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Irony is a term with a range of meanings, all of them involving some sort of
discrepancy or incongruity (that is, a disconnect between what is expected
and what actually occurs). It should not be confused with sarcasm, which is
simply language designed to cause pain. Irony is used to suggest the
difference between appearance and reality, between expectation and
fulfillment.
Types of irony include the following:
Verbal irony occurs when the opposite is said from what is intended. For example, when a wife
says to her husband who has just bought a car they cannot afford, “Time to go home, Bill Gates,”
she is using verbal irony.
Dramatic irony is the contrast between what a character says or knows and what the reader
knows to be true. For example, in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, Othello believes Iago to be his
best friend and advisor, while the audience knows that Iago hates Othello and is doing everything
in his power to destroy Othello.
Irony of situation is discrepancy between appearance and reality, or between expectation and
fulfillment, or between what exists and what would seem appropriate. For example, if we see a
scene in which two lovers on the deck of a ship swear eternal love for one another and promise
to be together all their lives, and then the camera pulls back to reveal a life preserver stenciled
RMS Titanic, that’s situational irony.
Other examples could be a firehouse burning down, or a person being killed by being run over by
an ambulance.
ACTIVITY ON IRONY
DIRECTIONS: Read the poem “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall. The poem is about
the 1963 bombing of a church in which four little African-American girls were killed. After
reading the poem, complete the activity that follows.
Ballad of Birmingham
(On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)
"Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?"
"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren't good for a little child."
"But, mother, I won't be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free."
"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children's choir."
She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.
The mother smiled to know that her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.
For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.
She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
"O, here's the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?"
Use the space provided to explain the irony in this poem. Be sure to
include examples from the text.
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