Irony confuses, and like the two p's and satire, which will be addressed momentarily, it depends somewhat on the intention of the writer or speaker.
Irony requires an opposing meaning between what's said and what's intended. Stop. Think about that for a long moment. Even the definition is somewhat head-scratching, so if you often find yourself confused by irony, you're in excellent company. One of the confounding factors of irony isn't just that its definition is a bit, well, complex, but also the sheer number of possibilities for correct usage. It's bad enough that irony is hard to grasp but now add to that fact that there are, in fact, a multitude of definitions for different forms of irony, including verbal, dramatic, and cosmic. The sheer plethora of ways ironic can be used meaningfully suggests that is something of a "catch-all" for a situation that seems odd, upsetting or amusing. Enter Ms. Morissette...
1. VERBAL IRONY: when a speaker or writer is intentionally using words that literally convey the opposite of their true beliefs, generally for the purpose of "cosmic" emphasis (sarcasm). In fact, there is a strong overlap between sarcasm and comic irony. Example: Saying "Oh, that's just fantastic," when the situation is really poor. OR Dimmesdale's sermons about how sinful he is, and how he deserves disgust resulting in the congregation loving him and following him even more.
2. SITUATIONAL IRONY: A sharp divergence between expectations or perceptions and reality. Expectations, of course, often differ from results, but to rise to the state of irony, the gulf between them should be vast and the contrast sharp. (See the wedding example above with Ms. Morissette's song breakdown).
3. DRAMATIC IRONY: Perhaps the easiest to understand as its use is so specialized. The device in which the reader or audience is tipped off to a crucial fact still unknown to one or more of the characters. Example: The audience and friar know that Juliet isn't really dead, but Romeo doesn't.
5. HISTORICAL IRONY: Some things become ironic with time. If the passage of years creates an amusing juxtaposition between a historical event or claim and what has happened since to contradict it. Example: Isn't it ironic that the inventor of the machine gun thought his new weapon would end all war?" Answer: YES! It is, in fact, historically ironic. :)
6. SOCRATIC IRONY: The pretense of ignorance used to draw an opponent into slipping up or revealing flaws in their argument. Example: She used socratic questioning in order to enable him to realize the holes in his emphatic argument.
How's that for confusing? If that isn't enough, irony is only one way to bring in humor or thought-provoking elements in literature. There are also parody, pastiche, and satire....Buckle up, here we go!
PARODY: An imitative work created to mock, comment on or trivialize an original work, its subject author, style or some other target, by means of imitation. Example: The movie "Airplane" is a parody of 1970's disaster movies. Example #2: Most everything created by Weird Al Yankovic.
PASTICHE: A work of visual art, literature, or music that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, the intention of pastiche is to celebrate rather than mock. Example: Many modern artists seek to produce works of impressionism in homage to Renoir and Monet, who are very much beloved.
SATIRE: A genre of literature and art in which the vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations or society, itself, into improvement. Although funny, its intention is to shame or offer constructive social criticism. Examples: The Daily Show, most political cartoons
Just for fun, the definition of cynicism, or cynical, is an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest. It is a form of skepticism that often leads to the production of satire.
There you have it! Here's to understanding the various ways authors, speakers, poets and artists humor us, pay homage to us, and humiliate us in all sorts of creative and confounding ways!
1. Did you find any examples of true irony in the Morissette song? Give me an example of irony in something you have heard or read. What type of irony is it? Why?
2. What are each of the funny little videos an example of and why?
3. Which of the previous definitions confused you the most? What literary device do you find most confusing?
Alanis Morissette: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jne9t8sHpUc
Tim Hawkins Video #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5R8gSgedh4
Tim Hawkins Video #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2eh6f5Go0
An example of true irony in the Morissette song is when the man in the crashing plane says “Well, isn’t this nice.” An example of irony in something I have seen is in Fraiser, where everyone knows that Niles is desperately in love with Daphne, except for Daphne. It is dramatic irony because it’s a crucial part of his character and his motivation for his actions, yet it is unknown to Daphne.
ReplyDeleteThe Kids Rock video is an example of a pastiche because it is imitating the styles of artists like Coldplay and Nickelback. The Government Can is a satire piece because it is criticizing the government and trying to shame the current way the government is run.
The definition I find most confusing is Socratic irony. The literary device that I find most confusing is irony, as I have always had trouble determining between the different types of irony and whether something is ironic or not.
The thing that makes it ironic in the case of Socratic irony is that the person may be aware of the holes in someone's argument, but they pretend they are ignorant by just asking questions so that as the person answers the questions, they become aware of the holes in their argument. It is the feigning ignorance to expose ignorance that makes it ironic. ;) Does that make sense?
DeleteWithin Morissette's song, I found that there aren't any examples of irony. All the examples she gave in the song turned out to be just unlucky coincidences or bad situations. A good example of irony, or more accurately dramatic irony, is through the show "How I Met Your Mother." Where the audience always is one step ahead of the characters because of the narrator's plot hopping and small insides about the future episodes. Since, the show is set up to be told like a story the narrator, Ted, often slips up and mentions things that happen 2 or 3 seasons later. So, when the audience finally reaches to that point they have a vague understanding of the episode.
ReplyDeleteThe two videos that were given are examples of a pastiche and satire. The first video is a pastiche because it imitates a type of music and putting it with a type of song that isn't usually used together. The other is Satire because it has the intent to shame or ridicule the government.
I find that the previous definition that confused me the most was Cosmic Irony. I couldn't exactly wrap my head around it. I believe that Irony is still very difficult to understand and if it's not in use or commonly spoken it will most likely still be very confusing to most.
Cosmic = the universe. When the fates act in a way completely opposite to what is expected. When people said that the Titanic was so perfectly that "God, Himself couldn't sink it," and then it was sunk by an iceberg, well, that is ironic. :)
DeleteWhile listening to the song I didn't think that I heard anything that would be considered truly ironic. So I looked up the lyrics for the song and reread the ironic definitions that were given to us in the blog post, and I found that there was only a small portion of verbal irony through the phrase, "Well, isn't this nice," when the man was in a crashing plane.
ReplyDeleteFor an example of irony that I have read, it would be the first book to the Red Queen series, at least I think. I think that this is because the royals of the story discover a girl with a gift that 'red' blood people shouldn't have. So they disgust her as a 'silver' blood, a person of higher class. This would be a dramatic irony example because the girl with 'red' blood is only known to have 'red' blood by the royals and the readers.
The funny little videos are examples of a pastiche and a satire. With the Kids Rock, they are the pastiche because they are imitating the styles of different artists. Then with The Government Can they are a satire because it shows the intent to shame and ridicule the government.
For the most confusing definition above, I found that I have a hard time telling the difference between verbal irony and cosmic irony. I feel like the most confusing literary device is irony.
The difference is that verbal is spoken irony and cosmic is an action or force of nature.
DeleteGoing off of the definition - “the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning” - it seems that irony is just opposite of predicted instances, at least by my knowledge. I always reference an instance I have seen in my youth: my tiny kitten had slipped out of my house and began to chase a coyote. Based on my knowledge of the typical predator-hunts-prey scenario, I was baffled to see my itsy-bitsy cat bolting bravely toward a coyote.
ReplyDeleteIn breaking down the text, lyric by lyric, I am seeing that there is a lot of sarcasm or coincidental instances that are mistaken as irony. As mentioned, the whole “It's like rain on your wedding day” thing is very much coincidental rather than ironic unless it was anticipated for and action was taken to avoid getting doused by rain. Likewise, most of the lyrics follow this trend of being a coincidental or undesirable situation. I find that in a song titled “Ironic”, there is no irony… seem ironic?
