"Elements of Text" grade 10 by Douglas Hilker & Sue Harper.

Essay by y_NotHigh School, 10th gradeA-, November 2005

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Irony Essay Using elements 10 text.

Irony is used in stories by authors for a number of reasons. It is used to create humorous situations and involve the reader in the piece of writing. Irony can also be used to add surprise and suspense in a writing piece, to cause the reader to feel a sense of connection towards the story, or character(s). Irony can be an effective means of persuasion and can cause a reader to re-consider their views, towards a character or the overall view of a situation.

In Shirley Jackson's "The Possibility of Evil" irony is used to cause the reader to re-think their initial impression on the character Miss Strangewroth and add's an element of surprise at the end of the story. In the beginning the character of Miss Strangeworth gives the readers the impression that she is a nice sweat old lady who would do her best to help someone.

As the story progresses it becomes evident to the readers that she is actually evil. Evidence of Miss Strangeworths evil deeds is seen in the letter she writes to a number of the towns people such as, the ones she wrote to the Crane family " Didn't you ever see an idiot child before? Some people just shouldn't have children, should they?" (pg 225) This letter written by Miss Strangeworth demonstrates that she is not the nice lady she appeared to be in the beginning of the story. This is ironic because she is such an evil wicked woman and she lives on Pleasant Street. Irony is also present when Don Crane seeks revenge on MissStrange worth the day after he discovered who wrote the letter about his son and who the sender of many letters of this type is. Revenge is carried out by...