Comprehension

Language Use for Impact Question

 Irony
Early Saturday morning found father and son
crouching in the brush, keeping an eye out for
white-tailed deer. In his excitement, Julian could
hardly keep his quivering finger off the trigger.
“Remember,”David whispered urgently in his
son's ear, ''keep calm, and keep your wits about
you. And most importantly, stay with me.” He
then moved forward and motioned Julian to
follow him.
 Irony
Julian nodded his head vigorously, but his mind
was already elsewhere. He had been distracted
by some fluttering leaves some distance to his
left. Quietly, he crept away from his father, in
the direction of the movement, and soon
spotted a magnificent deer.
 Irony
But the animal sensed his presence almost
immediately, and bounded away towards the
safety of some tall bushes. His heart pounding
furiously in his chest, Julian kept his quarry in
his cross hairs. The deer was in mid-leap when
he pulled the trigger, just as it disappeared from
his view.
 Irony Vocabulary

crouching To stoop or bend low

quivering tremble
wits Powers of intelligent observation
vigorously Energetically or forcefully
fluttering To wave, flap or toss about
magnificent Exceptional beauty
bounded To move by leaps
quarry An animal or bird hunted
 Irony
There was a grunting sound, followed by a
thud. His bullet had hit its mark! Julian crashed
through the undergrowth to take a look at his
first kill, adrenaline surging through his vein.
Dad would be so proud of me! He pushed aside
some branches and looked down to gaze at his
very first whitetail.
 Irony
No! he thought in horror. This is all wrong! Th-
this can't be happening!

He crumbled to his knees in a trembling heap,

his tears blinding him, for there, lying on the
ground was his lifeless father, a bullet hole
through his heart, his blood-soaked shirt
growing redder and redder...
 Irony Vocabulary
grunting To emit a low gruff noise
adrenaline A high state of excitement
surging To rise forward in or like waves
gaze To look steadily and intently
crumbled Collapse
trembling To shake involuntarily with quick, short
movements as from fear
 Irony definition
Irony can be defined in three different ways. In order to be
able to answer questions on the author's use of irony, you
should familiarize yourself with the definitions of each type, so
that you can identify which type of irony the author is using.
 Irony #1

A particular use of language in which the words used by the

writer (speaker) are clearly the opposite of what he really
means.
Example
“Oh! My mother introduced me to the most handsome man
last night!” (where the speaker is actually talking about an
ugly man.
 Irony#2
A particular use of language which not only has an 'outer'
(superficial) meaning but also an 'inner' (secret) meaning
which only some readers (or listeners) are aware of.

Question: “This will be my last hunt” (line 3)

Explain the irony here.
Answer: David was not only on his last hunt because he was
giving up hunting for good after this hunt, but he was also on
his last hunt as he was going to die during this hunt.
 Irony#3

The irony of a situation is the way in which a situation is

odd/absurd/amusing because what actually happens is the
opposite of what might be expected to happen.
(a) “Dad would be so proud of me” paragraph 4.
Explain the irony here. (Irony Type 3)
Julian thought that his father would be so proud of him
because he had shot his first deer, but in reality, his father
would have been so disappointed in him because he had
killed a man instead of a deer.
 A point to note:

Most likely , you will encounter questions (usually worth 2

marks each) based on Irony #2 or or Irony #3.

For questions on Irony #2, you will have to point out both the
superficial meaning as well as the secret meaning.

For questions on Irony #3, you will have to show how what
actually happens is the opposite of what is expected to
happen.