Irony is the general name given to literary techniques that involve surprising‚ interesting‚ or amusing contradictions. Two stories from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales that serve as excellent demonstrations of irony are "The Pardoners Tale" and "The Nun’s Priest’s Tale." Although these two stories are very different‚ they both use irony to teach a lesson. In "The Pardoner’s Tale‚ the Pardoner uses his story to speak out against many social problems‚ all of which he is guilty of. He preaches about
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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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Luncheon of the Boating Party Luncheon of the Boating Party is a European artwork painted in 1880-1881 by French Impressionist‚ Pierre Auguste Renoir. In traditional Impressionist style‚ Renoir depicted a scene from modern life and based it in a place he knew well - the Restaurant Fournaise. Chatou was one of Renoir’s beloved settings and Luncheon of the Boating Party is a romanticized portrait of his friends enjoying a Sunday afternoon on the balcony of the restaurant. His intention was to take
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Irony in “The Storm” The use of Irony in Kate Chopin’s “The Storm”‚ is used through the plot of this story in several situations. Calixta four-year-old child‚ Bibi‚ was calm and kept his composer through the storm‚ he laid his little hand on his father’s knee and was not afraid compared to an adult‚ Calixta‚ who is about to lose all control due to her inner fear. The author also hides the immoral behavior of her characters behind the fear of the storm or lack of. In this story Chopin tries to
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In her short story‚ “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson‚ an American writer‚ tells a story of people gathering in a small town for an annual lottery‚ where children are playing with stones and adults are sharing stories about farming. Yet‚ the sunny and happy opening scene has a twisted shocking ending‚ as the lottery in the story does not involve winning a prize‚ but losing a life. Irony is an underlying theme that is used throughout the story. Irony is referring to a person‚ situation‚ or circumstance
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Irony in the “Story of an Hour” By Kate Choplin The Story of an Hour by Kate Choplin is about an older woman who struggles with coercion brought about by her husband and her surreptitious yearning for freedom. Mrs. Mallard does not truly know how miserable she was until she finds out that her husband has died in a terrible train accident. Kate Choplin writes this story in a limited‚ third person point of view; however‚ it is still quite exciting with how it
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Irony and Foreshadowing in Poe’s Short Stories In Poe’s short stories‚ he uses literary devices like irony and foreshadowing to increase reader interest in his stories. Irony and Foreshadowing helps to create suspense‚ anxiety‚ and humor in his works. They also help to capture the audience’s attention and draw them into the story. Poe’s irony and foreshadowing are integrated in “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. “The Cask of the Amontillado” is one of the best examples
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What is irony and how is it used in the story? Irony is a stylistic device‚ used by the author to keep the drama in the story going‚ for the reader’s enjoyment. It is the twist or unexpected event which blends the elements of the story together. In the instance of O. Henry he combines exaggeration [or hyperbole] and irony to add humor in the story. O. Henry is a master of irony and exaggeration‚ so that his stories have flavor and depth. In "The Ransom of Red Chief‚" O. Henry uses the three devices;
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William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is about a young couple from opposing families forbidden love to marry in secret. There is much suspense as the story unfolds and leads to a tragic ending. One device used to create suspense in the dramatic irony that keeps the audience on edge. In Romeo and Juliet ‚ the author William Shakespeare has a way‚ of using his words to make the audience interested. This funky wordplay is called dramatic irony.For instance‚ in Act 4 scene 5 line #15‚ they
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The Cask of Amontillado illustrates Poe’s use of first–person narration‚ using an unreliable character‚ whose guilt and infrequent irrationality prevents him from revealing himself straightforwardly to the reader. He engages both verbal and melodramatic humor to indicate the darkness within the plot of the story. Poe’s criticism fails to emphasize that Fortunato and Montresor are friends”‚ (Whatley 1)‚ though it is evident as Montresor states‚ “that I encountered my friend‚ he accosted me with excessive
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