Ironic Devices

Question 1

Verbal Irony

Answer 1

• when a character says one thing but means the other
• example: Jonathan Swift’s bitter satire “A Modest Proposal” in which he suggests that babies should be eaten to end the famine in Ireland
• effect is to bring additional meanings to the table and make the reader think about what is being said

Question 2

Dramatic Irony

Answer 2

• when the audience knows something that a character doesn’t
• example: Odysseus posing as a beggar to fool those who know him, but we as the audience really know who it is
• effect is to flatter the reader in that they are privy to the knowledge usually only known to the author

Question 3

Situational Irony

Answer 3

• when both the characters and the audience are fully unaware of the implications of the real situation; an unexpected result
• effect is to surprise the audience as well as to make them think about why they weren’t privy to this knowledge

Question 4

Understatement

Answer 4

• making big things seem small
• example: Mercutio saying that the fatal wound he has just received is just a scratch
• used to make a point

Question 5

Hyperbole

Answer 5

• an exaggeration

- used to imply the intensity of the speaker’s feelings

Question 6

Paradox

Answer 6

• a statement that appears to be self-contradictory but may include a latent truth
• in Animal Farm, ““All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”.
• used to express a certain truth

Question 7

Oxymoron

Answer 7

• in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect
• example:tragic comedy
• used to express a character’s contrasting emotions or feelings

Question 8

Litotes

Answer 8

• in which a point is affirmed by negating the opposite
• example: “he’s no fool”
• used to reinforce the underlying statement

Question 9

Ambiguity

Answer 9

• a word, phrase, or statement which contains more than one meaning
• ambiguous words or statements lead to vagueness and confusion
• purposeful multiple meanings as in pun and double entendre