Tim Hawkin’s hilarious videos regarding the children's nursery rhymes and the government, both of which seem ironic in their own way. His commercial for Kid Rock, being an album of children’s songs sung by popular adult pop and rock bands, is targeted for adults. Aside from being absolutely humorous, this situation seems ironic by the fact that these songs, targeted for children, are geared for adults. By definition, this is the opposite of what is expected in this scenario. Additionally, the song regarding the government, in summary, discusses how the government members coax people in with offers of fixing problems with the country: “The government takes everything we make to pay for all of their “solutions.” Healthcare, climate change, pollution! Throw away the constitution. However, it seems more as an unfortunate situation than an ironic one.
I would say that I find “Socratic Irony” the most confusing simply because I don’t have much experience with using it or identifying it.
Your understanding of irony is pretty spot on! :) You have one brave little kitty!
DeleteThe song about the government is an example of satire, as it is meaning to insult.
In the song, I found that a lot of the 'ironic' situations, weren't ironic at all - just unfortunate events. The only one that I saw could have been irony depending on the situation is was presented in was "good advise that you just didn't take". For example, in a play this could be used to tip off the audience that the instance the advice is advising against will actually happen. Thus, the audience knows something will likely happen due to foreshadowing but the characters themselves won't. This is dramatic irony. An example of irony in Taming of the Shrew is that Pertuchio is attempting to tame Katherine. He and the audience knows this is intentional however Katherine does not know this. This is situational irony.
ReplyDeleteThe first video was pastiche as it is making fun of different kids songs and songs by professional artists. The second video is also satire because it is making fun of a large incorporation, eg the US government.
I think the hardest irony for me to understand is Socratic irony simply because I cannot think of a situation where it would make sense to create a humorous argument.
Yes --actually, the Shrew example you mentioned is specifically dramatic irony as we, the audience and Petruchio know, but Kate does not. It is a lot to juggle!!
DeleteSee above (for Mckenzie Macon) on Socratic. It's not that the argument is humorous, thought sometimes it can play out that way, its about the ultimate intentions and the exposure of ignorance using feigned ignorance.
DeleteAs I listened to the Morissette song, I realized that the situations mentioned didn’t really contain anything too “ironic” after all. She just seemed to be describing poorly timed situations/decisions that one would normally hope to avoid. The only type of irony that I noticed throughout the entirety of the song was the phrase “Well, isn’t this nice” spoken when a plane began to crash. That phrase obviously falls into the sarcasm column, making it more of verbal irony.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I really struggle to understand the many different types of irony, but the only one I seem to be able to grasp is dramatic irony. This is the type of irony that I see the most often in the books that I read or the movies/shows that I watch. The first example I think of in terms of dramatic irony is when victims go towards the closet or the room where we (the audience) know the bad guy is. This can also be shown when characters trust bad characters who we, the audience, know has an ulterior motive.
I would say that the hilarious “Kids’ Rock” video would be an example of a pastiche due to the creator taking other works and expanding on/imitating them. The second video seems to be an example of satire, as it is making fun of the US government.
Personally, I feel as though Socratic irony is the one I have the most trouble understanding, possibly because it’s something that I haven’t really noticed or practiced.
When listening to the Morissette song, the only thing that would fall under the concept of irony is when she says “well, isn’t this nice” creating the verbal irony as it is sarcastic. Other than this, the song just mentioned bad and hopefully avoidant situations. I am most familiar with dramatic irony, like in Macbeth when King Duncan is starting to trust Macbeth, however, the audience knows that Macbeth is plotting to kill Duncan
ReplyDeleteThe first video “Kids of Rock” would fall under a pastiche because it is making fun of the different songs by professional artists as well as what would be considered a kid’s song or genre. The second video would fall under satire because it is making fun of and criticizing the US government.
Out of all the definitions listed, the ones that confused me the most is Socratic and Cosmic only because I have never heard of these before and can’t think of any specific situations in which these would be used.
After listening to the Morissette song, I'd first like to say that I feel that I am not good at recognizing these different types of 'irony' mainly because I have never heard them before except of course, dramatic irony. However when listening to the song I found that the only line she said was ironic was when she said "well, isn't this nice" while creating a verbal irony, while there was only mention of bad things happening and the action of a plane crashing down behind her.
ReplyDeleteSince I am most familiar to dramatic irony, I recognize it the most, as seen in horror movies. When the main character walks into a haunted house and is about to open the door, the audience sees that there is something scary behind the door but the character/actor does not know; is an example of dramatic irony.
After watching the first video "Kids' Rock" a few times, I realized that it would fall under a pastiche because it makes fun of different kids songs and different artists. The second video is also a satire because it is making fun of a larger corporation, such as in this instance it was the U.S government.
I feel that Socratic irony and Historical irony are most confusing to me mainly because I have never heard of them before, and these two definitely took me a few times to understand the irony in the example.
In the Morissette song, I found that most of the examples used were things I previously thought to be irony. After reading this blog post, I now believe that they are not, and sometimes are rather just coincidence. In the song, it says that "rain on your wedding day" is irony. However, the blog post explains that this is not necessarily irony. An example of irony that I have personally heard is "As soon as you stop wanting something, you get it". This is ironic because one may desire something greatly and do all they can to get it, but eventually lose their want for it and that is when it is usually earned. This is ironic because so much work and energy is put into getting it, yet you may not want this thing anymore after this is done.
ReplyDeleteThe first funny video (Kids' Rock) is an example of parody. It takes real life examples of albums that have been created, and makes fun of it by using other titles and music in the place of the original album. This is parody because they are making fun of something that already exists. The second video (The Government Can) is an example of satire. Although the idea of parody and imitating something rings true here as well as with the first video, the second video is specifically targeting a general corporation. The actions taken are the same as the first video, with describing a group humorously, but the target audience and group being made fun of is different for each video.
Socratic irony is the definition in which I find most confusing of the literary devices. I understand the targeting of weakness in your opponent, but I am not sure how one goes about doing this. I am also not sure why it is irony. Generally, irony is a confusing literary device for me as there are various interpretations and definitions that can apply to different situations. I thought I held a developed definition of irony, but after this blog post, I had to re-establish what I thought irony was. It was a good renewal! :)
Socratic is tricky! It's easier to track if you remember that it involves questioning. So, in Socratic, you are pretending you are ignorant about some point by questioning your opponent, but really you are questioning them to expose their ignorance of the point. Does that make sense?
Delete(Joshuah DIGuardi ) Its quite ironic that a song that claims irony in every scenario describes each instance with a lack of thereof making it an example of Socrates irony .As for the "children's " songs its ironic that that in the begging it had addressed how it was for your kids and yet it it entirely marketed t words adults as well as subjigated classic nursery rhymes that had been around seemingly forever as below adults standards to listen and relate to making it in that sense quite ironic making it perhaps situational irony . And the Government can (however a joke it should be ) is quite ironic that such problems should be presented in this way in a form of promoting and making it literally sound good when in reality none of it sounds or should be good ,and this makes a case for verbal irony .And in so after reading the definitions of irony I do believe I have trouble with pastiches as they celebrate in their own ways makes it strange in a sense I'd suppose .
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find much irony in the video minus "this is nice" which could be verbal irony.
ReplyDeleteI would say that Tim Hawkins creates parody songs for either parody in "Kid's Rock" or satire in, "The Government Can." This is due to that "Kid's Rock" makes fun of the songs themselves whilst "The Government Can" outlines the flaws of the Government, something outside of the music genre.
