Sarcasm:

1
Sarcasm

• Yeah, like youll ever need to know anything
• about sarcasm.

Wait a minute, maybe that last comment isnt just
negative, maybe it was THE BEST WAY EVER of
demonstrating sarcasm.
Or was that last one supposed to be a tiny bit
sarcastic as well? Its so hard to tell.
2
Sarcasm

• ad. late L. sarcasm-us, a. late Gr. , f. to tear
  flesh, gnash the
• teeth, speak bitterly, f. -, flesh. 
• A sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark
  a bitter gibe or
• taunt. Now usually in generalized sense
  Sarcastic language
• sarcastic meaning or purpose, saying the opposite
  of what you
• mean.
• 1579 E. K. in Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Oct.,
  Glosse, Tom piper, an ironicall Sarcasmus, spoken
  in derision of these rude wits, whych etc..
  1581 J. BELL Haddon's Answ. Osor. 324 With this
  skoffe doth he note them..by a certayne figure
  called Sarcasmus. 1605 J. DOVE Confut. Atheism 38
  He called the other Gods so, by a figure called
  Ironia, or Sarcasmus. 1621 BURTON Anat. Mel. I.
  ii. IV. IV, Many are of so petulant a spleene,
  and haue that figure Sarcasmus so often in their
  mouths,..that etc.. 1661 FELTHAM Resolves II.
  l. 284 Either a Sarcasmus against the voluptuous
  or else, 'tis a milder counsel.

3
Irony

• Perhaps the best definition of irony provided
  (since its creation in 1912), is contained in the
  following passage from Ironic
• Irony is a black fly in your chardonnay . . .
  its like rain on your wedding day . . . its
  like too many spoons when all you need is a knife
  . . . its a death-row pardon two-minutes too
  late.
• Alanis Morissette

4
Irony
That last slide was actually an example of irony
in action, because the real definition of irony
is ad. L. rna (Cicero), a. Gr. dissimulation,
ignorance purposely affected. Cf. F. ironie
(yronie, Oresme, 14th c.).      1. A figure of
speech in which the intended meaning is the
opposite of that expressed by the words used
usually taking the form of sarcasm or ridicule in
which laudatory expressions are used to imply
condemnation or contempt.     2. In etymological
sense Dissimulation, pretence esp. in reference
to the dissimulation of ignorance practised by
Socrates as a means of confuting an adversary
(Socratic irony). So . . . Sarcasm and Irony
are similar in that both involve saying something
other than what you actually mean in order to
draw attention to the real (but hidden) meaning.

5
Types of Literary Irony
1. Stable Irony Stable irony offers the reader
an assertion or position which, whether
explicit or implied, serves as a firm
ground for subverting the surface
meaning. In other words, stable
ironists are sure about what they
believe in and say the opposite (for
whatever reason), in the full
knowledge that they are doing so.
6
Stable Iron(y)man
I am here to pick on the weak, and to help
organized crime!
7
Ironic Characterization
STABLE IRONY frequently involves the creation of
a persona from whose attitudes the author clearly
stands apart. The persona is sometimes naive or
ignorant or self-deluded or, alternatively, is
speaking tongue-in-cheek and does not mean what
he or she says. Mark Twains character, Huck
Finn is a good example of a naive persona who
serves as a mouthpiece for the authors use of
irony. Scout Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird is
also an example of stable irony.
8
Types of Literary Irony
2. Unstable Irony To the unstable ironist, the
world is a much more ambiguous and
unsettling place. Unstable ironists
are of two (or more) minds about what they
believe in, and their constant use of
irony (never saying exactly what they mean)
reflects this uncertainty. In a sense, the
world views of stable and unstable ironists are
entirely opposite. In The Dark Knight, the Joker
often says the opposite of what he means, but
still contradicts himself, leaving us unsure of
what he truly means.
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Unstable Iron(y)m(e)n
I am here to free the weak from oppression. I am
not.
10
Ironic Characterization
UNSTABLE IRONY frequently involves the creation
of a relatively sophisticated ironic persona with
whom the narrator and the reader are expected to
share some attitudes and values, but who is, in
turn, subjected to irony the ironist is
ironized. It is very difficult to know exactly
where the author stands in such cases except
that there is good reason to believe that the
authors attitude (and intended meaning) DOES NOT
correspond precisely with the attitude of the
narrator or protagonist.
11
What do I need to know about reading for Irony?
There is one important distinction to make when
reading literary works that employ either type of
irony. In the case of STABLE IRONY, if you
dont pick up on the irony, you miss the point
altogether. But, in the case of UNSTABLE IRONY,
you have less to lose, because it is impossible
to say that irony actually determines the meaning
(because unstable irony is contradictory by
nature).