Irony

    Irony is using words that are the opposite of what your describing to have an emphatic or humorous effect. To me Irony is the funniest form of comedy. To others Irony could be annoying or demeaning, but none the less Irony is everywhere. Irony is on our TV when the commercials are on. It is on our computer whenever we search a website or that website has popup ads. Irony is on billboards, on the back of the box of cereal. Irony is on every form of advertisement due to the fact that it sells products and gets results. It helps figure out what the public likes and dislikes. With Irony being a form of expression, it can be used in mutliple ways on the public for any age range.
    To give further detail on Irony the poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson can shed some light. Richard Cory was a man, a very rich man. "He was a gentleman from sole to crown, the townspeople admired his appearance and enjoyed his mannerisms." The people wished to be in his place. Richard was a man who seemed to have everything he could ever want, until one summer night he put a bullet through his head. This poem was ironic because it depicted a man who had everything, wealth, power, education, and admiration. "Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim." The people admired him for his kindness and wished they were him instead of living in poverty. "In fine, we thought he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place." The man who appeared to have everything killed himself. "And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head." Its ironic because he seemed so happy with everything he had and made people envy his success, but overall he was not happy, and decided to end his misery.
   "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connel illustrates irony in a visual and dramatic fashion. Richard Connel weaves the story with detail and emotions that allows the reader to visualize the setting of the story. In the story, the main character Rainsford is a big-game hunter who loves the sport. The irony in the story is Rainsford does not care about the feelings of the animals he hunts and just says that they have no understanding, and feels its a sign of weakness to care for them. "You're a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?". "Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes--the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters". Rainsford continues to have the same point of view until he is placed in a situation where he is being hunted for sport by General Zaroff. Rainsford sees the inhumanity of the sport when he is the sport. "Did not make me condone cold-blooded murder". "Hunting? Great Guns, General Zaroff, what you speak of is murder." Another ironic moment in the story is when Rainsford turns the tables on Zaroff and wins the game. "You have won the game."
Rainsford did not smile. "I am still a beast at bay," he said, in a low, hoarse voice. "Get ready, General Zaroff." The general made one of his deepest bows. "I see," he said. "Splendid! One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. On guard, Rainsford." . . He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided." This is Ironic because Zaroff was a master hunter and was ultimately defeated by his prey.
    In "The House That Slaves Built" by Gardiner Harris the irony is written with more of a historical background. The article gives a little background information about the White House on who did the labor in constructing it. Blacks were the main work force when slavery was still legal in 1801, they built the White House from top to bottom. The irony of the article is that blacks were prohibited from entering the White House even though they built it. This continued until President Lincoln invited Fredrick Douglass to the White House in the 19th century to celebrate the President's second inaugural. After 200 hundred years Barack Obama moves in with his family and represents a strong symbol of change for Americans of all races. It's ironic because the Whites would keep the Blacks out of the White House, which they built and were prohibited from entering at all times. Now a Black American family calls the White House thier home and ended the White House's reputation of "White Only".
    "Is it ironic that so many don't understand irony" is an article that defines and explains irony and its many forms. There are 5 types of Irony, Socratic Irony, Dramatic Irony, Tragic Irony, Verbal Irony, and Situational Irony. The article itself comments on the fact that people don't know the definition of Irony and don't know how it is used correctly. The article defines Irony as "a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning". It gives an example of Irony which is "that someone steps into a puddle and you make fun of them… and the next thing you know, you step in one!?". This is Ironic because a person is being made fun of for stepping into a puddle, then that person who is laughing steps into a puddle as well. Another way to get a better understanding of Irony is going to isitironic.com. This site gives more examples of Irony such as "...if you have a phobia of longs words you have to tell people that you have Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia?...". This is Ironic because the person has a fear of long words and in order to tell people of said fear, the person has to say a long word.

    
This cartoon is ironic because the man is afraid of spiders, but turns out to be spiderman himself! This is a humorous kind of Irony.
    Alanis Morissette made a song called "Ironic". It depicts how Irony can affect you in differents ways. This song is Ironic because the title is "Irony" but Alanis doesn't know how to use Irony correctly. The song mostly depicts coincidences not Irony. On line 6 "It's like rain on your wedding day". That is not Irony, it is a coincidence that it rained on a wedding day. On line 25 "A traffic jam when you're already late". It is only a coincidence that there is a traffic jam when your already late.
     In this video about sociaL networking, a family depicts an ironic message. The message is that older people are becoming less social. The daughter explains how she wants her parents to join Facebook to become more sociable. She thinks she is "living" because she has 687 friends and her parents aren't "living" because they only have 19 friends. Mean while she is home on her laptop alone, and her parents are outside with friends having a good time.
    Irony comes in many forms and be used in different ways. It is using words that are the opposite of what your describing to have an emphatic or humorous effect. All the Irony described here are just its many forms and effects it has on people. Irony is a part of my life whenever I see an advertisement or a television program. It sometimes makes me want to buy a product or watch more of the same show.