Irony

Irony is the opposite of what we expect. There are three categories of irony, which are verbal, situational, and dramatic. Verbal irony is also know as sarcasm in which a person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning. For example when we're shivering because it's freezing and our friend asks us if we're cold and we reply "noo I'm extremely hot, can't you see it's summer?" Situational irony for example is a woman killing her husband with a lamb's leg and ends up cooking it for the police to eat it for dinner. Dramatic irony is when the audience knows what the characters do not in a movie.

Situational irony can actually happen in a everyday life. In the poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson, he tells us a story about a man named Richard Cory and how he was what admired by many people "We people on the pavement looked at him: he was a gentleman from sole to crown". Richard Cory was a man who looked like he was happy and had it all because of his personality and his looks. He seemed like a gentle man from head to toe, clean favored, imperially slim, very rich, always quietly arrayed, and human when he spoke."In fine, we thought he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place", Richard was looked up at by many people and they wished they were in his place because to them he was happy with his life. But very shockingly one calm summer night Richard killed himself just like that, "And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head". I think this is a great way to show irony because not everything that shines is gold. Just because someone has money and class doesn't necessarily mean that their happy. Money can't buy love and that's what Richard Cory was probably missing.

The Richard Cory poem would be very different if it were to be in a news letter because in the news they just inform us when something drastic or informative is going on. If they were to show us in a poem what happened then it would be different. Specially if it's from someones point of view that was always there with Cory like the author of the poem like "we thought he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place" "so on we worked, and waited for the light, and went without the meat, and cursed the bread; and Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head". We will be more shocked then someone on the news saying the plain'ol "a man committed suicide".

This next story showing irony is called "The Necklace" by Guy De Maupassan. This short story is about a girl who thinks money can buy happiness and therefore is always thinking about luxurious stuff and living in high society but unfortunately