Irony Essays Samples That Help You Write Better, Faster & with Gusto

William Sydney Porter (using the pen name “O. Henry”) wrote a short story concerning the love two people have for each other at Christmas time. Published in 1905, it has endured through the years as an example of writing in irony and using the “twist ending” still popular in literature and film today. It may be supposed “The Gift of the Magi” is taught in every high school in the country for a number of reasons.
In order to analyze the story of Della and Jim, it is necessary to understand the three types of irony. Watt (2015) defines Continue reading...

Judging from the title of the Kate Chopin’s short story “The story of an hour,” it is really short. But the writer did not limit various fiction techniques to make the plot original and the story itself interesting and memorable.
One of the most striking elements that we are pay attention already in the beginning of the story is irony. It starts the story and points out its direction further. It is very intriguing. The very first sentence shows sarcasm and reveals the irony of the situation. The point is that Mrs. Mallard has heart troubles and, tragically, Continue reading...

Billy Collins’ “Bread and Butter” exudes an effortless simplicity that gracefully lends to its deeper, more delicate meaning. The underlying poise with which the narrator expresses his sentiments allows the reader to feel at ease and comfortable with the universal ideas being shared, while the use of literary tools such as point of view, symbolism, and imagery, serve to communicate a message that is best felt in the heart rather than heard by the mind.
In the first stanza, the narrator uses vivid imagery to bring the reader into an intimate setting when he says, “You could hear the Continue reading...

Irony and Fate in Oedipus

Oedipus, the tragic Greek hero in Sophocles’ play is a character who cannot escape from his fate. Although Oedipus tries everything possible, including running away from his parents in Corinth and seeking the truth about the cause for the plague in Thebes he falls victim to fate and everything happens as it was predetermined. The play is also filled with Irony. The dramatic irony lies in the fact that Oedipus flees Corinth to escape the prophecy about killing his father and marrying his own mother. In running from Corinth, he unknowingly becomes instrumental in fulfilling the very prophecy that Continue reading...

Causes and Effects of Smoking

Smoking is regarded as a legal and widely engaged killer that takes away the lives of as much as 45000 people annually. As a matter of fact, smoking is regarded as the most horrendous habit taken up by people of all age, gender, class and creed. The widely accepted demon is known to exploit the generations in a slow yet potent manner. The annual life was taken by smoking as mentioned 45000 is greater than the life lost annually by road accidents, drunk driving and the use of illegal substances. The irony of the situation is that irrespective of Continue reading...

Society puts a lot of effort into protecting children’s innocence; parents are constantly told that they should monitor their young ones so that they are not exposed to the more mundane aspects of human nature, such as sexuality and violence. However, this necessarily skews children’s encounters of the reality of human existence, leading them to biased perceptions. The poems “A Barred Owl”, by Richard Wibur, and “The History Teacher”, by Billy Collins, explore these themes, commenting that even though parents can do all they can to prevent their children’s exposure to horrible aspects of nature, they Continue reading...

Interpretive Essay on Vandals by Alice Munro

Munro Alice’s Vandals is an exceptional story mainly constructed on the themes of pedophilia, taxidermy, and Gothic. Liza; the main character in the short story is sexually molested by Ladner, who most likely also abuses her brother Kenny too. Their father warned Liza and Kenny about Ladner, a taxidermist; works for museums, but they got close to him and watched him as they gained interest and knowledge in animals. Taxidermy refers to preparation stuffing and collecting of animal skins in a bid to preserve them or for exhibition and scientific study. Ladner then took advantage of this close Continue reading...

Sweeney Todd is a street barber who has been in exile in London for 15years. He comes back and wants to take revenge on a judge who was corrupt for falsely accusing him and ruining his entire life. Sweeney’s plan to revenge comes after Mrs. Lovett tells him how his wife swallowed poison after being raped and that Judge Turnip was holding Johanna, his daughter, captive. Todd swears revenge, on the whole, human race. He does this by joining forces with his neighbor Mrs. Lovett, he kills his customers and gives them to Mrs. Lovett, who bakes them Continue reading...

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines satire as an “artistic form, chiefly literary and dramatic, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, parody, caricature, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to inspire social reform” (“Satire”).
Among satirical works, through which scientific and literary activity of Desiderius Erasmus received wide public importance and led to his prominent place not only in the history of literature, but also in world history, particularly outstanding importance has "The Praise of Folly". Erasmus wrote this short essay because he had Continue reading...

Sojourner Truth’s speech “Ain’t I a Woman” centers on the inequalities that blacks and women suffered at that point in American history. While it is not difficult, given such recent events as the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, as well as the deaths of other black men at the hands of white police officers, to understand that race is still a largely divisive factor in American culture, it is difficult to imagine the struggle that black women faced in the years before Emancipation. Even in the North, racism was common, but in the South, enslaved Continue reading...

