Lessons in Irony

1
Lessons in Irony

• The most important lesson youll never remember

2
Irony

• Irony comes in three wicked varieties
• Dramatic
• The audience knows something about the plot that
  the character on stage doesnt
• Situational
• The outcome or result of a situation or story is
  the opposite of what is traditionally expected
• Verbal
• When someone says one thing and means another.

3
Cartoon

• Lets look at some examples of Irony in action.
  Answer the questions to help you analyze it.

• Whats the action here?
• What part of the cartoon is the most noticeable?
• What part is the most unexpected?

4
Analysis

1. What is the action of the cartoon?
2. The depiction of two alligators dressed as A.I.G.
   business men eating babies.
3. What is the most noticeable part of the cartoon?
4. The alligator literally eating babies. We expect
   alligators, which are cold, unfeeling reptiles,
   to be capable of eating babies. This is not
   unexpected.
5. What is the most unexpected part of the cartoon?
6. The A.I.G. logo on the door and the question
   about the bonus.

5
Evaluation
The cartoon makes a metaphor, comparing A.I.G.
taking its bonuses to eating children. Eating
children is like eating the future, therefore,
A.I.G., by taking these babies, is destroying
the future, and they are doing it as
thoughtlessly as an alligator.
The cartoon makes a metaphor, comparing A.I.G.
taking its bonuses to eating children. Eating
children is like eating the future, therefore,
A.I.G., by taking these babies, is destroying
the future, and they are doing it as
thoughtlessly as an alligator.
Now, lets evaluate the cartoon. First, the
cartoon depicts A.I.G. businessmen as alligators
eating babies. This is an unexpected, or ironic,
treatment of the issue of unfairly paid bonuses.
6
Cartoon

• Whats the action here?
• What part of the cartoon is the most noticeable?
• What part is the most unexpected?

7
Analysis

• Whats the action here?
• We have the AIG logo and a caption which spells
  out the acronym Absolutely Incredible Greed.
• What part of the cartoon is the most noticeable?
• The acronym for AIG is actually American
  International Group, and there is a screw for the
  letter I.
• What part is the most unexpected?
• The screw in place of the I and the notion of
  incredible greed.

8
Evaluation
Now, lets evaluate the cartoon. This one isnt
complicated by a metaphor. Its simply an
unexpected twist, or an ironic twist, on a
well-known logo. The unexpected contrast between
the real AIG logo and the cynical truth of
this caption is the source of the humor in this
cartoon. AIG has exhibited incredible greed, and
they put the screw in what insurance companies
have been doing to us. While this isnt a real
logo, it is still true in the context of
political outrage over AIGs behavior.
9
Read the following and write in your notes
explaining how this is ironic

• In 1975, Indiana lobbyist Frank Cornelius, whose
  clients included the Insurance Institute of
  Indiana, helped secure passage of a 500,000 cap
  on medical malpractice awards and elimination of
  all damages for pain and suffering in Indiana. As
  he wrote in the New York Times on October 7,
  1994, he now rues that accomplishment.
  Beginning in 1989, Frank Cornelius experienced a
  series of medical catastrophes that resulted in
  his wheelchair confinement, respirator-assisted
  breathing and constant physical pain.
• When he turned to the Indiana courts to provide a
  remedy, to compensate him for his massive
  injuries and hold the negligent health care
  providers accountable, the law was no longer
  there for him. The Indiana legislature had taken
  his rights away. Though his medical expenses and
  lost wages amounted to over 5 million, his
  claims against both the hospital and physical
  therapist at fault settled for a mere 500,000
  the limit on damages for a single incident of
  malpractice.

10
Read the following and write in your notes
explaining how this is ironic

• Southern Alberta has been facing ongoing floods
  over the last couple of weeks due to
  unprecedented amounts of rain. Many areas of
  Calgary (the city I live in) have been evacuated,
  in fact. Well, it seems the worst is now over and
  the dry out period looms ahead. (knock on wood)
  but we now have a new problem drastically
  limited supplies of potable water in the city.
  The flooding brought so much silt and debris with
  it that the water purification facilities in
  Calgary are dramatically reduced in throughput
  resulting in very low city water supply levels.

11
Read the following and write in your notes
explaining how this is ironic

• An actor who once played an aspiring mobster on
  The Sopranos faces murder charges along with
  another man in the death of an off-duty police
  officer, authorities said Sunday.

12
Read the following and write in your notes
explaining how this is ironic

• On the outskirts of an old mining town somewhere
  out west is a tombstone that reads I told you I
  was sick.

13
Read the following and write in your notes
explaining how this is ironic

• In England, another famous tombstone reads I
  told you if I stuck around here long enough this
  was bound to happen.

14
Why are these definitions ironic?

• This is the way one humorist defined birth
  Birth, (noun) the first and greatest of all
  disasters to befall a person
• This is the way one humorist defined bride
  Bride, (noun) a woman with a good chance of
  happiness behind her