Hi everyone,
So in class we are studying a text 'Extinction' and my teacher has been pointing out parts of the play that include some irony, however i am not so sure how it will be useful or how to use it in our text response essays. i would like maybe a sampple sentence involving any sought of irony or any tips on when to embed them into our essays.
Thank you
Irony's a great way to tell your teacher and the assessor that you understand the linguistics side of your text. So yes it's the ideas, themes, etc, but every linguistic feature/ figurative language has a purpose! Often the purpose is to connect it to these central ideas.
You can use some sentence starters:
1. The use of irony in...
2. (the character's name)'s ironical declaration that...(quote from text) exemplifies...
3. The author's use of irony serves the purpose of...
For example, (this is from Medea by Euripides, but):
The tutor's ironical belief that "[Medea's] little ones are under no threat" highlights his innocence in not being able to recognise Medea's savagery in her plots to commit filicide and kill her own children.
or something like that. (Also, it highlights Medea's ability to cover her villanous character and show that's she's not actually a criminal. In this way, she fools other people around her, hence the irony when they are fooled.)
I know this isn't from Extinction, but hopefully you get the idea how to put irony in a sentence.
And yes! Use it! It's another way to stand out if you weave it in seamlessly and if it relates to the essay prompt
Good luck!