When is irony useful in writing




















The song Ironic is pretty dumb if you ask me, lol. Thank you so much for all this amazing advice, i really appreciate it:. Appreciating all of your advice. Hi there! Thanks so much! This post was super useful! Have a nice day, and may the rain never go anywhere near your wedding.

Name required. Email will not be published required. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Julie Jan 24 Posted in: Writers Toolbox. Feel free to argue me in the comments, or, fellow grammarphiles, to share your stories of the personal pain these lyrics caused you. Characterization Plot Prose Structure. Making the most of social networks as a writer.

The Safe Zone. Cass Jan 24 at am. Julie Jan 24 at am. Deku Sep 10 at pm. Love this article Reply. Kelley Jan 24 at pm. Julie Jan 24 at pm. Jessica Jan 24 at pm. Jessie Humphries Jan 24 at pm. Rosanna Silverlight Jan 25 at pm. This is great and will definitely help, so thank you! Julie Jan 26 at pm. The protagonist in your story has waited all week for a check to come in the mail. Argh and hello, cursed daggers of irony. Make your writing clear and concise Grammarly helps make your writing shine Write with Grammarly.

Okay, maybe that last sentence is a bit dramatic, but so are many of the writerly applications of irony. Gird thyself. There are several different types of irony a crafty writer has at their disposal. However, if a professional stunt driver crashes into a tree on their way home from receiving a "best driver" award, that is situationally ironic. A hero will often work towards a singular goal that they hope will solve all their problems.

Instead of simply allowing the hero to win with no strings attached, a writer will often reveal a terrible cost to this 'victory,' forcing the character to choose between what they want and what they need. At the end of the novel, we find out that there is a seventh Horcrux, so to speak — and it's Harry himself.

This unexpected twist also comes with the ironic realization that Harry must sacrifice himself for Voldemort to die. So he willingly goes to meet Voldemort — and his own death. But when Voldemort uses the killing curse on Harry, it has the opposite of his desired effect. Harry lives while the Horcrux dies, bringing Voldemort closer to his greatest fear: mortality.

In this way, Harry being a Horcrux is actually a double case of situational irony. You can draw strong reactions from readers by presenting them with carefully executed twists and turns. A plot twist is all the more delicious when it's the polar opposite of what you'd typically expect. Situationally ironic storylines inherently possess an element of surprise, so they're common in the thriller , crime, and mystery genres. Example: In Roald Dahl's short story "A Lamb to the Slaughter ," a betrayed housewife kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb.

When the cops arrive, she cooks the lamb and feeds it to them, effectively making the police dispose of the evidence. Ironic, wouldn't you say? Steering readers to an unexpected destination in a story can emphasize a moral lesson — often reminding readers that an expected outcome is not always guaranteed. For this reason, authors often deploy situational irony in fables or morality tales. Example: In Aesop's "The Tortoise and the Hare," the unexpected outcome teaches us that slow and steady wins the race.

Or, if you ask us, the real moral is that you shouldn't be complacent and take naps during races. You can also see this type of irony at play in Greek tragedies where the tragic hero is punished for their acts of hubris excessive pride — which was apparently the gravest sin in ancient Greece.

Example: In Oedipus Rex , the title character is, unbeknownst to him, a foundling adopted by King Polybus. As an adult, Oedipus seeks out the Oracle at Delphi, who deals a prophecy: he will mate with his mother and kill his father. In an attempt to circumvent this prophecy, Oedipus leaves home, thereby setting himself on the road to killing a man who he later discovers is his father and marrying the Queen of Thebes actually his mother.

By defying the will of the gods, he has dealt himself a fate dripping with irony. Verbal irony is where the intended meaning of a statement is the opposite of what is said. Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony, but it's almost always used to denigrate someone or something. There are common phrases that perfectly exemplify verbal irony — many of them similes comparing two entirely unlike things.

Broadly speaking, verbal irony works by either understating or overstating the gravity of the situation. As you might expect, an ironic understatement creates contrast by undermining the impact of something, though the thing itself will be rather substantial or severe. It isn't very serious. Foil is a literary device designed to illustrate or reveal information, traits, values, or motivations of one character through the comparison and contrast of another character.

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Essay How is irony persuasive? Ben Davis April 30, How is irony persuasive? What are the 3 types of irony? How is irony used in writing? Why do writers use irony? What is the effect of situational irony?



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