IRONY
• Irony is the contrast (the difference) between
what is expected and what actually happens
or exists.
What is ironic about this image?
What is ironic about this image?
What is ironic about this image?
IRONY
• Three Types of Irony
– Verbal Irony
– Dramatic Irony
– Situational Irony
Verbal Irony
• Use of words to mean something other than
their literal meaning
• Sarcastic comments
– “Nice going, Einstein!”
Verbal Irony
• Your boyfriend shows
up in ripped up jeans
and a stained t-shirt.
With a smirk, you say,
"Oh! I see you
dressed up for our
date. We must be
going somewhere
fancy!”
Verbal Irony
• You are arguing with your mother, who
reprimands you for being "smart." Your reply
is a sarcastic, "If you think I am smart, then
why won't you let me make some smart
decisions?"
Dramatic Irony
• Suspenseful knowledge that a character is
unaware of
• Contradiction
– Character thinks vs. reader knows to be true
Dramatic Irony
• Examples in every day life
•
When watching a talk show, the audience knows why a person has been
brought on the show. However, the person sitting in a chair does not know
that he is going to be reunited with an enemy. This adds to the suspense and
humor of the show.
Dramatic Irony
• Have you ever seen a horror
movie that has a killer on
the loose? You, and the rest
of the audience, know that
the teenagers should not go
walking in the woods late at
night, but they think it will
be fun. Needless to say, the
teens become the next
victims.
Situational Irony
• Discrepancy between the expected and actual
results
Situational Irony
• It's the equivalent of
a person spraying
shaving cream in his
own face when he
was trying to spray
his best friend.
What should happen? What does
happen?
• You spend half your life making fire
extinguishers, and then die in a fire because
you didn't have a fire extinguisher.
What should happen? What does
happen?
• You’re walking down the street and see a
penny. You decide that you will not pick it up
because you don’t see what good a penny will
do. You get on the bus to go home, but find
you’re a penny short for the fare.
What should happen? What does
happen?
• You buy a brand new car and get two sets of keys and
two key fobs. Your friend lectures you constantly
about how ridiculous it is to have two sets of keys
lying around. What if, for example, you have a party
and someone takes your keys? What if you
accidentally leave a set behind at a restaurant?
Wouldn’t someone take your keys and steal your car?
Your friend bothers you for weeks about your two
sets of keys… until the unexpected happens. He locks
his keys in his car.
What should happen? What does
happen?
• A man is extremely afraid to fly. He is
convinced that if he chooses to fly, he will die
in a horrible plane crash. His company,
however, needs him to attend a conference in
Reno, Nevada, and they have bought him
plane tickets to get there. At the last minute,
too freaked out to board the plane, the man
buys a train ticket to Reno. En route, the train
crashes, killing everyone on board.
What should happen? What does
happen?
• Arnold Bennett was a largely successful English
novelist that wrote dozens of books between 1898
and 1931. Bennett lived in Paris. At the time, Paris’
water supply had come under fire for not being safe
to drink. Bennett used his celebrity to try to quell
peoples’ fears. He took a big swig of water in front a
large crowd to prove that the water was just fine and
that nobody had anything to worry about. The water
was contaminated with typhoid and he died shortly
thereafter.
What should happen? What does
happen?
• When John Hinckley attempted to assassinate
Ronald Reagan, all of his shots initially missed
the President; however, a bullet ricocheted off
the bullet-proof Presidential limousine and
struck Reagan in the chest. Thus, a vehicle
made to protect the President from gunfire
was partially responsible for his being shot.
What should happen? What does
happen?
• Your parents own a vineyard and are world-renowned for the
delicious grape juice produced at their facility. Your parents
pride themselves on growing grapes without the use of
pesticides and they brag that their alternative methods to
pesticide are so successful that they have never had a bug
problem. At the annual Grape Juice Competition, your father,
before pouring a glass for the taste judges, delivers a speech
about his pesticide-free program and guarantees a delicious,
bug-free grape juice. He opens a bottle of juice, pours, and…
there it is: a black fly in the grape juice.
“The Landlady” Vocabulary
• Façade
– Noun
– The front of a building
• Congenial
– Adjective
– Pleasant; agreeable
• Compulsion
– Noun
– A force; an irresistable urge
THE LANDLADY
Roald Dahl’s Introduction to the Story