Irony College Essays Samples For Students

In life, we have to pass through challenges and obstacles that lead us to our destiny. Appearance is not based on reality all the time, what we see on the outside does not necessarily have to portray what is inside of someone. Also, sometimes illusions and acting in an unconscious way can make us not reach our destiny or may delay it. In the case of Gulliver, he tries to chase his destiny when he quits his job, and sets a journey to the sea. He comes with many experiences that change his life and also, in the end Continue reading...

‘Instructor’s Name’

‘Subject’
Poetry Literary Analysis Essay - Richard Cory
‘Richard Cory’ a poem penned by Edwin Arlington Robinson is a narrative poem that delineates the need to cherish what one possess rather than envy others. First published in the year 1897, the poem is one of the most anthologized and memorable works of Robinson. As Morris opines, this poem condenses a man’s life into sixteen lines, and the simplicity and laconic nature of the poem intensifies the ironic touch. In this poem, the poet has made use of irony to convey the context and theme of the poem.
Richard Continue reading...

The novel opens with a story from Dick-and-Jane primer that presents a contrast between the said narrative and the circumstances of the characters in the novel’s story. This stark contrast between the two sets of characters at first appears to tell the reader that the middle-class family of Dick and Jane, who are presumably whites, are in a far better condition than the main characters of the story.
The tone of the novel is one that portrays an emotion of pessimism and loss of hope, through a situational irony. Situational irony “refers to the chasm between what we Continue reading...

Affirmative Action, otherwise known as positive discrimination, is to render special opportunity for the welfare of the disadvantaged people who endure from discrimination. This concept was first introduced in the United States in the 1960s to fight against racial discrimination in the employment process. As it is intended to help defined-minority people getting opportunities, it fails to include actual minorities, the poor, as Affirmative Action becomes one-sided for the racial discrimination besides other minorities that resides all over. As a result, the concept of Affirmative Action becomes the subject of several court cases, and it has been oppugned upon Continue reading...

Ernest Hemingway’s first novel The Sun Also Rises has received immense critical attention, ever since its arrival on the literary scene. While the novel has met with its fair share of harsh, dismissive criticism, as those of the early readers: "Here is a book which, like its characters, begins nowhere and ends in nothing"; "a most unpleasant book"; "raw satire"; "entirely out of focus”1 and even of Hemingway’s mother, who reflected upon the characters as "utterly degraded people" and that the novel might better have never been written2, The Sun Also Rises has invited applaud and Continue reading...

American Literature, Essay Exam

1. Mark Twain has made use of various features of Local Color such as in his book Huckleberry Finn. Local color is a style used in writing to show the features and peculiarities of the people in a given locality. The first feature is that of narration which makes use of a narrator who in most cases is educated to draw a distinction between urbanized audience and the locals. An example is when Huck displays moral maturity by saying, “what’s the use you learning to do right when it’s troublesome to do right and ain’t no Continue reading...

In Praise of Folly vs Gargantua and Pantagruel

The books in praise of folly and gargantuan and pantagruel are very amusing books. They present their issues in a way that is very amusing and indeed very appealing to the reader. If a person were to read these works without being keen and paying attention to detail and stylistic techniques of writing such as irony and humor the reader would easily confuse these works for comical pieces with just one aim of giving people a good laugh. This could not be any further from the truth. These books deal with contemporary issues affecting mainstream society and especially the Continue reading...

Introduction

Satire is essentially used in a number of literature works to show vice or foolishness in organizations, humans, or even governments. Satire uses ridicule, irony, or sarcasm. For instance, it is used to effect social or political change, or to prevent it. A satiric can actually direct satire toward a person, a whole nation, or even the world. Sometimes it is serious, acting to expose or as a protest, or can be comical once used in poking fun at someone or something. For this reason, there are various faces of satire including satire in literature and political satire. This Continue reading...

The aim of this essay is to present you with a possible explanation of the title of the short story ‘Toba Tek Sight’. Titles as well as meanings and thoughts put across by writers of any kind of writing piece always go under various interpretations since no one can ever be certain on what the writer, or any artist wants to say. Still readers, critics and the literary community on a whole seem to reach common conclusions on some of the writers’ intentions.
This short story, on which this essay is, was written and published in 1955 by Saadat Continue reading...

The term Harlem Renaissance has become so commonplace that the history student in any American class can easily give a detailed description of the events that characterized the movement. Among the people that best define the Harlem Renaissance are Langston Hughes and Rudolph Fisher. These two Harlem Renaissance authors produced the most influential pieces of literature describing the situation in Harlem during the 1920s. Fisher’s short story The Caucasian Storms Harlem is as comparable to Hughes’ When the Negro was in Vogue as it as it is distinguishable. In straightforward terms, the differences between the two stories are Continue reading...

