Irony

Definition : a difference between appearance and reality.

* Verbal irony occurs when an author says one thing and means something else (often
said sarcastically).
* Dramatic irony occurs when an audience perceives something that a character in the
literature does not know.
*Situational irony occurs when there is a difference between the expected results and
actual one.
Read each passage below, then explain what is ironic about the meaning of the passage.
Don’t only contradict it, explain its meaning.
1. “Some prominent members of the community came… to ask him what he thought of the
situation. My father did not consider it so grim… The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You
don’t die of it… “
Dramatic Irony: The audience knows that the yellow star means death, but the character
doesn’t.
2. “On we went between the electric wires. At each step, a white placard with a death’s head on it
stared us in the face. A caption: “Warning. Danger of death.”
Situational: The characters did not see all signs of death except for the actual sign.
3. “We had been marching only a few moments when we saw the barbed wire of another camp.
An iron door with this inscription over it: “Work is liberty!”
Dramatic: They think they are free from work, but they are just free for death.
4. “The SS gave us a fine New Year’s gift…. And soon a terrible word was circulating
selection.”
Verbal: Their new year’s gift was not a good gift.
5. “I’ve got more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept his promises,
all his promises, to the Jewish people.”
Situational: Jews would not expect that from a situation.
Verbal: A prisoner would never say that they have faith in Hitler, so it was sarcastic.