I would say that Verbal Irony may be the hardest to define. Due to that it is not sarcasm, it may be hard to find written verbal irony rather than written sarcasm as intonation is inferred. I don't really find any other devices of comedy and humour hard to grasp.
I've always been one to notice forms of irony in writing and every day life, but after reading this blog I've found a deeper and contradicting view of irony and noticing it. I may not be as good at recognizing or differing between the three types of irony.
ReplyDeleteSocratic irony is by far the hardest form of irony for me to understand, due to my lack of experience and understanding of it. After listening to the songs, I feel I couldn't quite single out on the forms of irony and how they correspond to my previous understanding.
The only example of irony I found in the song is, “well, isn’t that nice.” She didn’t quite literally mean something is nice, she was commenting on the negative situations with sarcasm. A type of irony that I have read is from Cyrano De’ Bergerac. Almost the entire play contains dramatic irony. The audience knows Cyrano and Christian’s plan to trick Roxanne, but she doesn’t know.
ReplyDeleteThe first video, Kids Rock is an example of a parody. It takes songs that have already been released and makes a comedic rendition of the songs. It changes the song titles and the lyrics, making fun of something that already exists, making it a parody.
The second video, The Government Can is an example of satire because it is making fun of and shaming a large corporation, being the United States Government.
The definition that I am struggling with the most is Socratic Irony. I believe that I am not grasping this definition yet because this is the first time I have heard of it. I actually had to reread the definition many times in order to somewhat comprehend it.
I had a difficult time singling out the different forms of irony in these videos. However, I did pick up on the verbal irony when the artist states, "isn't that nice", as we can obviously pick up on the fact that it isn't nice. The Kids Rock parodies were in a way ironic as they are pushing to make fun of or mock songs that other musical artists have already released. In a way, that in itself could be ironic as they replace the original, well known son lyrics with funny or edited lyrics. The Government Can video was somewhat of an example of satire, which I don't believe to really be irony as sarcasm, irony and satire are often mixed around. However, satire fits this video well as the members of the video are attempting to poke at or ridicule the government.
ReplyDeleteThe Government Can is, indeed satire. Satire is not a form of irony, but it is a style or genre all its own. The Kids Rock video is a parody, as it is copying songs we know for the purpose of humor. This is not a form of irony.
DeleteI have never been the type of person to look around and see irony in many things, along with just not being good at recognizing it but when listening to the song the only form of irony I saw was ¨isn't this nice¨ . This line in the song was a sense of verbal irony but other than that I was not able to find any others in this song or the videos. I honestly have only been exposed to verbal irony and when looking into the videos on kids rock and The Government can I could not tell you the types of irony. The hardest one to comprehend I would say is Socratic Irony because out of all of them that is the most complex.
ReplyDeleteI feel like in order for the things in the song "Ironic" to be considered actually ironic they need to have more to them. For example, in order for the "Mr. Play It Safe" section of the song to be ironic he should have taken the flight that he did because he thought that it would be the safer flight, but actually ended up being the one to crash.
ReplyDeleteI felt like the socratic irony was certainly the most difficult to understand because we don't commonly use much of the terminology mentioned in the definition and its one that we are not used to recognising.
A good example of situational irony is in a production of Mary poppins the chimney sweeps perform "Step In Time" out of time with the music.
Yes! Let's hope we can cure that particular brand of irony. ;)
DeleteIn the song by Alanis Morissette the only form of irony that I could find was when she said "isnt that nice", it took me a few trys to realize this was verbal irony when she was commenting with sarcasm on a negative experience.
ReplyDeleteThe first video is an example of pastiche because they're imitating other artists styles. The second video is satire becuase it is mocking and making fun of the government.
For me the most confusing type of irony is historical irony just because I have never heard of it before and it is not used very often in my daily life, but after reading this blog I will be on the look out for more uses of irony in my daily life
Despite the many misuses of ironic within the song "Ironic", Morissette actually use irony correctly within a few of her verses. When she talks about “Mr. Play-It-Safe” getting into a plane crash on his first flight, he says “Well isn’t this nice”. This is an example of verbal irony as the situation is actually quite bad instead of “nice”. Another example of verbal irony within “Ironic” is when Morissette says that “life has a funny way of sneaking up on you,”. Her words contradict her actual feelings towards the situation as these horrible circumstances are not funny at all.
ReplyDeleteAn example of irony that I’ve heard is when people say “I just can’t wait to do _____!” when referring to things that they aren’t excited to do. As in, if you didn’t want to do homework, you could say “I just can’t wait to get home and do homework!”. This is an example of verbal irony that I hear from my peers on a regular basis.
The Kids’ Rock video is a parody of Kid’s Bop which turns pop music into songs that are "kid-friendly". The speaker doesn't seem to be serious about this idea and therefore it’s verbal irony. "The Government Can" was an example of satire because it was ridiculing the government's short comings and how the way they govern may be faulty. Another way the author used satire was by mocking the people who blindly listen to the government by saying “It feels so good because the government says I should”. These are all instances of satire within the video.
For me, satire was the most confusing concept for me to grasp. It feels like one of those things that are known without needing a definition. For me, it was easiest to understand when I saw it used in the video (even though I initially thought that it was just a parody).
I've always struggled with the meaning of irony, even after it being explained numerous times to me. In the Morissette song, however, I did notice that when she was talking about the man in a crashing plane, she said "well isn't this nice", demonstrating a form of verbal irony. The second link displayed a pastiche as it was imitating well-known children's songs.The third link seemed satire, as it was politically criticizing and making fun of the government. Another place where I remember seeing irony was when reading ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ by William Shakespeare. In the play, the use of disguises and hidden identifies left the audience to observe dramatic irony, as the actors themselves were unaware of the various disguises surrounding them. Overall, the concept of irony is still a bit confusing for me to grasp and fully understand. I am still left perplexed with the meanings of cosmic irony and socratic irony, mainly because I had never heard about them before today.
ReplyDeleteWhile many of the situations described in Morissette’s song could be seen simply as coincidental bad occurrences, the line “Well, isn’t this nice” was one that truly stood out as ironic. In this case, the irony was being played out as ‘verbal irony’ due to the line bringing out a sense of sarcasm to the situation of the plane crash; the sarcastic tone of the song is further developed through this line of irony.
ReplyDeleteI feel that in my day-to-day life, irony appears mainly through the form of sarcasm and “verbal irony”. I do, however, seem to find more “dramatic irony” when reading books and watching movies, as many times authors and directors purposefully set up the plot of the novel or movie in a way that the audience knows something the characters do not. This can be seen directly in Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado” as us readers have a
sense of what awaited for Fortunato while he himself does not.
The first video titled “Kids Rock” could be easily interpreted as a parody or a pastiche of sorts as it imitated the style of different well known artists; whether it was imitating to mock or to celebrate the styles is up to interpretation, and can affect it’s stance as being considered either a parody or a pastiche. “The Government Can” video on the other hand, very clearly is an example of satire as Hawkins song was openly shaming the government.
Personally, the definition of “socratic irony” is still a bit difficult to comprehend. I feel this may be the case for the most part because it is such a new concept and because I
cannot say to have heard it used before in real life nor in text.
Although the song claims to be 'Ironic', I could only see the phrase "Well isn't this nice," jump out at me. I find it more ironic that the song 'Ironic' barely has any true irony. I know that wasn't the real intention of the artist (at least I think so) it is still pretty funny to think about.
