Irony is a form of linguistic ambiguity achieved through textual‚ grammatical‚ and textual manipulation. Defined simply‚ irony is “the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite‚ typically for humorous or emphatic effect” (OED Online). Seeing as this is clearly a violation of Quality‚ one of Grice’s maxims‚ it can be presumed that in most cases of irony speakers tend to violate one or some of Grice’s four maxims underneath the Cooperative Principle: Quantity
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twists‚ hidden meanings‚ symbolism and irony. Kate Chopin always seems to have a surprise for her readers. I believe irony is shown throughout Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour through Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death‚ Josephine’s concern for Mrs. Mallard when she locked herself in her room and with the twist at the end of the story. When Louise Mallard was told that her husband Brently Mallard has been killed in a train accident‚ she cried. The irony is that she was not crying out of
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Both “The Necklace” and “The Gift of the Magi” have plots that depend in large measure on the use of situational irony to create a surprise ending. “The Necklace” tells the story of Madame Mathilde Loise‚ a lowly clerk’s wife‚ who‚ in an effort to appear more debonaire than she is‚ borrows expensive jewels from Madame Jeanne Forestier‚ a wealthy friend. After the inevitable loss of the jewels‚ Madame Loisel and her husband secretly replace the jewels. Years later‚ Madame Loise‚ now impoverished
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The Portable Phonograph Paradox‚ Symbolism‚ and Irony ‘The Portable Phonograph’ tells the tale of four men in a post apocalyptic world who gather once a week to bask in the glory of the arts. This short story by Walter Van Tilburg Clark holds hidden meanings and metaphors underneath the descriptive language and various literary techniques. The theme explores the idea that it is human nature to revert to primitive or basic instincts in a time of great crisis. The writer clarifies this theme
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Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Probably the greatest on is "The Pardoner’s Tale". A greedy Pardoner who preaches to feed his own desires tells "The Pardoner’s Tale". This story contains excellent examples of verbal‚ situational‚ and dramatic irony. Verbal irony occurs when a writer or speaker says one thing but really means something quite different. He tells the other pilgrims that his sermons reflect how money is the root of all evils‚ "radix malorum est cupiditas." He actually preaches against
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the public morality of the Puritans. Likewise‚ some of the townsfolk in “The Lottery” start questioning if the lottery should be abandoned. Through the use of irony and symbolism‚ both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Shirley Jackson address the theme of blindly following a social norm to disastrous ends. Names‚ titles and objects are points of irony in “Young Goodman Brown.” Hawthorne gives the characters names and titles that turn out to be ironic. Common titles among the Puritans were “goodman” and “goody”
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Sophocles‚ has a central theme of “one cannot escape their fate.” This theme is created using elements of dramatic irony‚ including diction‚ dialogue‚ and situational irony. This play is a Greek tragedy and it means the audience is already somewhat familiar with the main characters and the plot. The advance knowledge the audience has about what happens is known as dramatic irony. Dramatic irony in Oedipus the King affects the theme of “one cannot escape their fate” because throughout the play the main
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visualize the world‚ not physically‚ but in a more remarkable way than others. To help develop this theme of blind people being able to see‚ and those who can see are blind‚ Raymond Carver uses different rhetorical devices such as simple diction and irony. The narrator of the story lacks deep thought on different subjects; however‚ as for the blind man he puts in extra thought into life. Although he cannot see‚ Robert has honed his senses to have a knack to interrupt each situation as it arises. Never
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Irony is visible in the fact that the leaders the animals though they wanted‚ eventually become the exact same as the leader they overthrew. Orwell uses this powerful irony to illustrate the deeper idea pervading the story--the issue was not a matter of who had complete power‚ but a matter of whether one leader should have absolute power
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The author Steinbeck actually uses a lot of irony in the entire novel. One of the major irony appears in the book is the scene when George kills Lennie‚ because he wants to protect Lennie from other people such as Curley who might treat Lennie in a violent way. Ironically‚ George takes Carlson’s shotgun to kill Lennie‚ and this shotgun is actually the one is used for killing Candy’s dog. It is also irony since the ranch hands do not feel sympathy for Lennie’s death and the fact that George loses
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