Kate Chopin’s, the story of an hour, is well crafted in terms of its plot, content, and character choice. However, one of the overarching literary devices that Chopin employs is irony. First of all, the story begins with a friend contemplating on how to explain the news of the death of Mr. Mallard to his wife. Mr. Richard struggles to make sure that the news of death is unveiled to Mrs. Mallard in a way that it would not cause harm to her due to her heart condition. Josephine who is the Mrs. Mallard’s sister is used Continue reading...

Mark Twain, in The War-Prayer, portrays very simplistically how the wish for one’s victory is actually in a way the desire for the disaster of others who stand against the side. The stranger expresses the rationality which is ignored by the people who are only concerned about their prayer to the Almighty for the victory. The irony reaches its transcendental dais when at the end it is declared that the stranger was actually “a lunatic” and “there was no sense” in the things he said. Twain has also utilized this craft in other literary works penned by him. Continue reading...

Irony in literature refers to expression of something other than its meaning. It can also refer to a given technique of indicating, through plot development or characterisation, a given attitude or intention which is expressed in an opposite manner of what is actually stated.

Say Yes

Irony in this story is expressed in many ways. First of all, it is ironical how the man and the woman lived a life like husband and wife, but was not married (Wolff 24). They lived a hypocritical life, while still pondering whether to become husband and wife. In addition, it is ironical for the Continue reading...

Stephen King

Stephen King, in his essay Why We Crave Horror Movies, takes a humoristic yet insightful take on the human tendency to revel in freak, absurd and morbid expressions through the medium of horror movies. In his essay, King states that everybody is insane and the sanity is only the degree to which a human is insane. He states that people watch horror movies to feed their inner demons and to lock up their insanity to be acceptable to the society. The essay portrays rather disturbingly the truth behind people’s need to watch horror movies.

Use of Literary Devices

In this essay, the Continue reading...

Saboteur written by Ha Jin is a story that revolves around a revenge of a person. In the plot, Mr. Chiu, who is the main character, revenges those who had wronged him in the story. In the quest to have his revenge, he meets a lot of conflicts (Huang 45).
The Setting of the story is based in Muji, China. The story most probably was written during the 1960s, during the Cultural Revolution time. The communist party at this time was under a leader called Chairman Mao (Huang 45). He often ruled with what is usually called a Marxist Continue reading...

Essay outline

Specific purpose: This paper will specifically look at the use of irony in the story The Masque of the Red Death.

Central idea: this paper will focus on the interrelationships between different characters in the story.

Introduction
Every story has to incorporate stylistic devices that make the story interesting and worthy following. Irony is a crucial part of this particular novel. This is the principal focus of this analysis.

Thesis and preview of main points

Irony stands out in many parts of the story.
- There is the issue of the prince hiding from the red death although he is supposed to be the brave one.
- There is also the issue of the common people being left out of Continue reading...

Literature connection

Shakespeare’s use of irony is very clear in Othello as was in his other literary works. In this particular play, Shakespeare employs the use of three kinds of irony. These include verbal, situational and dramatic irony. Verbal irony is a situation where a character says words that are in contrast to that character’s intention. Situational irony is when a given action of a character is in contrast to the characters actual intentions. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something about the character that the character does not seem to know (Colebrook 45). Shakespeare has Continue reading...

In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare uses irony in different ways. Sometimes it is used for humorous purposes, and sometimes for dramatic purposes. It works because the audience hears the character saying one thing, and yet the audience knows that the literal meaning is not true, and in fact the opposite is true. By using irony in both humorous and dramatic scenes, Shakespeare allows the audience to enjoy the experience of sometimes knowing more than another character does about what is really happening. In contrast, the irony in Trifles is not so much a play on words as it Continue reading...

In this story Wolff comes up with several passages of irony which can be defined in several different ways and manners. Principal of them one finds what can be termed as Faustian irony where the author creates a web of deceit and expectation on what could have been. The story which focuses on the goings on between a priest and his community has other aspects of irony as it is intriguing to note that those who think they are achieving some sort of success are quite far off the mark.
Fr Leo is an intriguing character and there are Continue reading...

Personal narrative

On one sunny day in the city, I decided to relax in the park under a shade as I watched the city’s beautiful architecture as well as the people in it. My eyes rolled from corner to corner as I admired building and people and got amazed at the origin of such technology. It was amazing that man could think of erecting a structure that was much taller than they were and make it look so beautiful. As I thought about this, I was reminded of the different gifts and talents that people were endowed with. Thinking that Continue reading...

