Text Structure

Irony Suspense Mystery Tension Mood Atmosphere

Irony

Objectives:

Students will be able to define irony.

Students will be able to identify the three kinds of irony.

Students will be able to evaluate a situation for irony.

Students will be able to create ironic situations.

Irony through Picture Notes

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Irony

A contradiction between what happens and what you expect to happen

Examples: A fireman afraid of fire A dentist with crooked teeth and

cavities galore You shout “I’m not upset!” but your

fists are clenched, your eyes look like they are ready to pop out, and your face is the color of tomato red (sarcasm)

Three Kinds of Irony

1. Verbal Irony2. Dramatic Irony3. Situational Irony

Verbal Irony Saying one thing but meaning another Tone of SarcasmExamples: 1. As your teacher is signing detention forms

for students who did not complete their homework, she says in an irritated voice, “I just love when students don’t do their homework!”

2. It’s raining cats and dogs outside. You took the day off from work today to finally put up a fence post because of your annoying neighbors. You express, “This weather is just lovely.”

3. Your friend spoils the ending of a movie for you, and you express in a haughty tone, “Thanks a lot!”

Verbal Irony ContinuedGreen Memory

A wonderful time- the War:

when money rolled inand blood rolled out.

But bloodwas far awayfrom here---

Money was near

Do you think that the speaker really considered this a “wonderful time”? Why or why not?

What kind of people might be willing to sacrifice blood for money?

More Fun with Verbal Irony You have a six-foot tall friend

who you call “shorty.”

You planned six months in advance for good weather on your wedding day. It is suddenly raining and hailing. You step outside and say, “Oh good! I was hoping it would rain.”

Dramatic Irony

The reader knows something about a character’s situation that a character does not know.

The reader is aware of the irony.

The character is unaware of the irony.

Dramatic Irony ContinuedExample: In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, we know that

Brutus is plotting to kill Julius Caesar, but Julius Caesar does not know this. He thinks that Brutus is a loyal man to him.

In Cinderella, the prince goes searching for the “princess” who lost her slipper at the ball. The prince does not know that she is a poor girl, almost a slave to her stepsisters and stepmother. It is ironic because we know the owner of the shoe is Cinderella, a poor girl, but he thinks it is a girl that comes from great wealth. When they are at her house she is locked upstairs. They are so close to each other, yet so far away.

Situational Irony

What actually happens is not expected to happen

The character and the reader are unaware of the irony

Situational Irony ContinuedAn aviator was sent on a mission to a distant part of a globe.

When he returned to his base, he noticed it was strangely quiet. Everything was in perfect order, but there wasn’t a sign of life in that place. He wandered through the town in growing astonishment. Human beings and animals simply had vanished from the scene.

He tore back to the airport, filled his plane with high octane gas, and flew terrified, to New York, London, Moscow, Shanghai. While he had been on his mission, every living creature had apparently disappeared. He was the only man alive in the world! He weighed the situation carefully and found it intolerable. Suicide seemed the only solution. He swallowed a vial of deadly poison and calmly waited for it to take effect. Just as the drug reached his brain, and the room started swimming before his eyes, he heard a familiar sound.

It was the telephone ringing. -Bennett Cerf

What kind of irony is evident in the cartoon?

What kind of irony is evident in the comic strip?

What kind of irony is evident in the comic strip?

What kind of irony is evident in the comic strip?

SuspenseAnxiety or apprehension

resulting from an uncertain, undecided, or

mysterious situation

Dictionary.com

Suspense (mystery,

intrigue, tension) is built with:

FactsInnuendoAtmospher

eAction

Read this passage from “Rikki Tikki Tavi.” How does the author create suspense?

He jumped up in the air as high as he could go, and just under him whizzed by the head of Nagaina, Nag's wicked wife. She had crept up behind him as he was talking, to make an end of him; and he heard her savage hiss as the stroke missed. He came down almost across her back, and if he had been an old mongoose he would have known that then was the time to break her back with one bite; but he was afraid of the terrible lashing return-stroke of the cobra. He bit, indeed, but did not bite long enough, and he jumped clear of the whisking tail, leaving Nagaina torn and angry.

Suspense

Suspense – read this example yourself. Discuss the elements of suspense with your elbow partner.

The moon was a strange kind of brightness, an unnatural light hung in the clouds. The night was grey. The large derelict house loomed over her. Sarah felt threatened. At that moment she realized that she was alone. For the first time ever, no friends, no family were there to tell her it was going to be ok. There she stood, staring into the whole in the ground that just opened up before her like a sinkhole to hell. All was quiet...all was still. Sarah took baby steps closer, being careful not to lose her sure footing. Shuffling as close as she dared to, she peered cautiously into the hole. All was black. The abyss that she faced appeared bottomless. She shuddered as she thought about the depth of the darkness. As Sarah stared into the hole astonished, she felt woozy and dizzy. It was that feeling people get at the edge of really tall building. It made her feel uneasy and frightened. However, this is not what Sarah should have feared just then. At that moment, Sarah would have felt much more uneasy and frightened, if she had realized what was lingering beneath and staring back at her...

Mood Mood is the feeling that the author tries to

convey throughout the story. The atmosphere or emotional condition created by the piece, within the setting. Does the author want the reader to be frightened or sad, or does the story make the reader laugh and think happy thoughts?

To figure out mood, examine how you feel while reading the story. Often mood is conveyed by the story’s setting.

Mood – read this excerpt from “The Cask of Amontillado.” What mood is created by the author’s word choice?

I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth; and then I heard the furious vibrations of the chain. The noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labours and sat down upon the bones. When at last the clanking subsided, I resumed the trowel,...