Irony is the general name given to literary techniques that involve surprising‚ interesting‚or amusing contradictions. 1 Two stories that serve as excellent demonstrations of irony are "The Pardoners Tale" and "The Nun’s Priest’s Tale‚" both from Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Although these two stories are very different‚ they both use irony to teach a lesson. Of the stories‚ "The Pardoners Tale" displays the most irony. First and foremost‚ the entire telling of the story is ironic‚ considering
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Verbal irony presents itself well in Stevenson’s story (Stevenson 1-78). "I am quite sure of him‚" replied Jekyll‚ "I have grounds for certainty that I cannot share with anyone." (Stevenson 30). Jekyll is speaking about his good friend Mr. Hyde‚ whom no one knows is his divided "other" personality (Stevenson 30). Literally‚ Jekyll knows Hyde very well‚ but cannot disclose certain personal information about Hyde’s life that he does not wish to share; yet the reader finds out later‚ that Jekyll is
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maintain group status and agreement. Many times‚ rituals or ideas are allowed and accepted just because they are favored by a majority or have been part of that society for so long that they have become almost like a tradition. In "The Lottery"‚ Shirley Jackson uses alarming images to guide the reader to understand the futility and foolishness of blind obedience to these rituals. The lottery “selection” emphasizes the importance of questioning what is right in front of you instead of just conforming
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“Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box‚ they still remembered to use stones.” (142) Rituals have been a part of human society since the first families huddled together. The intention of repeating the activity is to remind the group of members that something is important and vital to the fabric of their lives. This one sentence really exemplifies how society fails to learn and understand why they repeat a pattern of behavior. In the story‚ one generation
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“The Lottery” is a short story written by a woman named Shirley Jackson. The story takes place on the 27th of June in a small nameless town. The lottery is a tradition in this small town and has taken place longer than any of the townspeople can remember. In fact none even remember why there is a lottery‚ but take part in it because there has always been one. Part of this tradition is an old black box. Of course it is not the original box but some in the story say that it was
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The Irony of Capital Punishment Capital punishment has been a part of our justice system since the beginning. For many years the controversy of the death penalty has created social issues that question the validity and fairness based on concerns of moral and human rights. Even though many other nations use this form of justice‚ the fact that the United States views itself as a leader of human rights brings question to whether we are practicing what we preach. Nevertheless‚ the majority of US citizens
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Literary Analysis of Shirley Jackson’s: “The Lottery” by Cary Sanders English 1320-Section 15 Dr. J. Drummond April 2 ‚ 2015 Sanders i Outline Thesis Statement: People will often unquestionably follow tradition and the crowd without ever stopping to think about why they are doing what they are doing. I. Plot A. Summer Time B. Small Town II. Characters III. Theme of Story A. Blind Tradition B. Unquestioning Allegiance IV. Is it not ironic? A. Lottery equals death? B
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been painfully evident in my life. Until recently‚ I had never dared to fail greatly at anything‚ and as a result‚ I never achieved greatly at anything either. Luckily‚ I have learned the importance of attempting something when there’s a looming possibility of failure. At Boys’ State this summer‚ I spent a week living with 300 other young men while learning about how North Carolina’s government works. To give us a firm grasp of the governmental process‚ each floor elected town officials‚ each dorm
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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. One example of this type of irony is found in lines 216-217: " Trust me‚’ the other said‚ you needn’t doubt my word. I wont betray you. I’ll be true.’" The rioter is telling the second that he would never betray
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Throughout “Oedipus Rex”‚ Sophacles constantly fills the play with irony of all kinds‚ whether it is dramatic‚ situational‚ or verbal. He almost seems to enjoy exploiting Oedipus’ ignorance of the murder he committed and the prophecy he fulfilled‚ especially in the beginning of the play before he begins to realize the truth in his actions. This play is a great example of the usage of irony to create an entertaining plot. Dramatic irony is mostly seen at the beginning of the play as the plot is being
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