There are 3 types of irony: Verbal, Situational, and Dramatic
Verbal Irony
Verbal Irony is the use of words to mean something different from what a person actually says. There are two types of Verbal Irony: overstatement and understatement. Overstatement is when a person exaggerates the character of something. Understatement is when a person undermines the character of something.
Ex:
1. "Thanks for the ticket officer, you just made my day!!"
2. "I can't wait to read the seven hundred page report." The report is really not 700 pages long.
Situational Irony
Situational Irony may occur when the outcome of a certain situation is completely different than what was initially expected. It is sometimes called "irony of events."
Ex:
1. A person who claims to be a vegetarian but will eat a slice of pepperoni pizza because they are hungry.
2. A man who is a traffic cop gets his license suspended for unpaid parking tickets. We would have never have suspected that a traffic cop would get a ticket for the same thing that he handed out tickets for.
Dramatic Irony
Dramatic Irony occurs when the reader, person, or audience knows what is going to happen, but the character in a book, play or film does not. This type of irony usually occurs in horror movies.
Ex:
1. As an audience member, you realize that if a character walks into an abandoned warehouse, chances are the killer is waiting.
2. An example in Romeo and Juliet: Romeo thinks that Juliet is dead, but the audience knows she is not.
Verbal Irony
Verbal Irony is the use of words to mean something different from what a person actually says. There are two types of Verbal Irony: overstatement and understatement. Overstatement is when a person exaggerates the character of something. Understatement is when a person undermines the character of something.
Ex:
1. "Thanks for the ticket officer, you just made my day!!"
2. "I can't wait to read the seven hundred page report." The report is really not 700 pages long.
Situational Irony
Situational Irony may occur when the outcome of a certain situation is completely different than what was initially expected. It is sometimes called "irony of events."
Ex:
1. A person who claims to be a vegetarian but will eat a slice of pepperoni pizza because they are hungry.
2. A man who is a traffic cop gets his license suspended for unpaid parking tickets. We would have never have suspected that a traffic cop would get a ticket for the same thing that he handed out tickets for.
Dramatic Irony
Dramatic Irony occurs when the reader, person, or audience knows what is going to happen, but the character in a book, play or film does not. This type of irony usually occurs in horror movies.
Ex:
1. As an audience member, you realize that if a character walks into an abandoned warehouse, chances are the killer is waiting.
2. An example in Romeo and Juliet: Romeo thinks that Juliet is dead, but the audience knows she is not.