ReplyDeleteHaving gone to a lot of plays/shows/musicals, one of my favorite types of irony is dramatic. Such as last night I went to see 'Sister Act' done by Willow Canyon, in which in the previous scene, the main character who has to hide from the mafia in a convent, decides to go to the bar next street. When in the next scene the three henchmen say "It's not like she's going to walk in here." However the audience is fully aware that she's about to burst in and have a drink or two.
The two videos actually caught me off guard, I wasn't aware of what I was getting into. However it seems that "Kids Rock" seemed more of a pastiche, because its mimicking not only the words of children's songs, but also famous bands' melodies. "The Government Can" is no doubt a satire, just shaming the government for taking all of our money, and taxing everything.
Personally Socratic Irony is a bit confusing to me, mostly because it's the first time I've ever heard of it, and honestly haven't seen anything like it or similar to it on a day to day basis. The example helped a little bit, but I would still need to see more before I fully understand that kind of Irony.
In Morissette's song, I found true irony in the story about the man who was afraid to fly and then got on a plane and as it crashed he said, "well isn't this nice." This would be a form of verbal irony because the fearfully anticipated plane crashing was definitely not nice for him. He was saying it sarcastically, hence the verbal irony.
ReplyDeleteThe kid's rock video can be either a parody or a pastiche because the tune of the songs was being imitated but then turned into children songs. I personally feel it's more of a parody because it was turning good, popular songs into something for little kids. The version of the three blind mice also seemed more like an insult than a compliment because the vocals weren't very good.
The government can video was definitely a satire because it was mocking the government while taking a stand against all the ridiculous things it can do, most likely intended for the issue to change or at least be brought to American's attention.
The most confusing definition to me is probably situational irony. It was so brief but smartly worded that I have no idea how to interpret it. 'Smartly worded' is definitely not smartly worded, can that be situational irony? Who knows. The most confusing literary device for me is assonance and consonance. When I was in elementary school, I used to be the best at alliterations and they were my favorite device. Now that I'm in Mrs. Caraway's class I've been introduced to new literary devices I've never even heard before! It's cool but confusing at the same time, after all, it did take me a solid two years to really get good at alliterations, and that was when we only used words that started with the same letters!! Maybe I'll never understand, just like I may never understand irony. At least I'll always have this blog in case I get confused. ;)
I believe the best line in the song, Ironic by Alanis Morissette, illustrates verbal irony. For instance, "well, isn't this nice;" in this phrase, Morissette is able to show sarcasm and add a little humor to the song because the situation itself is not good.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the kids rock video was a parody because to me personally it seemed like he was mocking the artist by using their songs. As for the government video, it definitely represented satire because he was publicly shaming the government.
I found the Socratic irony most confusing, partly because the definition is so nicely put and also this is my first time hearing about it. As I'm rereading it right now, I can kind of understand but it would still be hard for me to explain it to someone else. As for literary devices, I struggle with understanding a juxtaposition because I'm not familiar with it. I have read the definition, however I would need some examples to help my understanding.
In the Alanis Morissette video, I found it ironic that she was all bundled up in winter clothes and proceeded to get into a car that doesn't have windows in it. An example of irony that I have read is in "The Cask of Amontillado" where the reader knows that Montresor is going to kill Fortunato, but he does not know this. This is an example of dramatic irony, which I find is the easiest to understand.
ReplyDeleteThe Kid's Rock song was a parody of Kid's Bop commercials and I can tell because it has a similar idea. Kid's Bop makes normal songs kid appropriate and Kid's rock makes Kid's songs into rock songs. The Government Can is an example of verbal or situational irony and I believe this because the song sounds very happy and peppy, but if you listen to the words, he is just talking about how the government is terrible.
The hardest definition for me to understand was historical irony. The literary devices that I have the most trouble with are synecdoche and metonymy.
After analyzing the lyrics of "ironic", I found that the song did not really contain any accurate uses or examples of irony. The song however, uses several tragic incidences to make it appear as if the situation could possibly be ironic, however never uses enough situational context to establish any form of irony. The two videos were an example of a parody, as they took an idea and mocked it in a way to make them appear almost "stupid", or not serious. The most confusing form of irony for me to understand is the socratic irony, this is because personally, I struggle with using and identifying when it is used in a situation.
ReplyDeleteI actually have never found the sing Ironic to actually be ironic! My mother always comments on the fact that, although it uses bad situations to seem like it may be ironic, the song actually contains no irony within the lyrics.I enjoyed watching the parodies, but I, once again, didn't see any identifiable irony. The hardest form of irony for me to identify is socratic irony, as I feel it is not very noticeable at first and I have to really search for it to identify it.
ReplyDeleteIn the song one of the examples of something ironic that i found was at the beginning when she said isn’t this nice? This is an example of irony because she was not in a good position, but she she was being sarcastic about it. If you were not able to understand the sarcasm and what irony was, then you would be confused. When looking at the other videos, I would say that the Kids of rock is an example of pastiche. This is because it is making fun of different song by artists and making it into a kid’s genre. For me, I think that they are all confusing in different ways. The one that I have the most difficult time understanding is Socratic irony since it is the most complex and I have not learned this before.
ReplyDeleteIn "Ironic", Alanis Morrisette does actually use irony, though not nearly enough to constitute naming the song after it. The line where Mr. Play it safe thinks to himself, "Well, isn't this nice?" as the plane he is on is crashing is a pretty clear cut example of verbal irony, as it feels safe to say that nobody would find imminent death in any form nice. The most recent example of dramatic iron that I've seen is in the play we just finished reading, Cyrano de Bergerac. The main conflict comes from Roxane not knowing that she is falling in love with Cyrano's words rather than Christian's, whereas we the audience know the entirety of what's going on — a textbook example of dramatic irony. As for the Tim Hawkins videos, I believe that the first one is a parody and the second satire. "Kids' Rock" is in the same vein of content as Weird Al's music, parodying not the original songs but the genre of kids music itself, while in the 2nd video Hawkins offers up some biting social commentary characteristic of satire. Of the definitions of literary devices, the hardest to understand for me was probably Socratic irony, just because I haven't really seen it used before.
ReplyDeleteI remember talking about the Alanis Morissette song in 7th grade and talking about how there wasn’t much irony in the song itself. We talked about how the song is mainly coincidence and how most of the situations sung about were mainly undesirable and slightly inconvenient circumstances rather than irony. Listening to the song again, the line “isn’t this nice” referring to a plane crash does sound like verbal irony.
ReplyDeleteI understand dramatic irony the best out of all types of irony because I feel that it’s the most obvious and causes the most reaction. The most confusing to me is socratic irony because I don't think I understand who in the situation is doing the irony.
From listening to the song, the only thing I was able to find as irony was when she says "well isn't this nice?". This works as verbal irony or sarcasm as Mr. Play it Safe finds himself in an actual unfortunate situation. A pretty common example of irony that I can think of would be when watching a typical horror movie and the main character is unaware of the danger or murderer but the audience is. This would be an example of dramatic irony. I think that both of the Tim Hawkins videos were examples of pastiches because they imitated the style of the artists that created the original content. I also feel that they demonstrated satire, especially in the second video as he specifically targeted the government for a comedic effect. I have always had a hard time with irony and I still don't feel like I have completely grasped it. However, the form of irony that I struggled the most to understand would have to be Socratic irony because I have never heard of it before reading it on the blog.
ReplyDeleteIn the Morisette song, the main example of irony I found was the phrase "well, isn't this nice", which is verbal irony. The rest of the song seemed to bring up the bad things happening around/to her. I am most familiar with dramatic irony, most recently seen in Cyrano de'Bergerac: the audience knows Christian is not good with words and Cyrano is the one behind his love letters, but Roxanne does not.