Literary Comparison of The Story of an Hour and The Necklace

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant are both short stories associated with the trials and tribulations of marriage, as well as love. Both stories also deal with the emotional and physical changes that are attributed to personal life changing events. In The Story of an Hour, the plot revolves around a woman, Louise Mallard, and her reaction to her husband’s death. In The Necklace, the plot is based Continue reading...

Nothing strikes the human chord of emotional impact as poetic expressions based on historical events. Straightaway, the reader realizes the innocence of a child is coupled with a parental attempt to veil the horror of murderous and hateful events occurring in their community. The writer of the poem, Ballad of Birmingham, by Dudley Randall uses a theme of irony as a core device in the piece. The most provocative words integrate into gaining the significance of the content. To summarize, the poem is a conversation between a mother – presumably and obviously black Americans – and her child, whereby the child Continue reading...

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”

Versus “The Necklace”
James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace” are two significant stories that portray alternate gender roles and the means to cope with those roles. James Thurber’s piece describe a man in the not so common feminine role, while Guy de Maupassant’s piece describes a woman in the usual feminine role. The stories were created in different historical periods, in various states of the relationships and in completely different settings. While the characters of these pieces experience different fates and the stories’ plots have dissimilar endings, Continue reading...

The American Dream has proven to be a highly elusive goal for many people. While there are quite a few stories of people who made themselves into successes, for many other people, that success has not only proven to be hard to come by, the difficulties of life, even in America, have shown that human nature can overcome even the best of intentions. From the very earliest American writers, such as Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne, to such satirists as H.L. Mencken and Mark Twain, to the pessimistic worldviews that emerged during the Jazz Age with Fitzgerald and Hemingway, Continue reading...

Anna Quindlen

How effectively does the author present her argument?
Anna Quindlen’s 'With a No.2 Pencil, Delete: The Destruction of Literature in the Name of Children’ is an a argumentative essay lamenting and arguing against the censorship of books for children, whether it is by banning them from school libraries or by bowdlerizing extracts from a writer for use in state examinations for English. Her argument is powerful and emotive, and, overall convincing, but it could have been made much stronger if she had used other strategies.
One strategy she uses through the assay is tone: the very first sentence Continue reading...

Guy de Maupassant’s story ‘the necklace’ is an interesting story. The narrative starts with a description of Madame Mathilde Loisel. De Maupassant depicts Mathilde as a ‘pretty and charming’ person. However, she desired a life of leisure, a lifestyle where she would have many servants and a large house yet her life was modest. The twists and the astounding end enable the reader to better understand the earlier hypothesis of the story. The proposition tries to depict how ‘strange and changeful’ life could be. The writer has incorporated a rounded quality, an excellent plot, unrivaled social observations and Continue reading...

Literary Techniques in Tartuffe by Moliere

Moliere uses the comical play Tartuffe to show the hypocrisy of the religious people at that time. Tartuffe is a highly religious individual but he fails to impress certain people in the house such as Damis. These people feel that they must expose the hypocrisy of the man. The author through Orgon shows the way people can be gullible towards religious people. Orgon goes to the extent of even offering the daughter in marriage to Tartuffe. He even decides to leave his property as inheritance to Tartuffe.
The author uses several Continue reading...

Abstract

This paper will compare and contrast the three named novels: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Emma by Jane Austen, My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok as bildungromans – that is, novels about growing up. Each of the central characters – Emma, Huck and Asher – grow to maturity by the end of each novel, having struggled through various difficulties. The three novels were written at very different times and are set in very different societies, but they are linked by the growth and development of the central characters. This growth is moral, Continue reading...

‘Proposal’ is one of the poems that were written by Raymond Carver. In this poem, there are several poetic devices that have been used to describe various situations. Similes and metaphors are the most common devices that have been used. Also there are personification, irony and tones that have been used by Raymond in the poem. These devices are specifically meant to bring out a clear picture of what was happening in the poetry. This poem talks about the two lovers who were longing for their wedding day. The man wanted to have a romantic relationship with his lover. Continue reading...

The article The Shield of Achilles within Iliad by Oliver Taplin, presents a curious topic that would often be overlooked or just breezed through by literary readers themselves who would often look out for the plot, development of the story, or “thrill of the ride”. Tedious details of Achilles’ shield do not contribute to such popular entertainment. And to wonder at the irony of its beautiful and celebratory designs against the backdrop of war and inhumanity is reserved for scholars, historians, and literary enthusiasts – fanatics of Homer’s works – for whom this article must have been written. (for whom Continue reading...

