Types of Irony

Girl in a horror film hides in a closet where the killer just went (the audience knows the killer is there, but she does not).

• situational irony

• dramatic irony

• verbal irony

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

A small child does not flush the toilet, and the mother says, "I really appreciate when you flush the toilet! Thank you for remembering your manners!"

• dramatic irony

• situational irony

• verbal irony

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

CCSS.RL.8.4

In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, we know that the old woman bringing the apple is the wicked queen who wants to kill Snow White, but she does not. She purchases the apple, takes a bite, and falls.

• dramatic irony

• situational irony

• verbal irony

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

In the Gift of the Magi, the wife cuts her long hair and sells it to have the money to buy her husband a pocket watch chain. He sells his watch to buy her a hair accessory, leaving both with a useless gift, which was not what they expected for their efforts.

• dramatic irony

• situational irony

• verbal irony

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.2.3

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.4

In Macbeth, King Duncan says that he trusts Macbeth ("he was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust), but the audience knows that Macbeth is plotting to kill Duncan.

• situational irony

• dramatic irony

• verbal irony

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.10

CCSS.RL.6.7

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.10

In Beauty and the Beast, an animated Disney movie, Belle refuses to marry Gaston by saying "I just don't deserve you!"

• dramatic irony

• situational irony

• verbal irony

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

CCSS.RL.8.3

A student who goes to the restroom every day during class asks the teacher if he can go. Her response is "Sure, it's not like we do anything important in this class."

• situational irony

• verbal irony

• dramatic irony

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

In Story of an Hour, when a wife hears of her husband's death she begins to imagine a life of freedom without him, but he suddenly returns home alive and well. This is so unexpected that she drops dead of shock in a twist that surprises both the characters and the reader.

• situational irony

• dramatic irony

• verbal irony

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.2.3

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.4

In the movie Annie, the orphans say, "We love you Ms. Hannigan," to their guardian who is mean to them.

• situational irony

• verbal irony

• dramatic irony

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare - "O my love, my wife! Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty." Romeo finds Juliet drugged and assumes she is dead. He kills himself but then she awakens, sees that he is dead and kills herself. This is ironic because both lovers killed themselves over a mistaken assumption, leading to a tragic outcome instead of the happy ending the lovers expected.

• dramatic irony

• situational irony

• verbal irony

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.8.7