I Am a Writer

Week 2 - Irony with Style“Intercity 509”

“Lamb to the Slaughter”

SST: purpose, audience, verbal irony, dramatic irony, situational irony, style

Learning intention: To Know: how to engage my audience through suspense, irony and style.To understand: how to incorporate suspense and irony into my creative writing and the decisions I need to make when deciding on style for my narrative.

Look up the definitions for this week’s SST and write your

own definition for each in your workbook.

Verbal Irony, Dramatic Irony and Situational IronyPlease read and make summary notes in your workbook.

Verbal irony occurs when speakers say the opposite of what they mean. The speakers say what is intentionally contradictory to their actions and emotions. There are many ironic similes that convey the opposite of what speakers intend to express. For example: soft like concrete, clear as mud, pleasant like a root canal.

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something the characters do not. This can create intense suspense or humor because the words and actions of the characters will then take on a different meaning.

Examples of dramatic irony: - Two people are engaged to be married but the audience knows that the man is planning to run away with another woman.- In a scary movie, the character walks into a house and the audience knows the killer is inside the house.

Situational irony occurs when the final outcome is contradictory to what was expected. Sometimes, the plot of a story will lead the audience to expect a particular resolution or ending. If such an expected outcome fails and instead another contrary outcome occurs, the absurdity is termed situational irony. Examples of situational irony are: a police station gets robbed; a man who needed medical assistance is run over by an ambulance; Romeo finds Juliet drugged and assumes she is dead so he kills himself then she awakens, sees that he is dead and kills herself.

Please read the information below and make some summary notes in your workbook.

Roald Dahl has used verbal irony, dramatic irony and situational irony in “Lamb to the Slaughter. First of all, the title is a pun. A lamb to the slaughter usually refers to someone who is not aware that they are about to be harmed. Lambs are easily led to their slaughter since they trust the one leading them and are unaware of what is to become of them. The title is therefore ironic because it is a frozen leg of lamb that is used to slaughter the hapless victim.

An example of verbal irony in this story occurs just before Mary learns that Patrick is leaving her.  While discussing dinner options, she says, "There’s plenty of meat and stuff in the freezer, and you can have it

right here and not even move out of the chair."  This is ironic because Mary does in fact bring the leg of lamb into the living room.  Patrick "has" the lamb, but certainly not in the same way that Mary intended when she said this to him earlier in the story. 

Dramatic irony occurs because the reader knows that the leg of lamb was used as a murder weapon, but the police officers unknowingly eat the evidence when the wife serves them the roast leg of lamb to them.

The major piece of situational irony is found when Mary, who Dahl goes to great lengths to depict as a loving wife who is devoted to her husband, in a moment of insanity, kills him. Remember how she was introduced:“For her, this was always a blissful time of day... She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel - almost as a sunbather feels the sun - that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together.”Mary is presented as being so devoted to her husband that nothing is too much to ensure his comfort and happiness. Then it is a complete shock to readers when she kills him with the frozen leg of lamb:“At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.”This is an example of situational irony as this action is completely the opposite of what we would expect from a character like Mary. The second piece of situational irony comes when she manages in a very calm and calculated manner organise an alibi and the removal of the murder weapon. In the the last line, where Mary celebrates the success of her plan:“And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle.”This criminal behaviour and outwitting of the police is not the kind of behaviour you would expect to see from a devoted housewife.

Reread “Lamb to the Slaughter” and annotate where verbal irony, dramatic irony and situational irony occur in the narrative.

Read “Intercity 509”.

Annotate this narrative by identifying the elements of the narrative: settingplot characterconflictthemestructure language techniquessituational irony

Please paste this into your workbook.

Style

Every writer has a unique style. The writer’s style is based on many choices about diction, syntax/sentence structure, detail, dialogue, literary devices, and rhythm.

The writer’s style comes from the diction or word choice he/she uses. Does the writer use simple language or complex language? Is the language concrete or abstract? What does a word connote? What does the word denote?

The writer’s style comes from the types of sentence structure/syntax he/she uses. Does the writer use short or long sentences? Sentence fragments? Simple or complex sentences?

Another way that the writer reveals his/her style is by the amount of detail presented to the reader. Does the writer go into great depth? Or does the writer use summary narrative or sparse prose?

Writer’s style is revealed by the content of dialogue. The dialogue a writer uses reveals a lot about each character, including the

background and education of the character, his or her motivations, and what each character ultimately believes about the world. When reading passages of dialogue, the reader needs to consider how the characters’ remarks reflect or accentuate the writer’s voice. What do the characters say? How do the characters say it?

The writer’s style is also expressed by the choice of literary techniques the writer uses to construct the story, such as imagery, symbolism, personification, irony, metaphor, and symbolism.

The writer can reveal his/her style by the use of rhythm, which is the pattern of flow and movement created by the writer’s choice of words and the arrangement of sentences. What types of repetition does the writer use? Does the writer use alliteration? Rhyme? How does the writer use parallel structure? Single words? Fragments?

Mirror Task Due Week 4 – 13th May

Compose a short story consisting of 800 words using a stimulus provided. Remember to include what we have studied each week about creative writing.

Informal Task Due Week 5 – 20th May

“Short stories use many different techniques to engage an audience.” How does one of the stories studied in the unit prove this statement?

Construct a PEETEEEL analysis table where you identify at least three techniques from your chosen story. Complete this on the analysis table handout.

Formal Task Due Week 6 Tuesday 26th May

Please refer to your assessment cover sheet for instructions.

Success criteria:

☐ I understand the subject specific terminology and have written definitions for each in my own words. ☐ I have made summary notes on verbal irony, situational irony and dramatic irony. ☐ I have reread and made necessary annotations to “Lamb to the Slaughter”.☐ I have read “Intercity 509” and made necessary annotations. ☐ I have noted in my student planner when my tasks are due in Week 4, Week 5 and Week 6.