9.
Use the passage below to answer the question.
When Aaliyah’s father saw her applying nail polish instead of doing her math homework, he said, “You look like you’re working very hard. I’m sure you’ll do great on your test tomorrow.”
Which type of irony is being used here? How do you know?
The type of irony being used here is verbal irony. The father is saying the opposite of what he really means. He is not praising Aaliyah's hard work, but rather he is being sarcastic because she is not doing her math homework.
To identify the type of irony being used in the passage, we need to understand the three main types of irony: verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony.
1. Verbal irony: This occurs when someone says something but means the opposite. It involves using words to convey a different meaning from what is actually said.
2. Situational irony: This type of irony occurs when there is a contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually happens in a situation.
3. Dramatic irony: This occurs when the audience or reader knows something that the characters in a story do not.
In the given passage, Aaliyah's father says, "You look like you’re working very hard. I’m sure you’ll do great on your test tomorrow." On the surface, his words seem supportive and encouraging, but we can understand the irony in his statement because we have more context. The irony lies in the fact that Aaliyah's father is sarcastically praising her efforts despite the fact that she is not actually doing her math homework.
Therefore, the type of irony being used in this passage is verbal irony. We can determine this because there is a contrast between what the father says and what he means, as he sarcastically praises Aaliyah's hard work when she is actually doing something unrelated to her homework.