2014-11-21

The Irony of the Age of Obama
The concept of massive incarceration and making of the citizenry has become rather prevalent within societies throughout the globe especially within the United States. For years, Africans, primarily males, have endured and suffered the wrath of unbeknown acts, trickery and ploys of blame from situations within the work place that did pertain to them, as well as fictitious rape cases that of which was the most common. Unfortunately, these particular heinous acts still exist but within a new society and a new America. This is known to be one of the unhappiest Continue reading...

“Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift is considered one of greatest satirical literary works in the world literature heritage. To the great extent “Candide” ranks Voltaire on the same level of significance as one of the greatest satirists in the world literature.
Satire is “a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule”. (Literary Devices) The goal of satire is improving humanity by means of criticizing and mocking its foolishness and weakness. In satire a writer uses fictional characters, which actually hint at Continue reading...

Nowadays, people tend to care too much what other people may think about them, sometimes making sacrifices beyond their possibilities, for the sake of appearances. The story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant teaches us a very good life lesson regarding this issue and in another order of ideas, we can call it the deceptiveness of appearances. The main character of the story, Mathilde, never felt that the normal life she had fits her, and she always dreamed on being wealthy and making part of the social class. She had her change to bright for a couple of hours Continue reading...

Mao II is a novel which was written by Don DeLillo and published by the Scribner on 20/06/1991. The 265-page text is the tenth novel by this award winning author. It gives a story of Bill Gray, an eccentric novelist who leads an extra-ordinary life. After a successful completion of his two novels, he finds himself in a limbo when he deliberately opts to incomplete his third book. He does this believing that its exposure to the masses will be of no benefit, but ruin his agenda for writing it. However, this does not come to be, since he Continue reading...

In Snapping Beans the poet uses a song that irony is also evident when the grandmother asks her grand-daughter about college life a question that the she replies, “School’s fine”. From the various lines used in the poem, it is evident that the daughter is new in college and does go through the challenges that are gone through by new students. It is therefore ironical when she says that college life was fine with her yet the poem portrays how she goes through various challenges in a bid to acclimatize to the change in environment. The grand mother Continue reading...

Harrison Bergeron is a story written by Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut’s story is a warning to the world about the quest of equality, which is spreading all round in many nations with America on the lead. The story shows the reader how the equality issue can have negative impacts on people’s individuality, and the society. The story revolves around the protagonist, Harrison Bergeron who is an archetypical symbol that represents defiance, and individuality. He is used to represent the people who will stand up, and protest against cruel laws imposed by the state on equality, and encourage others Continue reading...

‘The lottery’ is luminous piece of literary work by Shirley Jackson. When this short story was published by the New Yorker in the year 1948, it attracted huge controversy and criticism. Jackson, with the help of irony as well as comedy, draws attention towards hypocritical behavior and flaws of the human beings. The story also talks about illogical practices as well as underlying evils of the society. This paper intends to discuss ‘The Lottery’ and several other related aspects.
In the journey, after its first appearance, the story has got huge acclamations by the critics as well as readers Continue reading...

Organization

Introduction
The subject of existentialism is not easy to define as it is impossible to explain the purpose of human existence in few sentences. However, according to American Heritage Dictionary (3rd edition), existentialism refers to a philosophy that lays emphasis on isolation and uniqueness of the individual in an indifferent or hostile environment. This can be seen as the underlying theme of the short story by Jack London where a man in solitude travels through unfriendly areas of Yukon which symbolizes indifferent and cruel cosmos. “To Build A Fire” is a short story by Jack London which centers around Continue reading...

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Essay 1

The Diamond-Water Paradox first appeared in Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (30) to illustrate the irony of value as seen by consumers and traders. It since became a classic analogical centerpiece among subsequent economists to explain their respective theories of value. This essay gives a snapshot of Smith’s original description of the paradox, followed by David Ricardo and Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk.

Adam Smith’s ‘Paradox of Value

So goes the ‘Diamond-Water Paradox’: “Nothing is more useful than water; but will purchase scarce anything; scarce anything can be Continue reading...

Introduction

Postmodernism is a trend in literature believed to have emerged from the World War II. Postmodern literature is marked by the use of narrative techniques that includes Fragmentation, paradox, and finally unreliable narrator. The postmodern writings are viewed as reactions against thinking enlightenment and the approaches from modernist. Social classes emerged where persons that are good financially are in categories of their own. The social class maybe base on the income of an individual hence those with high income are on high social classes. Through class, there are a capitalist economy and social economy. Gender equality resulted from postmodernism Continue reading...