Irony

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You will be reviewing irony.

Irony is the difference between appearance and reality.

Dramatic IronyThe reader knows more about the events of a story than a character within it. Characters’ beliefs become ironic because they are very different from reality, and their intentions are likewise different from the outcome their actions will have.

Verbal IronyThe words of a character have a hidden meaning as well as an apparent one.

Situational IronyThere is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.

Structural IronyA double level of meaning is continued throughout a work by means of a participant in the story whose judgment is impaired by prejudice, personal interests or limited knowledge.

Watch the videos that follow. They will be very helpful. You will need headphones.

Please read the following poem. Then post a comment on this blog discussing the irony in the poem.

St. George

By Nancy Senior
My dragon always loved walks
He used to go to the wall
where the golden chain hung
and take it in his mouth
laying his head on my lap
sideways, so the fire wouldn’t burn my skirt

He looked so funny that way
with his wings dragging the floor
and his rear end high up
because he couldn’t bend his hind legs

With him on the leash, I could go anywhere
No band of robbers dared attack

This morning in the woods
we had stopped for a drink
where a spring gushes out of a cave

when suddenly, a man in armour
riding a white horse
leapt out of the bushes
crying “Have no fear
I will save you”

And before I could say a word
he had stabbed my dragon in the throat
and leaping down from the horse
cut off his head
and held it up for me to see
the poor eyes still surprised
and mine filling with tears
He hadn’t even had time to put out his claws
And the man said
“Don’t cry, Maiden
You are safe now
But let me give some good advice

Don’t ever walk alone in the woods
for the next time you meet a dragon
there might not be a knight around to save you”

2 thoughts on “Irony

  1. Sara D

    The whole poem had a strong situational element to it due to the fact that the girl had a dragon domesticated, as opposed to a “normal” animal such as a cat or dog. Verbal Irony was present when the knight spoke both times, saying “have no fear, I will save you”, and “don’t ever walk alone in the woods for the next time you meet a dragon there might not be a knight around to save you.” His words were ironic due to the fact that he was the “monster” and the dragon was her “protector”.

  2. Karley Greenlaw

    This poem involves both situational irony as well as verbal irony. The situational irony is that the narrator own a dragon as a pet, opposed to the usual pet of a dog. The verbal irony is shown when the knight says “You are safe now” after he killed the dragon. This is ironic because the dragon was the narrator’s protector and the knight was the danger.

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