software company, and he's filthy rich, so winning a computer seems silly and 'ironic'." (Resource 10)

//**dramatic irony**// [druh-mat-ik][ahy-r//uh//-nee, ahy-er-] media type="file" key="dramat01.wav"

When facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work.

Example:

"O Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo" - Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" asks herself where Romeo is while Romeo is standing in the bushes watching her. "In Othello, Othello addresses Iago as 'honest Iago.' Of course, Othello does not know that Iago is the conniving villain who leads him to believe through trickery and deception that Othello's wife, Desdemona has been unfaithful. The audience has witnessed Iago's high jinks in a way Othello cannot, since he has not been 'watching' the rest of the play as the audience has. For this, Othello unjustly kills his wife, believing the whole time in Iago's honesty, which makes this instance in literature both an act of dramatic irony and an act the leads to tragic irony . . ." (Resource 6)

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Resources: 1. "Definition of Dramatic." Merriam-Webster. 2007. Merriam-Webster, Inc.. 27 Sep 2007 . 2. "Definition of Irony." Merriam-Webster. 2007. Merriam-Webster, Inc.. 27 Sep 2007 . 3. "Definition of Ironic." Merriam-Webster. 2007. Merriam-Webster, Inc.. 27 Sep 2007 . 4. "Definition of Verbal." Merriam-Webster. 2007. Merriam-Webster, Inc.. 27 Sep 2007 . 5. "Dramatic." Dictionary.com. 2007. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.. 27 Sep 2007 . 6. "Dramatic Irony." Sarcasm Society. 2007. Sarcasm Society. 27 Sep 2007 . 7. "Ironic." Dictionary.com. 2007. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.. 26 Sep 2007 . 8. "Irony." Dictionary.com. 2007. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.. 27 Sep 2007 . 9. Shakespeare, William. "The Life and Death of Julius Caeser." __The Complete Works of William Shakespeare__. MIT. 1 Oct 2007. 10 "Situation." Dictionary.com. 2007. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.. 27 Sep 2007 . 11. "Situational Irony." Sarcasm Society. 2007. Sarcasm Society. 27 Sep 2007 . 12. "Verbal." Dictionary.com. 2007. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.. 27 Sep 2007 . 13. "Verbal Irony." Sarcasm Society. 2007. Sarcasm Society. 27 Sep 2007 . 14. "メンテナンス中につき変換休止中です. ." メンテナンス中につき変換休止中です. . 2007. 27 Sep 2007 .

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