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The Meaning and Types of Irony




The irony is the use of language that conveys insult or scorn by saying things which are directly opposite of what you mean. The main use of irony is to achieve humor and an emphatic effect. In literature, the irony is used when the audience or the reader understands better than a character on the book. Irony deepens the story, creates suspense and moves a story forward. Today, many people are ignorant and use the term irony to refer to any which is not normal, something which is dramatic and amusing. If you are one of those people who use the term irony inappropriately, the ignorance will end after going through this article. The following are the types of irony. Click for more here.


The first type of irony is verbal irony. Verbal irony happens when one uses words that express the opposite of what he/she means. Verbal irony may also be referred to as sarcasm. Verbal irony brings humor to a conversation and may be used in literature to highlight a situation which is important in the future scenes. An example of verbal irony is; you mum walks into your dirty room and says, "My son, you are the cleanest person in this family."


The second type of irony is situational irony. Situational irony happens when what one expected fails to happen but the opposite happens. In literature, what a reader expected does not happen but the opposite happens. In a play, situational irony makes the audience either cry or laugh. An example of situational irony is; Fire consumes the whole fire station. This is situational irony since the fire station houses the fire extinguishing equipment but it has been burned down.


The third type of irony is cosmic irony. Cosmic irony is the idea that a superior power, God or gods are creating irony situations in our minds or lives. The best example of cosmic irony is in the story of the Titanic. People said that not even God could sink the ship. Awfully, the ship hit an iceberg and sunk during the first trip. To get further ideas go to this website.


Dramatic irony is another type of irony we shall discuss. In dramatic irony, the reader or the audience knows more than some characters. Dramatic irony creates humor and suspense, intensifies the audience fears, hopes and anticipation. In a play, a character who knows everything is used in setting up dramatic irony.


The last type of irony we shall look at is historical irony. A perfect historical irony example is; after inventing the flying glider, the creator said it is one of the safest traveling ways but the creator was killed by the flying glider.


Read and understand more about irony by tapping here;

https://www.britannica.com/art/dramatic-irony

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