Introduction

How are women represented and portrayed in theatrical plays? In most plays (and in films), men and women are frequently assigned stereotyped roles that make women assume passive and meek roles. Every so often, men are given the privileged to take on the role of a strong and powerful character, whilst the women took submissive roles typical of the weaker sex concept. In this essay, the role of women in the play Death and the Kings Horseman and M. Butterfly will be discussed, taking into consideration how the playwright depicted the epitome of power and strength among the women Continue reading...

“The Jewelry” is the casual name of Guy de Maupassant’s short story “The False Gems”. In “The False Gems” Maupassant uses the realistic approach and eliminates the moral judgment and long digressions found in most writings. This short story entertains and moves the audience to ponder the deeper and hidden meaning of events. It entails symbolism, irony, diction and subtle allegory. Maupassant masters irony by blurring the boundaries between art and reality. He uses allegory to underscore and bend the essential nature (greed and deception) of the characters to the perceived truths (standard of living). The protagonists in Continue reading...

“Mending Wall” is one of the best known poems from the collection, North of Boston written by the renowned American poet Robert Frost. The poem, though presents a simple concept, definitely has several underlying significant issues. “Mending Wall” can be called an allegory as Frost has permeated the poem with words that carry abundant meanings. “Mending Wall” is about the relevance and significance of the stone walls built in between properties as boundaries. Such a wall separates the speaker’s plot from the neighbor’s and the speaker fails to find the exact necessity for the wall as there Continue reading...

[Class Title]

The war in Vietnam in 1966 is perhaps one of the darkest moments in United States’ history as a nation. Considered as one of the most devastating loss in terms of human capital and resources, the impact of the war in Vietnam still haunts the United States today four decades after the war ended in 1975. In his article, ‘Why Don’t Americans Know What Really Happened in Vietnam?,’ author Christian Appy touch back on this sensitive issue in a bid to relate what happened in Vietnam and America’s current involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and other Continue reading...

Introduction: How Racism constructs a stereotyped identity for African-American writers

An African-American writer, Percival Everett, authored the book Erasure. Erasure tells the story of an African-American writer known as Thelonius Ellison, who also goes by the nickname “Monk.” Ellison has not gained as much acclaim as his writing warrants. His work has been rejected supposedly because it does not conform to particular standards that are expected of African-American literature. His books deal with Greek myths instead of addressing the struggles of the ghetto as the stereotypes on African-American literature dictate (Everett 3). Ellison is bitter at this state of affairs, and he decides to lash out at those he Continue reading...

Introduction

International organizations are institutions that draw their association from at least three wiling states, having an active relationship with several other countries and its members bound by a formally signed agreement. These institutions are diverse; they can be simple or complex as to size, geographical location of their members, their purpose and structure. International organizations have long been established even before the occurrence of formalities needed for their foundation. During the period of Napoleon and earlier wars, IOs served mainly to preserve the state of affairs and protect the government from insurgencies. Today, states form international organizations not only Continue reading...

Based on the past week’s readings, one thing can be inferred and that is counter-narratives exist for a reason. In fact, most counter-narratives do not only exist for a reason, rather, they are also filled with reason, and at some point, enough justification for a significant number of people to believe them over more mainstream narratives such as the ones that are being published in news TV shows, newspapers, and radio programs. In Katrina’s Imprint, for example, the author highlighted the significance and implications of the sentinel American event that is the attack of hurricane Katrina, and Continue reading...

Introduction

The Lottery is authored by Shirley Jackson, who is a master at manipulating her reader. The title itself is a great example as to how Jackson is an expert with toppling reader expectations. The word “lottery” fills one with hope, and the reader is taken to another level of the grim reality of the lottery. The story is about a small village or town, where the people gather together for the town lottery. Mr. Summers runs the lottery and arrives at the village square with the black box used for lottery and Mr. Graves, the postmaster. Men, women and Continue reading...

English 1001

Paper# Final Version
The Role of Misfits in Realization of Christian Values
Flannery O’Connor is one of the famous storywriters of the nineteenth century due to her perceptions of Christianity, interesting characters, and violent plot elements. She uses characters that are in different situations showing how human beings are trapped in selfish worlds due to their ignorance and rebellious attitudes. The characters in her stories are very selfish and cannot see the acts of grace in their daily lives. The aim of this paper is to outline how the author described misfits and their role in enlightening the Continue reading...

The Lottery

Introduction
The short story by Shirley Jackson, depicting an unexpected plot line in a very extraordinary manner, is considered to be a horror story. The writer addresses various fiction techniques in order to distract and lull the reader’s attention, and shock and terrify the audience in the end of the story. They gather together to participate in a lottery, but the readers get to know what is the “prize” only in the end of the story. A very interesting and horrifying plot is supported by various fiction elements, for instance, reflection of characters, setting, symbolism, bright imagery, etc. Continue reading...