Irony

Monday September 13,2010

Irony
A contrast between what is
expected to happen and what
actually occurs
Irony in The Wizard of Oz
 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a story whose plot revolves
around irony. Dorothy travels to a wizard and fulfills his
challenging demands to go home, before discovering she
had the ability to go back home all the time. The
Scarecrow longs for intelligence, only to discover he is
already a genius, and the Tin Woodsman longs to be
capable of love, only to discover he already has a heart.
The Lion, who at first appears to be a whimpering coward,
turns out to be bold and fearless. The people in Emerald
City believed the Wizard to be a powerful deity, only to
discover that he is a bumbling, eccentric old man.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony
Verbal Irony
 When someone
says one thing, “Wow,
but means the you’re a
great driver!”
opposite
Situational Irony

 When a character or reader

expects on thing to happen
but something else
happens instead. The event
is not just surprising, but
contrary or opposite to
what was expected.
Dramatic Irony
 When what the character knows differs from what the
reader knows
Why is this ironic? What kind of irony is it?
Note:
 Alanis Morrisette’s song “Ironic” is NOT
a good example of irony
 Having “ten thousand spoons when all
you need is a knife” is not ironic, it is just
unfortunate 
Let’s create some situational irony!
 Scenario 1: A man dressed in rocker style clothing walks
onto stage in front of a screaming crowd. Then…
 Scenario 2: A young boy and girl are walking through the
woods until they come upon a quaint cottage in the forest.
An old lady there offers them candy and baked goods.
Then…

 NOW– With a partner, create your OWN examples of

situational irony.
EXIT TICKET:
Think of one example of verbal
and one example of situational
irony. This could be from TV,
music, personal life, etc…
Describe the situation and what
makes it ironic.