ReplyDeleteAfter having watched the "Kids of Rock" video, I would place this under the category of pastiche as it is making fun of different songs, artists and the government- thus being satire.
Honestly, the most confusing to me were the Socratic and Cosmic Irony. This is most likely due to the fact I've never heard of them and wasn't taught the concepts when learning about what irony is.
The song honestly didn't contain much irony other than the verbal irony of the line "isn't this nice?". I remember going over the song before in English and I remember being very disappointed with the lack of actual irony and the repetitive nature of the song. I really liked the kid's rock video and its a very good example of a parody. I struggle finding Socratic irony, because I didn't even know it was a type of irony until now.
ReplyDeleteNone of the situations that Morissette mentioned in her song we actually situations of irony. They were just situations of coincidence or bad luck. The only irony I could pick out was verbal irony when the part in the song talked about the man who didn't want to be on a plane says “Well, isn't this nice.” while he is in a crashing plane. An example of irony is the show Psych which is a show about a guy named Shawn who makes everyone believe he is a psychic so he can solve crimes when in reality he is not actually physic. This is an example of dramatic irony because the audience of the show knows he is not psychic but all the characters on the show (except his best friend) thinks he is psychic.
ReplyDeleteThe Kids Rock song was a parody because it was making fun of Kidz Bop songs. The parody was using adult bands and artists to sing child songs just how Kidz Bop sings pop songs. The Government Can song was verbal irony because he is using a fun and happy feeling song to talk about all the awful things the government does to the public.
The most confusing type of irony to me was situational irony, mostly because this was the first I had heard of it.
I want to note that I had originally tried to post this and then the page refreshed.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I couldn’t find any irony at first glance in the video. That may be because I really haven’t studied the types of irony so I am not well accustomed to it’s many forms. Though I did read your break down of the umbrellas that outstretch over the figurative language, I cannot say that I could recognize the various types of irony in the video. Some have pointed out a few types of irony, like the ironic line where the man says “isn’t that nice”, but I can’t take credit for seeing that when I watched the music video.
In the kid rock video, I was able to identify that the author/singer used both parody and pastiche when covering the kid’s music. He parodied the Kidz Bop style of music, while maintaining a stance on the original creator’s music that mimicked their style.
The second video is a parody of “The Candyman Can” from the classic film Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. I really enjoyed this one. Especially his dancing. It felt very fitting and reminded me of another YouTube that you should check out. His name is Gus Johnson and his most recent video is -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg8qDPGeFMU
I personally think the song lacked irony, until the part when she describes the man in the crashing plane saying "Well isn't this nice." That would be a form of verbal irony if I'm not mistaken. To be honest, I can't think of a specific form of irony that I've heard or read, but I think that's because there are so many. If sarcasm can be considered a form of irony, then there are many examples in my life. Sarcasm is an incredibly common element in our culture today.
ReplyDeleteThe first video appeared to be multiple rather clever parodies of popular songs. While kind of a weird idea for a video, it was well thought out. The second video seemed to be a form of satire/parody. While I think it is comical and some points are true, on the whole it exaggerated quite a bit as to the state of people, and did not recognize the good that comes from the government. However it was a good parody of The Candyman from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (which I noticed on a recent rewatch is a very disturbing movie).
I think that Dramatic Irony was the least understood by me, only because I previously never considered such examples as Romeo not knowing that Juliet was alive actually irony. However, now that the definition has been made clearer this fact makes much more sense. I currently don't find any of the forms of irony confusing, I just find them rather hard to define or remember. Actually, now that I say that, I guess that means I find all of them confusing. Well, I've played myself.
1. I didn't find anything iconic about the Morissette song. An example of situational irony would be when a fire station burns down, because fire station's job is to help put other peoples fires out.
ReplyDelete2. The first video is an example of a parody because it uses images and words from children's songs to make fun of, and replace the words of the original song.The second video is an example of satire because it is criticizing the government on how they spend money.
3. The socratic irony definition confused me the most. I still struggle with finding the difference between illusion and allusion.
I personally could not find any true irony in the song, though I know that I'm looking at irony from the perspective of someone who has never had a clear grasp on irony. One example of irony in my life (if I'm correct) can be found everytime a test is given. At least one person in the room will say a remark along the lines of "Yay!" which would easily be verbal irony as its clear that no sane person would "Yay!" a test.
ReplyDeleteThe Kids of Rock video #1 could be considered an example of a Pastiche however in the aforementioned definition it was stated that the goal of a pastiche is to "celebrate rather than mock" though the style of animation and over dramatic tone of the video point to it being moreso a mockery of Kids Bop. The second video is absolutely a satire, aimed at making fun of the greed of the United States government.
The definition that I found most confusing was "socratic irony." When I thought of socratic irony I see the socratic method but I'm unsure of how a line of questioning creates irony.
It's not seldom referenced as irony (usually just called Socratic questioning) but when you think about the goals of Socratic questioning, it's feigning ignorance by asking questions of someone to better understand something, but through asking questions you expose their ignorance of their point...it backs them in a corner. So in pretending to be ignorance, you expose their ignorance. Make sense?
DeleteWhen listening to the song I couldn't find any lines that had true irony. It seemed that many of the examples she used in her song were similar to the ones that are often mistaken as irony when in fact they may just be a coincidence or unlucky. This can be seen in the main chorus when she says "it's like rain on your wedding day". However, as some others have pointed out, there may be some verbal irony in the line explaining the man crashing on his first flight and says "well isn't that nice", but this one was hard for me to identify by myself.
ReplyDeleteThe first video is an example of a parody as it is poking fun at old kids song that parents have frequently been annoyed by. Although the second video mocks the government similar to that of a parody, it more so criticizes the government and their wrong-doings in a position of leadership like a satire would.
I think the hardest definition for me to understand was Socratic irony, simply because I have not seen many examples of it in the past and wasn't sure how it would be used.
The only example of irony that I could find in Ms. Moritssette’s is the example of Mr. Play It Safe boarding a plane that is crashes down; as the plane crashes he says “Well isn’t this nice…”. This is an example of verbal irony because he claims that the situation is nice when it obviously isn’t.
ReplyDeleteOne example of irony that I have seen is in a tv show I am currently watching called Rebelde. A boy, Miguel, is asked to watch over a girl, Mia, by her dad and then report everything back to him. However, Mia finds out that someone is spying on her and she sets out to find who it is. This is a form of Dramatic Irony because the audience knows that Miguel is doing the spying but Mia does not. In regards to the Tim Hawkins videos, I thoroughly enjoyed both of them.
The ‘Kids’ Rock’ one was an example of a pastiche because the music mirrors that of Coldplay, Metallica, Guns n Roses, and other artists. The second video, ‘The Government Can’ is a form of satire because it aims to ridicule the government for the way it runs this country. The form of irony that I find most confusing is Socratic Irony. The part that is confusing for me is that I don’t understand what an example of this irony would look like. What makes it a socratic question as opposed to a leading question?
