Irony Analysis of the Gift of the Magi Essays

Irony Analysis of the Gift of the Magi Essays Irony Analysis of the Gift of the Magi Paper Irony Analysis of the Gift of the Magi Paper Chase Tidmore Intro To Lit Analyst Ms. Sheperis 10/20/11 Irony Within â€Å"The Gift of the Magi† â€Å"Irony is a disciplinarian feared only by those who do not know it, but cherished by those who do†, Soren Kierkegaard knew what he was talking about when he said these famous words. â€Å"The Gift of the Magi†, written by William Sidney Porter, often known by his pen name O. Henry. It is a short story depicting literary elements of irony, romance, and Porters sense of twist endings, and is all about a poor couples Christmas. Because of the end results of Della and Jims sense of self sacrifice, â€Å"The Gift of the Magi† displays almost a word for word example of what irony is defined as. Irony is a rhetorical literary device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions. In this sense, the world irony would mean speech that means the opposite of what it is actually intended to be used. Irony could be broken into a few different categories: verbal irony (most commonly sarcasm), dramatic irony, and situational irony. For something like situational irony, the actions or events in a story will usually be enacted by a specific character and unbeknownst to the character, their action will have an effect that is completely opposite of their desired intentions. â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† was a great example of this, because the lovers tried to fake their deaths, only to actually die in the process (this is, of course, a very morbid example). Porter does a much better example of situational irony in â€Å"The Gift of the Magi† when he writes his twist ending to fit into ironic story at the end. The Gift of the Magi† is a great example of irony, situational irony to be specific. If one were to look again at what â€Å"situation irony† is, Merriam-Webster would define the term as â€Å" irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite of what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what is expected†. This is laid out first when Della lear ns that Jim had bought her a beautiful set of tortoise shell combs with bejeweled rims for her (once) beautiful hair. This example is a textbook example of what situational irony is. Della had spent hours and hours looking for a way to make any money so that she could buy Jim the perfect gift, but the only way she could make any money was to get rid of her most prized possession: her hair. Leaving the story at this would have been a great romantic endeavor, but the author decided that he would display a masterful element to change the entire dynamic of the tale by having Jim bring home a set of beautiful combs for her. Now lets recap, situational irony is when actions that have an opposite of the intended effect. So with that definition repeated, the readers see that even though Author William Porter spent a majority of the story having Della selling her â€Å"rippling and shining. cascade of brown waters†, only so that her majestic combs be deemed useless. However, the ironic twists do not end with a set of tortoise shell combs. It has already been established that the irony was evident with Della gift from Jim, but what about his gift? Della sold her hair so she could buy a â€Å" platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design She sells her brown locks of hair so her husband can have the perfect accessory to his most prized possession, his generations old pocket watch. So Della may have a useless gift of combs that she can not use for her short hair, but at least she was able to get a great gift for Jim right? Before that is answered, do not forget that Porter spent a little time explaining that Jim only made 20 dollars a week. So how did he manage to buy the most beautiful set of c ombs when they were clearly out of reach of his budget? Simple, he sold his watch so he could get enough money, only to receive a chain for said watch. That was the irony train making its shipping route come in full circle. Once again, irony is an action that is that is opposite of its intentional effect. What the author presented the audience with is a young poor couple that literally sold their most prized possession, hair and a pocket watch respectively, out of love for one another, only to receive accessories for the very items they just sold. This is something that is usually only seen on TV sitcoms, for example, when two people wear the same outfit in an embarrassing fashion. It was clearly dumb luck (or misfortune, depending how the reader reads it) that on the same day each lover sheds their precious material good to do what they feel is more important, to make their respective spouse happy, no matter what. Situational irony is any actual irony involving a situation in which action have a have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what is expected. The situational irony set in place Porters world of Jim and Dellas house is almost tangible it is so obvious. What the audience has is a wife who sold her hair to buy a chain for a pocket watch, only to receive combs that were bought from the earnings of said sold watch. The story ends on a quirky note, a note that one might feel could be a deep and meaningful lesson in life. Jim tells Della of the ironic situation that they had put themselves into, only to follow up by asking her to put the pork chops on the oven for supper.

Lord Of The Flies Essays (1176 words) - English-language Films

Lord Of The Flies Essays (1176 words) - English-language Films Lord Of The Flies The Truth Within Lord of the Flies, is the story of a group of boys of different backgrounds who are stranded on an unknown island when their plane crashes. As the boys try to formulate a plan to get rescued, they begin to separate, and a band of savage tribal hunters are formed. Eventually the boys almost entirely shake off the civilization of the world they once knew. When all the confusion of behaviour leads them to a manhunt the reader realizes the sudden decay of law and order and loss of civilization when adults aren't among them. Which also brings out the underlying savage side existent in all humans. In Lord of the Flies, there were numerous themes that were portrayed throughout the novel. The Need for Civilisation, is the most obvious theme. Our beliefs were always lead to believe that man is innocent and that our society is evil. But what the statement is hiding from our peers is that without laws, rules, and order, our world would revert to a more primitive part of his nature. Which of course is a more darker and cruel place to live our lives. There aren't any grown-ups. We shall have to look after ourselves.1 The Innocence and the Loss of It is the existence of civilization that allows man to remain in captivity with his innocence or ignorance about his true nature. Although man needs civilization, it is also important that he be aware of his primal instincts. As William Golding the author of Lord of the Flies stated, This loss of innocence by coming to terms with reality is necessary if humanity is to survive Which is, to reach true maturity you must first realizes the reality of our world today, as it is not the same as it was many years ago. I'm not going to be part of Ralph's lot He looked along the right-hand logs, numbering the hunters that had been a choir. I'm going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too. He blundered out of the triangle towards the drop to the white sand.2 The Loss of Identity is the most common one among us as we are faced with different surroundings and environnement We are taught are taught to make choices our whole lives and when we come the situation to make them on our own we freeze not knowing what to do, therefore they follow the lead of the next and in the case of Lord of the Flies they drive each other wild until the only way out is to kill. They smell me. They see me, I think. Something pink, under the trees. He made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then rubbed red all over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw. He looked in the mere for his reflection, but his breathing troubled in the mirror.3 Power is used centrally to focus in on their leadership and loyalty. There is a kind of power used by every character which allows the reader to establish a well- balanced scale to which upon they meet with their expectation and judge against the civilization today. You see that democratic power is shown when the boys are faced with their own choices and decisions, and than they are faced with the power to be a leader or a follower and deal with the discrimination forced upon them by those who fear rejection. They have an inner strength that pushes them to blend with the others to make the matters clear of danger. This'll be a real hunt! Who'll come? Ralph moved impatiently. These spears are made of wood. Don't be silly. Jack sneered at him. Frightened? Course I'm frightened. Who wouldn't be?5 I'm chief. We've got to make certain. Can't you see the mountain? There's no signal showing. There may be a ship out there. Are you all off your rockers? 6 Fear of the Unknown evolves around the boys making attempts to catch the beast. As the story unravels the reader realizes that put in a position to capture a beast you are struck with a certain

California Pacific Medical Center Research Paper

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