I R O N Y

• 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?

I R O N Y

• 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.

“Don’t o

pen the door!”

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.

• 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?

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 LANDLADYRoald Dahl’s Introduction to the Story