Monday, September 26, 2016

My Observations of a Very Interesting Word

For a long time, I was confused about 'irony'.
No one seemed to be able to explain to me what it meant, and when I finally consulted a dictionary, hoping to understand 'irony' once and for all, the definition was absolutely ZERO help. I mean, look at this:

Irony: n. a situation that is strange or funny because
things happen in a way that seems to be
opposite of what you expect.

Uhm... Come again?
If you understand that, congratulations. You are a lot smarter than I was when I first read that definition. It was such a frustration for me when I realized that some words cannot best be explained in a dictionary. They just have to HAPPEN and then you sort of see what it means (eventually!).

I did eventually figure out what the word meant, just by living and seeing ironic things. Since irony can be a pretty neat tool in writing, I'm just going to do a little explaining about what it is, so hopefully you can grasp the meaning way sooner than I did. XD

I find Irony to be kind of like sarcasm, which is basically when you pretend to say something you don't mean in a cocky way. 




You get the idea. 
Irony is a lot like sarcasm, except it's usually more about things that HAPPEN, rather than what is said by people. Irony is like when LIFE says something it doesn't really mean, and people notice. 
In the movie "Escape From Alcatraz," when a prisoner is first brought to the Island, they are brought across the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay in chains, then they are forced to remove all their clothes, being humiliated in front of the other prisoners, and then they are locked behind a clanging cell door and cordially told, "Welcome to Alcatraz". 



THAT is irony. It is a way of being almost funny, when there really isn't anything funny at all. 
It's when Mrs. Lovejoy is the grumpiest person you've ever met. It's when you go to the drugstore to buy yourself heaps and heaps of candy, along with one solitary toothbrush. 
In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel is taken to Himmel Street. If you've read the book, you know that "Himmel", means "Heaven". But if you know anything about Nazi Germany, you know that Himmel Street was no "Heaven Street". It's definitely 'ironic'.



Basically, the dictionary is very right in its description of irony. But I feel it takes more than just that to understand this complex term. 
You can use irony in your writing, just like Zusak did. Irony adds a certain depth and interest to stories and characters. 
In your story, maybe 'Honeysuckle Village' is actually one of the dumpiest towns around. Maybe Pamella Q. Hammerbotham is actually a very intellectual and dangerous spy. 
You choose.
You don't have to be THAT extreme, but you get what I'm sayin'.
So, that is my observation, and I'm hoping this post doesn't sound like a collage paper. XD


Hopefully I have interested you, if only in the remotest way. :)

-Phoebe

8 comments:

  1. I LOVE Irony... and I use it a lot in my writing. :-P This was a lovely post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is actually extremely interesting. Likewise, it was a long time before I actually figured out what ironic meant. Along with a lot of other words.
    I find this post very helpful, though. I mean, I know what irony is by now, but still, great choice of words and examples. Examples are things I don't do very well. *rolls eyes*
    So thanks. :)
    -Diana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol I was hoping to eliminate confusion so that other people will be able to understand what it means WAY sooner than me. Because it took me forever before it finally "clicked" and I was like, "oh. So THAT'S irony." I'm glad you like me post!

      Delete
  3. So glad I'm not the only one who struggles with the meaning of irony. It used (and sometimes still is) one of those concepts I can't wrap my head around or explain. Most of the time, I can tell when something is ironic, but I can't tell you WHY it's ironic.
    Unfortunately, this doesn't go over well in college. :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are NOT the only one who struggles with irony. It took me forever (years...) to figure it out. :P

      Delete
  4. I never knew what irony meant either! This actually helped me!! Thanks Phoebe!😊 abi

    ReplyDelete
  5. That was a great post! You had some really good examples. I think of irony as someone with half a smirk on their face: funny and witty, but not quite laughable.
    Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Blogger Recognition Award at http://violetcottage.blogspot.com/2016/10/blogger-recognition-award.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. Excellent post, Phoebe! I do so love the study of words and this study on irony was fantastic. It's well written and an interesting topic. Again, well done! Thanks!
    ~Cordy

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...