Irony Mini-Lesson
Student Name: ______Date: ______Period: ______
There are three different kinds of irony:
v Verbal
v Situational
v Dramatic
Directions: Read the definitions below and brainstorm (write down) an example of each type of irony. All of your examples, except for that of verbal irony, should come from the texts we have read for class.
Note to self: When human beings perceive irony, their feelings usually range from wry laughter (“Isn’t life weird?”) to thoughtfulness (“Why does this seem so absurd?”).
Directions: Consider the following passage from Fahrenheit 451. How does the author use irony in the passage below?
IT WAS A PLEASURE TO BURN.IT was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house. While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning.
Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by flame.
He knew that when he returned to the firehouse, he might wink at himself, a minstrel man, burntcorked, in the mirror. Later, going to sleep, he would feel the fiery smile still gripped by his face muscles, in the dark. It never went away, that smile, it never ever went away, as long as he remembered.
Directions: Consider what you have read of Fahrenheit 451 thus far; brainstorm examples of irony from the novel.
Directions for Practice: For each example, tell whether it shows dramatic, situational, or verbal irony. In each blank, write D, S or V to show the type.
____1. Alicia is sure that Felix will ask her to the prom. He has been flattering her and flirting with her all week. He finally approaches her at lunch, takes her hand, stares deeply into her eyes, and says he has to ask her something: “Do you think your sister will go to the prom with me?”
___2. You are watching a play. The villain of the play has just come into the room and has hidden himself behind a curtain with a knife. Soon after, the heroes of the play enter the room and discuss their theories as to where the villain might be.
___3. You are walking home from school on a dismal, forbidding afternoon. You just had possibly the worst day of your life, and everything seemed to have slipped through your fingers. As you try to step over a huge mud puddle onto the sidewalk, you trip and fall face first into the brown water. You are just about to shout, “Can this day get ANY worse?” when you feel something on the ground—it’s a $100 bill!
___4. As Alex is walking home, he passes a fence with a large "Beware of Dog" sign on it. Worried that the dog might be aggressive, Alex crosses to the other side of the street, just in time to see a Chihuahua come racing out of the house. Amused, Alex returns to his original path. Dangling from the collar of the whimpering Chihuahua is the dog's tag--her name is "Ripper."
___5. You overhear an obsequious girl boasting to all of her confidants about how all of the guys are in love with her. But you can hear the comments that all of the guys standing around her are making about how much they do not like her. She just keeps on going on and on, convinced that she is Miss Wonderful.
___6. Winter Storm Jonas has just hit NYC. As you watch the snow fall so thickly that you cannot see the next building over, you turn to your friend and say, "Fancy a walk? The weather is lovely!"
___7. A song titled "Ironic" which contains no true examples of irony.