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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subject of war and protest. Some writers have written to memorize battles‚ honor those who fight or just to glorify war itself. What tools can writers use to protest war? Writers use three techniques to achieve the protest of war. They use Imagery‚ Irony‚ and Structure. A way writers use to protest war is by using Imagery. Crane used very strong glorifying imagery. He put negative images next to the glorified images and that was his way of protesting war. “Hoarse‚ booming drums of the regiment” is
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Irony in “The Gift of the Magi” In The Gift of the Magi‚ O Henry uses irony to place special emphasis on love and sacrifice. O Henry is known for his use of irony in his short stories. Irony is defined as: “the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning” (dictionary.com). In The Gift of the Magi‚ O Henry uses verbal‚ situational and dramatic irony to tell his story. The most obvious and prominent type of irony used in The Gift of the Magi was situational irony
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ESSAI Volume 5 Article 13 1-1-2007 Irony in "Richard Cory" Peter Cohen essai_cohen@cod.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://dc.cod.edu/essai Recommended Citation Cohen‚ Peter (2007) "Irony in "Richard Cory"‚" ESSAI: Vol. 5‚ Article 13. Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol5/iss1/13 This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@C.O.D.. It has been accepted for inclusion in ESSAI by an authorized administrator
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Exploring the Irony of The Age of Innocence Title In the aftermath of the First World War‚ Edith Wharton wrote the timeless novel The Age of Innocence‚ serving as a flashback to the period in which Wharton herself was raised. The Age of Innocence story takes place in upper-class New York society during the 1870s and highlights the distinctive social codes of the aristocratic class. Choosing the title The Age of Innocence to represent Wharton’s story is highly ironic due to the sinister characters
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In the short story‚ "The Things They Carried”‚ Tim O’Brien writes about the soldiers of Vietnam and the burdens they had to carry with them. In this story‚ O’Brien uses symbolism‚ irony and the theme of burden and guilt to portray how the war has affected the men and the ways they cope. O’Brien’s usage of these literary devices serves as a remembrance of what the soldiers have left behind and a false sense of security about the violence and death that surrounds them. We are able to see the way each
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authors fail to do. Unlike the general crowd‚ Sophocles uses positive personality traits to bring conflict to his characters. He breaks normal organization of works and pushes the use of character flaws out of view. With this‚ persuading irony is formed—an irony which immortalizes the play just as a proper burial would immortalize Polyneices. Standard positive traits result in Creon and Antigone’s disgraces. Creon is a determined captain of a severely injured ship. He is aware of the torn masts
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The use of irony in Huckleberry Finn Throughout the entire book‚ The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn‚ Mark Twain used irony to expose the dark and absurd society during that time. The contrasts between the gorgeous appearances and decayed nature present readers the benighted and selfish qualities of human. Also‚ the ironical descriptions about Romanticism show readers the unrealistic and impractical society. Lastly‚ people’s daily dialogue reflects black people’s menial positions. Mark Twain tried
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The Pardoner’s Tale: Irony Nearly every aspect of the Pardoner’s tale is ironic. Irony exists within the story itself and in the relationship between the Pardoner and the story. The ending of the story presents a good message despite the Pardoner’s devious intentions to swindle money from the other pilgrims. By using irony in the Pardoner’s tale‚ Chaucer effectively criticizes the church system. The irony begins as soon as the Pardoner starts his prologue. He tells the other pilgrims
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daughter is sent to church‚ an explosion kills the child. “ ‘Ballad of Birmingham’ provides rich lessons in irony‚ the power of poetry‚ and the history of our country” (Jolley 38). The irony is displayed from the fact that the mother wants to keep her child safe by sending her to church and thus leads to her death is one of the main literary devices that Randall uses in this poem. From this irony‚ one can see how afraid the African American
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