Author’s Craft: Irony

Irony generally involves discrepancy between what might be expected and what actually occurs.

There are three types of irony:

situational dramatic

verbal

Situational

the audience does not expect something to happen, but it

does

Example: George continues to look to Tom for help when Tom is, in fact, the cause of many of his problems.

Dramatic

when the audience knows something that a character

does not

Example: Daisy does not know that the woman she has killed was Tom’s mistress and yet the audience does.

Verbal

when one thing is said, but another is meant

Example: Gatsby uses the phrase “Old Sport” to fit into East Egg society but the utterance leads to further alienation.