It depends on what you mean by a leading question, notably the intent of the question. In Socratic questioning, you are sort of feigning ignorance in order to ultimately expose someone's ignorance. That's somewhat ironic in its nature. :)
DeleteAfter listening to the Morisette song, I think the only ironic part of the song was when she said
ReplyDelete“well, isn’t this nice”. This was ironic because I don’t think she quite literally meant that the situation was nice or favorable, instead she wanted to say how negative it was by adding a slight bit of humor or sarcasm, therefore it could be showing verbal irony. Since I am not one to really point out when things are ironic, especially because I now realize there is a difference between irony and coincidence, it was a little hard for me to point out the irony in the videos. However, I do think that overall, the first video showed pastiche based irony, since the video was mimicking the creative styles of other artists, whether it was to mock them or celebrate them. The second video showed satire irony since it was poking fun at the government and shaming them for all the things they do. All in all, I felt that the most difficult concept of irony to grasp was historical because I don’t really understand when or why it would be used, also I feel that the example given did not really clarify things either. I also hadn't heard of that form of irony until now, or at least I didn't remember it.
I somewhat had a hard time identifying the verbal irony within the song due to my lack in being a very observant person. After hearing Morisette's song, I did not catch the verbal irony until I re watched the video and payed very close attention. The verbal irony I then identified was, " Well, isnt this nice". This is considered verbal irony because in the video she is experiencing a negative situation, therefore by stating that phrase she is being in a sense sarcastic, this then causes what is known as verbal irony. After watching this video, I have came to the conclusion that verbal irony is spoken on a daily basis, without people knowing. I am a very sarcastic person, but never have I ever identified myself as stating any form of "verbal irony" until now.
ReplyDelete1. In Alanis Morissette's song, I didn't see any examples of true irony. I feel like that in a sense, though mentioned earlier as not, can seem to be ironic to the listener. The song is called "Ironic," but features no true ironic sayings or lyrics, at least what I could see.
ReplyDelete2. The Kids Rock video is more of a funny video and parody for people to simply enjoy and laugh at. The government video can seem to be the same, however its not only a parody but a critical video of the government, degrading it and pointing out the flaws it has in a way that may just seem like a parody.
3. For me the form of irony that is most confusing is socratic irony, simply because it is new to me and I haven't heard of it before. It is a newer concept to me that I would likely have to review to understand completely.
1. In the song, I believe there are two accurate uses of irony, the first being “It's a free ride when you've already paid” as this could be an example of situational irony, however, I am still confused on that one. However, the lines “ as the plane crashed down he thought ‘Well, isn't this nice.’” are a strong example of verbal irony. I hear verbal irony almost every day as this is how my friends and I will banter back and forth with statements like “you’re a genius” after one of us does something extremely foolish. A more widely known example of dramatic irony can be seen in shows like the office where the characters have to chance to speak directly with the audience about what had just happened, secrets and what is going to happen next.
ReplyDelete2. The first video is an example of pastiche irony as it is mocking several different musical artists by replacing the words to their songs with different, more comedic ones. The second video is an example of satire as it is mocking the government's shortcomings by making a song about how terrible taxes are.
3. Personally, I found that situational irony was the hardest for me to identify as it can be easily confused with misfortunate events. Overall, however, I find synecdoche’s one of the more difficult figures of speech as I often can’t tell what is a synecdoche or metonymy.
1) An example of true irony within Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" is in the line "Well, isn't this nice." It is a form of verbal irony, as it was most likely stated in reaction to something unfavorable. An example of irony is present in the play "Cyrano de Bergerac," in which the audience is aware that Cyrano is writing Christian's letters, however Roxane is not. This is an example of dramatic irony, as the audience is aware of something that a character is not aware of.
ReplyDelete2) The first video is an example of a parody, as it mocks children's songs. The second video is an example of satire, as it makes fun of the government.
3) I do not understand Socratic irony at all, even the example confused me. For some reason, metaphors are hard for me to identify in texts.
One line I found Ironic in the song by Morisette was the line about the man who's plane was crashing, simply stating "well, isn't this nice". This is an example of verbal irony, where the phrase being stated completely contradicts the situation in which a person is placed. In this case the situation of the man is actually the exact opposite of nice. One example of irony that I hear most often is when somebody is having a bad day and they instead say that the day they're having is the "best day ever". This would be another example of verbal irony where the user is stating something but means the exact opposite of what they say. I feel as though this is done with hyperbolic intentions to emphasize what the user wants you to understand. The kids rock video is an example of pastiche, where the styles of major bands are emulated; whereas the government can is satire, seeking to criticizing the current government system. The definition I find most confusing is historical irony and the literary device that I still have trouble with from time to time is metonymy.
ReplyDelete1) From Alanis Morissette's song "Ironic", the only real example of irony the I could find was in the line "And as the plane crashed down he thought, 'Well isn't this nice.'" This is an example of verbal irony because his words conveyed a meaning that was the opposite of his true belief.
ReplyDelete2) The first video, Kids' Rock, is an example of parody because it is making fun of the children's music. The second video, The Government Can, is an example of satire because it demonstrates the shortcomings and issues of government in a humorous way.
3) Socratic irony was definitely the most difficult for me when I read the descriptions. I think I would need to see some examples play out in real life for me to be able to grasp that one.
1) An example I found of irony in the song "Ironic" are the lines "Well, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you/When you think everything's okay and everything's going right". These lines are using cosmic irony, as they claim that life gives you a bad situation when you're having a good day, which suggests that there are higher powers that might be interfering with people's lives to make their days inconvenient. Dramatic irony is found in the play Romeo and Juliet, where near the end of the play, we know that Juliet has drank a sleeping potion so she can avoid her marriage to Paris and run off with Romeo, but he doesn't know. What makes this situation an example of dramatic irony is that we know but he doesn't.
ReplyDelete2) The first video is an example of satire, as it mocks the children's songs genre in general. The second video is also an example of satire, as it is making fun of the government.
3) The definition for socratic irony is especially confusing as I didn't see it as defining what it was, more like how to use it in a sentence. I find synecdoche a bit tough to understand, mainly because we just started talking about it this year and I hadn't heard about it before in any other classes.
(Jaquelyn Sanchez)
DeleteIn Morissette’s ‘ironic’ music video, I found that the only form of irony was the lyric of “Well isn’t this nice.” This lyric is an example of verbal irony because Morisette is intentionally using the phrase to convey the opposite of what she feels in the song. A very recent example of irony that I have read is in the dramatic irony found in Cyrano de Bergerac, where the audience knows that Cyrano is in love with Roxane and that he is the one writing the love letters/ being Christian’s voice whereas Roxane herself does not know until the end of the play.
ReplyDeleteThe video, “Kid’s Rock” is a parody because it is utilizing sarcasm and popular artists to mock/have a laugh at popular songs and stories for kids. Likewise, to an extent, this video is also an example of pastiche since its using visual art (horrible illustrations in my opinion) and popular artist’s songs to imitate the stories for kids. “The Government can” is an example of satire because it is essentially making fun of/insulting what the government does and says in a funny way that delivers constructive social criticism to the government’s faults and wrongdoings.
Irony has always been something in literature that has been hard for me to understand and recognize in works of literature. But, I think the definition I found most difficult to understand was situational irony. That being said, the literary device I find the most confusing are metaphors and types of irony.
Irony has always been one of the hardest items of figurative language for me to remember because of all the different types. In Alanis Morissette’s song, the only irony I found was the line “well isn’t that nice”, which is sarcasm, a form of verbal irony because Mr. “Play it Safe” is in an unfortunate situation. The Kids’ Rock video is a parody of popular kid products and their commercials, specifically Kids’ Bop, because the intention is to mock. The Government Can video is satire because it offers social criticism in a humorous way. For me, I have found socratic irony to be hardest to recognize.
