In Shirley Jackson’s short story "The Lottery"‚ she uses many literary devices. However the most prevalent are irony and symbolism. Jackson uses irony and symbolism to illustrate the underlying darker theme not evident in the beginning of the short story. The use of irony is in almost every paragraph. Even the title of the story is ironic because it represents something positive but in the end the reader finds the true meaning of the title to be negative. "Part of the horrific effect of Jackson’s
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Significance of Irony Irony is a rhetorical device used to illustrate a discordant situation or verbalization in which the outcome is opposite of what was expected. As a result‚ this writing technique often introduces humor into the storyline‚ depending on the tone of the story. This element of indirectness is partly what makes poetry so interesting. Poetry’s lack of simplicity forces the reader to think independently‚ therefore creating numerous possible interpretations. The techniques of irony used in
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"Irony regards every simple truth as a challenge." When reading a story‚ the events that have already presented themselves‚ lead a person to perceive what is going to happen‚ but when that person encounter an unexpected event‚ as commonly experienced through irony‚ it changes what the person perceives is going to happen. The Scarlet Letter exemplifies this use of irony to challenge truth. Hawthorne provides details about a specific character‚ but then creates an event which stands in contrast to
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the knowledge from books. Throughout the novel Fahrenheit 451‚ Ray Bradbury uses situational irony and foreshadowing to portray the theme of knowledge being an important key to forming a solid‚ strong society and personal happiness. To begin with‚ Ray Bradbury collectively uses situational irony throughout the story to prove that lack of knowledge can cause a society to lose humanity and
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Sophocles uses irony to construct the plot and unravel the unfortunate truth. Oedipus Rex‚ also known as Oedipus the King‚ was written by one of the ancient Greek tragedians Sophocles during what is called the “Golden Age of Greece”. In this play‚ the main character Oedipus is warned that he will murder his father and marry his mother. He does everything in his power to prevent the fulfilment of the prediction‚ but despite his efforts Oedipus does commit the awful crimes. Sophocles uses the ignorance
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hurt his wife‚ but he assumes that she will act in the same submissive manner that she always has; it never occurs to him that she might lash out. Dahl’s writing seems effortless and demonstrates his sense of irony and black
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The author uses literary elements such as symbolism‚ allegory‚ and irony to help the reader understand the theme. However the story does lack depth of characterization‚ a compelling story‚ and a point of view that allows the reader to know more of what is going on. The author still gets his point across while using the elements that are shown throughout the story. This short story deserves literary merit because it achieves its central purpose. Which is to inform the reader further on the theme.
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Conflict‚ Irony‚ and Symbolism in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” In the short story "Everyday Use"‚ by Alice Walker‚ tension between characters is evident. When Dee arrives home to visit Mama and Maggie‚ readers can see the differences in personality between the three characters. Dee has changed her name to "Wangero" to get closer to her so-called “culture” and is collecting many objects of her past that she did not want before. On her mother’s savings for her‚ Dee is able to go to college and therefore
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Jane Austen uses satire in Pride and Prejudice to highlight the hidden importance of acceptance and power through the use of the pompous character of Mr. Collins. Throughout the novel Austen uses irony to satirize Mr. Collins. While attempting to propose to Elizabeth‚ she attempts to escape the room. Due to his vanity and arrogance‚ he wrongfully interprets this as a sign of her “little unwillingness makes [her] more amiable in [his] eyes (Austen‚ Ch.19). He cannot believe the possibility that any
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the winner’s life. Not one person in today’s society would ever see the lottery as an unfortunate event that winning it would bring serious repercussions such as execution and death. On the contrary‚ “The Lottery‚” written by Shirley Jackson‚ uses irony to exemplify how people can illogically follow senseless traditions and ultimately demonstrates how society can blindly persecute innocent individuals. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is easily considered as one of the most highly regarded short
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