ShmoopTube

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Here's your shmoop du jour... This is the passage you just read, but if

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you have the attention span of a goldfish, hit pause and we'll reload it for you:

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Which of the following is an example of irony in the previous passage?

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And here are the potential answers:

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So... what is this question asking? Just the facts. That is, did we read carefully?

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And do we know what "irony" is?

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Because Alanis Morisette certainly doesn't. B, C and D are all true, and supported by

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the text...

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...but while they are all factual, none of them is ironic.

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In the case of A, however... "Everyone but the little brother knows that his family is

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going to surprise him at the hockey game."

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While that may not shout irony...

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...it IS a good example of dramatic irony. Yeah, there's a difference.

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Dramatic irony basically just means that the audience is aware of something that a character isn't.

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So our answer is A.

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As in, "Alanis goofed."

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