ReplyDeleteEmilio Ramirez:
ReplyDeleteIrony to me is something I find somewhat easier to recognize and understand. There are different types of it though I do not know all of them. In Alanis Morissett's song, there were various visual clues towards irony and other obvious lines of sarcasm. The Kid's Rock was an example of a parody which not only made fun of kids music but it's main intention was to mock. The Government Can video was an example of satire as it demonstrated and highlighted the issues with the government. The most difficult type of irony for me to recognize was definitely Socratic irony. To fully be able to understand and identify this, I feel visual representations would help greatly. Some others were slightly confusing as well as sometimes I would mix them up. For example situational irony which I would misinterpret at times.
I think I understand irony for the most part. Or at least I've been able to pick it out in places. I've just always thought of it as something that contrasts with another subject in a humorous or dramatic way. How one thing happens that then turns out completely different than how you thought it would. I wasn't sure if any of the lyrics in Alanis Morissett's song were ironic or just bad luck. The Tim Hawkins videos were songs and content of Parody. He is using impressions, songs, and artists to make fun of certain things we all know about. I'm not entirely sure how to understand historical irony, but that maybe because I don't have a lot of experience in reading or finding it.
ReplyDeleteIrony is something that I feel like I can never learn enough of, because no matter how well I think I've mastered it, there is always going to be something new for me to learn when we discuss it again. In Alanis Morissett's song, she uses many lines of unfortunate coincidence and terms of luck to describe what she is claiming ironic, and I feel that the interpretation of that strongly depends on the context outside of the lyrics. If she wrote the song based on ironic moments she's encountered but not fully explained what made them more than coincidental, the audience will never be exposed to true irony in her song, therefore making it seem to us like the examples shown are not ironic at all. However, she does use sarcasm in the line "Well isn't this nice" which is a form of verbal irony, and strangely enough was the only example I found in a song named after the literary device.
ReplyDeleteThe first short video is my favorite video of the three as it shows parody. I was honestly laughing so hard throughout the video and I feel like it's because the original songs are ones I was, for the most part, familiar with, making the concept of hearing them as children songs even funnier. They were definitely able to imitate the original songs, but listening to the lyrics versus what the actual song is supposed to be singing with that melody was truly a gift. My personal favorite was replacing the lyrics to Metallica's Sandman with Bingo.
The second video was again a parody of "The Candyman Can" only replacing the main subject with the Government, which I definitely didn't originally put together by the title without context. However, unlike the previous video, it was also a strong example of satire as it sang in an upbeat tone about highlighted faults in our government. Satire is one of my favorite genres because I feel it's sarcastic tones make the messages trying to be put across far more successful, especially to a teenage audience.
Although I feel that I generally understand Irony fairly well, the one I do get confused about the most is Situational Irony, only because it reflects on the context as well as an event that took place. Reading more about it today did help me understand how to catch it a bit more, but before reading the blog I likely would have still thought that rain on your wedding day was situational irony. I was very grateful for the reminder and personally feel that irony is one of my favorite literary devices when used properly!
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ReplyDeleteAlthough I didn’t find any examples of irony in Alanis Morissette’s song Ironic, the song itself is indeed the perfect example of verbal irony. The verbal irony is Alanis writing a song called Ironic with no irony in it 😂 “now isn’t it ironic”. I think she is making a comment on how the word ironic is incorrectly used; this is apparent in the lyric “and isn't it ironic, l don't you think”. She explicitly states that she doesn’t believe that what she’s stated is ironic; then because she is “intentionally using words that convey the opposite of [her] true beliefs” that in turn makes her song ironic indeed.
ReplyDeleteThe first video is an example of situational irony because the parents are supposed to be getting rescued from kids music with Kid’s Rock but really it is just the “same old lame kid songs performed in a new way”. There was a “sharp difference between expectations and reality” which creates irony.
In the second video, when Tim Hawkins implies that people want more mortgages, this is an example of verbal and dramatic irony because he is aware that nobody wants higher/more mortgages so he saying something he doesn’t believe but the audience watching the video also knows that people don’t want that either, creating irony.
The literary devices by themselves make sense but it becomes a bit confusing when differentiating between a parody and a satire as they can both have the same purpose, to mock or ridicule something.
After reviewing the three videos, I finally have a complete understanding of what irony is.
ReplyDeleteThe first video doesn't actually show irony in specific examples, but the lyrics are definitely verbal irony. Alanis Morissette's song talk about how an old man won the lottery and died the next day, and its a free ride when you already paid. This shows verbal irony because these things are huge inconviniences and are likely to not actually happen, like a cop getting pulled over.
The kids rock video made me laugh so much because I sincerely know how annoying kid music is, I dont know how many days Dumb ways to Die or Trolls is stuck in my head, luckily, my brothers like P!NK and Eminem as well, but back to irony, this one shows irony because the songs are actually fun to listen to now, which they aren't meant to for people who are over the age of 5.
The final video is also so funny, this video creates irony because Hawkins sings it as if it is a childs song, but talks about a serious issue. This creates irony and also the funniest video i've ever seen.
After reviewing these videos I understand irony much better.
YAY! I am happy to hear this! :)
DeleteI have always found understanding irony to be very difficult.I a not too sure sure why but it may have been the link it has to ironic which would just be thrown around by others without k knowing the full meaning.While I was listening to the song I did not seem to hear too many examples of irony a lot of the situations I would hear were just cases of bad luck or a kind of unfortunate event.I found cosmic irony to be the most difficult to understand just because it isnt used too much anymore and I have never really had previous knowledge with it. But reading the short definition of it helped me a lot more!
ReplyDeleteBy just listening to the song I didn't hear anything that people would consider ironic, but once you look at the lyrics themselves it would appear to have a small amount of verbal irony through one phrase when the man was crashing a plane.
ReplyDeleteAn example of irony would be situational irony in Harry Potter Goblet of Fire, where Harry tries very hard to stay out of the limelight and in the shadows because of recent events in the books before. However, "someone" put his name into the goblet. This is situational irony because it forces him back into the spotlight which is not where he wants to be, yet he cannot back out because once your name is drawl that is final. Making it look like he is flaunting his fame to his fellow classmates as you can only enter your name in the goblet if you were 17 years old, and Harry, at the time, was only 14 years old.
The first video is an example of parody because it is using images and words of the children song to make fun of it, it also replaces places words. The second video is satire because it is criticizing the government on how they spend their money.
I found the most difficult definition to understand the difference between verbal and cosmic irony. And I do feel that irony is the most confusing literary device.
Because I didn't understand irony at first, I never understood Alanis Morissette's song, but now I have a bit more of an understanding of it and could catch the different types of irony in it. I found the examples in the song rather morbidly funny, like "meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife," or the man who was scared of flying and crashed the first time he flew on a plane.
ReplyDeleteThe first video example was a good example of situational irony where one expects one thing but receives the opposite. In this case, parents are tired of hearing the same songs played the same way so they opt for something different. However, this doesn't make it better since it's still the same song but being played by bands that adults are more likely to listen to. The second video is an example of historical irony, as the Founding Fathers originally designed our government to challenge the monarchy which was unfairly taxing.
Personally, I'm confused by socratic irony due to the act of feigning ignorance. I understand how it's used to draw out the truth from the explanation of the liar, though it is confusing in practice.
1) Morissette's song "Ironic" contained only one example of irony that I could recognize. This was in the line, "And as the plane crashed down he thought 'Well, isn't this nice.'" This is an example of verbal irony because he is "intentionally using words that literally convey the opposite of their true beliefs."
