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The reason alice walker uses irony in everyday use to develop the theme
Dramatic irony in satire
Dramatic situational and verbal irony
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Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, African-American novelist and poet; she is also a known advocate for women’s rights. Walker gave a commencement speech on Founders’ Day at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Her piece, titled “Oppressed Hair”, talks about growth and hitting a ceiling with every milestone that a person reaches. This piece appeals to college students or anyone that is fighting to accept or find their own identity. In her speech, Walker dismisses the value of her own work by claiming that it is “to entertain and amuse”, this dismissal allows the audience to interpret her words in a way that benefits them the most.
Crazy people do crazy things. In the short story “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl, the protagonist is a guy named Billy who wants to find a B&B to stay at, but he ends up picking a different B&B than the pub so he ends up in danger. The type of irony we will be exploring is situational. My ironic essay will prove that not everything is as it seems. One clear example of irony occurs when Billy has just found a B & B and has a very warm welcome, because she has nice pets and nice furniture.
Situational irony is when events happen that seem to be the opposite of what is expected. For example, in O.Henry’s short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” he uses situational irony to create humor for his audience. Also in Guy de Maupassant short story “The Necklace” he uses situational irony to produce a feeling of sympathy. By examining these two short stories, it is clear that author’s utilize situational irony to affect the reader’s emotions The short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O.Henry uses humor to affect the reader.
The story shows an example of situational irony when Johnny, from The Ransom Of Red Chief is described unlike a typical child. A typical child would be frightened by the thought of being abducted in this situation, while Johnny is rather excited and having a marvelous time. Because Johnny has a lot of energy it causes him to be bothersome to the kidnappers, which is unlikely to happen with any other kidnapped child. ‘“Aw what for?’ says he. ’I don't have any fun at home’”(8) .
She therefore uses irony in both the setting and the characters of the story, which are both cases
The point of view in the story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker plays a big part. Throughout the story, one of Mama’s daughters came to visit. The way Mama and Maggie see her is not in a very pleasant way. In fact, they are scared to tell her no when it comes to anything. From Mama’s perspective Dee seems like this rude, stuck up, spoiled child because she had the opportunity to go out and expand her education, while Mama and Maggie continued to live their lives on the farm.
heritage. Although most of their memories and a small chunk of their heritage got burned up in their house. Trapped in the house fired was Maggie who was severely burned. However, Maggie survived, which gave her the motive to live every day as if was your last. Although Maggie is very humble she does whisper out a few thing when it comes to her heritage.
Everyday Use uses the setting to emphasize the difference between how Dee and her mother view the symbolic meaning of the yard, Maggie, and the quilts. By placing this story deep in the south, on a farm with expanses of open land all around, helps to convey the differences that exist between that setting and where Dee is assumed to be living (Dischinger, M. (2015). Dee’s mother views the yard as an extension of the house and what she loves about her life where she is. That seems to be evident with her thought as she says, “A yard like this is more comfortable than most people know. It is not just a yard.”
"When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his lips." -The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Chapter 3, page This quote ties in together with the theme of the book because Hester Prynne’s husband had left her, leaving her clueless as to her not knowing if he would be back or not. As Chillingworth, Hester's husband, does this motion towards her, I feel like he is threatening her. Almost as if he is promising, “I know what you did and I’m here to make your life hell”, and as he moves his finger to his lips, he’s sealing the promise.
In the short-story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Dee is portrayed as a conformist. The author uses “a dress so loud it hurt my eyes” to show how the dress is so bright that Maggie could feel the warmth it radiates, “bracelets dangling and making noise” to show the amount of jewelry she was wearing (Walker 2). The details convey the idea that she is obsessed with fashion and new trends. This obsession affects her relationship with Maggie and her Mother because she believes that she is above them. When Dee was arguing with her mother about how she should get the quilts she states that her mother doesn’t know anything about heritage.
Alice Walker’s Everyday Use (rpt. in Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature Sound and Structure 11th ed [Boston: Wadsworth, 2012] 166-173) is a short story told by the mother of two daughters, Mama. The story tells the tale of the return of Mama’s oldest daughter, Dee, and the problems that Dee’s return causes for Mama and her youngest daughter, Maggie. This short story includes humor and irony, displays detailed characterization, and portrays a very effective point of view. These three literary elements contribute to this story by giving insight into the past and the true personalities of the characters, and the way the characters have changed over time.
One clear example of irony occurs when Laurie’s mother attends the PTA Meeting. For example “you must have your hands full in that kindergarten, with Charles.” Then the teacher states “Charles?” “We don't have any Charles in this kindergarten.” (Page 476)
What is ironic about the coming of spring and the lessening of the girls’ suffering from the hardships of winter is the fact that while some girls were more free to do whatever they wanted and often got more food than they were accustomed to, others were stuck in bed sick with typhus and were either dying or already dead. This is a clear example of irony. Irony within literature usually means “the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.” However, even though the moment was ironic we see that it was still tragic by the quote "And I clasped my arms closer round Helen; she seemed dearer to me than ever; I felt as if I could not let her go; I lay with my face hidden on her neck. Presently she said in the sweetest
The first set of evidence that shows tragic irony was when she found out her husband died in an accident. What made it so interesting was when the setting, weather, overall surroundings changed. The main character showed a sign of freedom and happiness. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life.
“Everyday Use” is one of the most popular stories by Alice Walker. The issue that this story raises is very pertinent from ‘womanist’ perspective. The term, in its broader sense, designates a culture specific form of woman-referred policy and theory. ‘womanism’ may be defined as a strand within ‘black feminism’. As against womansim, feminist movement of the day was predominately white-centric.