ReplyDeleteIn Cyrano de Bergerac, there were many examples of irony present. The one that stood out to me was how Roxane was fooled into thinking that Christian was saying all of these poetic words to her, when in fact it was Cyrano all along. This is an example of dramatic irony because we, the audience, are aware of something that she, a character, is not.
2) The first video, "Kids' Rock", is a parody because it is mocking children's music. Whereas, the second video entitled "The Government Can" is a satire because it uses humor to bring light to the many shortcomings and issues with the government.
3) To me, socratic irony is the most confusing. It is the only one out of the six that, even with an example, I simply do not understand at all.
Personally I did not think Alanis Morisettes song contained a lot of irony. Some lines did but one line that stood out to me was when she sang about it "raining on your wedding day" that was an example Mrs Caraway had used for something that is NOT irony. But as for the whole song I feel like its ironic because of the fact that it is named ironic and isn't ironic at all. I thought the second video was the most entertaining because it was a parody of kids music and it reminded me of Kidz Bop which was something very popular as I was growing up and has now become something relatable and cringy for many people my age.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I understand all of the types of irony, I feel like I will have trouble remembering them all and their uses because there are just so many! Maybe I might just print out this blog and refer to it anytime I find myself trying to identify the types of irony. ;)
I think the part where Alanis Morissette says,
ReplyDelete"Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
'Well, isn't this nice.'", is the best example of true irony.
The kid's rock song was an example of parody. This is because it poked fun at Kidzbop by makng covers of nursery rhymes in the style of popular artists. The second video was an example of situational irony. In the first couple of lines, the singer talks about how the government can take away your money and then give it to someone else. This is ironic because this isn't very fair that someone else should get the money that someone worked hard for.
Metonymy and Synecdoche are probably the hardest to find and differentiate. At least for me.
1. There is one example of verbal irony in the song. When the man who is afraid to fly says "well this is nice" as the plane is crashing, it contradicts the actual situation. A plane crash is terrifying and horrific, not "nice". This also gives the whole song some historic irony as people have regarded it for years as completely un-ironic, when this is in fact not entirely true.
ReplyDelete2. The Kids Rock video is an example of either a pastiche to several classic rock songs, or to various children's songs and nursery rhymes.
3. I think situational irony is the hardest to understand. I can recognize it when it's very blatant and obvious like the "nothing is written in stone" picture, but I have trouble recognizing more subtle examples.
I tend to have a difficult time identifying irony myself. I'm more accustomed to sarcasm and identifying if something simply just happened due to "bad luck." I feel like I am jumping into the same boat with a lot of people when it comes to analyzing the song "Ironic." I mean, it just simply is ironic! I've heard this song before, but it has never occurred to me until now that it just simply is filled with "back luck" which makes it ironic.
ReplyDeleteThe Kids Rock video seemed to be more of a parody and to mock or make fun of something or how we perceive it, this time being "Kidz Bop".
I'm not entirely comfortable with satire, mainly because I don't quite understand or have many examples that help me to envision it in my mind.
I have trouble finding irony in situations unless it is dramatic irony, which is evidently the most prevalent out of all the types of irony. In the Morissette song, I found the "well this is nice" statement, while most did, because it is evidently the most obvious.
ReplyDeleteA very popular version of situational irony is the plot of the movie Monster's Inc. The entire plot of the movie is very ironic. Monster’s Inc. is a corporation run by monsters, their job being to scare children, when in reality they are the ones that are constantly afraid of the children. In this case, the exact opposite of what is meant to happen, happens.
For me, situational irony is the hardest to wrap my head around just because it depends on character motivation and context more than the others.
The example of verbal irony that I was able to find in the song was the lyric in which it says "well isn't this nice" as an airplane crashes. This is a situation in which the specified individual finds himself in a bad situation that does not align with his positive message. The "Kids Rock" video mocks kids music and products such as as Kids Bop. The second video comments through criticism of the government and its flaws through a video titled "The Government Can". Personally, satire is difficult for me to identify without already having context on the situation or idea it is based on.
ReplyDeleteThe only place I can see irony in the song is where the man on the plane thinks "Well, isn't this nice?" as the plane is crashing. I believe this qualifies as verbal irony, since his words mean the exact opposite of his intentions. The "Kid Rock" video I would classify as parody, since it mimics and/or mocks popular music as well as kids songs. The second video is an example of satire, since it ridicules and points out flaws in the government in a humorous manner. These last two definitions aren't terribly difficult for me to understand, but irony is more so. This is particularly true for verbal irony, especially since it is often difficult to distinguish from sarcasm, and the two may overlap at some points, but not others.
ReplyDeleteYarely Mendoza
ReplyDeleteWhere I found Irony is when the man says "well isn't this nice?" while the plane is crashing. The Kids rock video mocks original songs and mimics them. It's parody's of popular songs that are written and they make them into a kids version. For me situational irony was kind of the hardest but also Synecdoche and Metonymy.
I find it quite ironic that a song titled "irony" contains little to no irony in it, isn't it ironic, don'tcha think? The videos are parodies or pastiche of modern bands singing old folk tales and I have no questions on the literary terms.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I'm missing anything, but to be perfectly honest the only thing I found *truly* ironic was the line, "Well isn't this nice?" spoken while the plane was crashing. Obviously spoken sarcastically, this would be an example of verbal irony. In retrospect, I guess that it's also somewhat ironic that the song titled, "Ironic," contains little to no irony-funny how that works.
ReplyDeleteI'd argue that the first video was a pastiche and the latter one was a piece of satire. I particularly enjoyed the "Kids' Rock" video...that one was just too funny.
When it comes to irony, it's most difficult for me to distinguish between parodies and pastiches. I understand the difference, but when it comes to actually labeling real world examples, I find it difficult to pick the right one.
In the song by Alanis Morissette, I couldn't identify any strong points of irony. The different types of irony is something that i'm still working on learning, and I hope to continue to improve as I go on in my study of Literature.
ReplyDeleteThe 1st Kids rock video is an example of a parody whereas the government can is an example of satire as it is making fun of the US government.
A lot of these irony types I didn't even know existed, so it is interesting learning about them, however this also means that I need to be able to apply these in my literature classes in the future. The one that’s most confusing is socratic irony, but I will continue to focus on that and see if I can identify it in texts in the future.
In the song by Alanis Morissette, I couldn't identify any strong points of irony. The different types of irony is something that i'm still working on learning, and I hope to continue to improve as I go on in my study of Literature.
ReplyDeleteThe 1st Kids rock video is an example of a parody whereas the government can is an example of satire as it is making fun of the US government.
A lot of these irony types I didn't even know existed, so it is interesting learning about them, however this also means that I need to be able to apply these in my literature classes in the future. The one that’s most confusing is socratic irony, but I will continue to focus on that and see if I can identify it in texts in the future.
I didn't find any true irony within the song, as you mentioned it may be irony if she intended for everything said to not really be ironic but title the song "ironic". One example of true irony I've seen would be the dramatic irony often employed in Cyrano de Bergerac and is something often seen in the plays or "dramas" we read in class.
ReplyDeleteThe first video was definitely a parody or pastiche as it both imitates the style of a particular artist as well as specific songs by those artists. The second was a satire as it portrayed a cynical view of the government that offset the happy tune with a serious message.
Socratic irony was definitely the most confusing definition but I think it would be relatively easy to pinpoint if I were to watch it in action.
I think the irony of the song by Alanis Morissette is that the lyrics themselves are not ironic but for the name of the song to be "ironic" is what misleads the meaning of the song and creates irony. The first video I would say is a parody and the second video to be is a satire with two different tones being used.
ReplyDeleteKassandra Hinton