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Verbal Irony In Reginald Rose's Twelve Angry Men

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In his story Twelve Angry Men, Reginald Rose uses verbal irony to portray how not everyone is made out how they should be. In doing so, he asks the readers to question why people are deeper than their first impression. The verbal irony used in Rose’s story illustrates the deeper meaning of things that every day go unnoticed. Upon first examination the reader wouldn’t think anything of the fact that Juror 11 corrects Juror 10 because “he don’t even speak good English;” however, as the reader continues to analyze, they figure out that ironically Juror 11 is an immigrant that can speak better English than Juror 10, who was born in this country (Rose 37). He begs to question why people just assume that it’s always the other way around. Further
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On average, five percent of the American population is wrongfully convicted each year; that's an average of two people per day (evidence). While there are fewer innocent people put in jail than guilty people, how would you feel if you were a part of that five percent? Rhetorical Question - What is a Rhetorical Question? Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose is a play regarding the trial of a 19-year-old boy thought to be guilty for the murder of his father, but thanks to the jury carefully deliberating the case, the jury came to the unanimous decision of “not guilty.” Some of the most significant arguments in this case regarded a witness's eyeglasses and the direction of the stab wound, but these were both countered and concluded as even more reasonable

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In all facets of human life there is a constant pressure. One of the most potent forms of this is peer pressure. It affects how humans make decisions, in all facets of an everyday life. Peer is a force that can bring out the best and worst of humanity. Additionally, in the context of Reginald Rose’s 12 Angry Men peer pressure is used to highlight the best and worst aspects of the American judicial system circa 1954.

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By using irony, readers can hear the wisdom in the older narrator but also get to know the narrator in the story – the younger version. Because irony is used, readers can tell when the ‘character’ narrator is oblivious to being used or discriminated against. Irony allows readers to see how naïve the narrator was when he was younger – something that he himself recognizes as he gets older.

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Verbal irony is when a speaker says something contradictory to what is meant. Douglass repeats the words “Fellow citizens” (par. 1, 5) when addressing the audience. By using this phrase, Douglass sets the distinction between the two racial groups. The white population perches at the top of the social ladder and the dark-skinned community is burrowed beneath the ground.

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The Ironic Truth Irony is a complex and important element of literature that can help discover hidden perspectives within characters or hide the truth in plain sight. The story by Edgar Allen Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” is a great example the dark ironic twist that happen in the story. The main character, Montresor, is hell-bent on getting his revenge on the man who shamed him, Fortunato. The verbal and dramatic irony that is being used in the story “The Cask of Amontillado” helps hide the true intentions that Montresor has planned for Fortunato. Verbal irony happens when one character says one thing but actually means something completely different.

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Twelve Angry Men is in many ways a love letter to the American legal justice system. We find here eleven men, swayed to conclusions by prejudices, past experience, and short-sightedness, challenged by one man who holds himself and his peers to a higher standard of justice, demanding that this marginalized member of society be given his due process. We see the jurors struggle between the two, seemingly conflicting, purposes of a jury, to punish the guilty and to protect the innocent. It proves, however, that the logic of the American trial-by-jury system does work.

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In the text, Irony is used to really create a lot of the conflicts in the

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Irony is a technique that involves surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions or contrasts ( Glossary... Pg 1). The greatest example of irony happens when it turns out Armand is the one that comes from black heritage. He learns this when he “finds a letter from his mom to his father explaining how he is black” turning the main plot of this story around (Chopin... Pg 5)

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Irony can be seen throughout the story in the words and phrases of the character. The irony can create a disturbing, yet slightly humorous scene with the audience not knowing what’s coming for the characters. In the short story, The Cask Of Amontillado, irony can be seen through the conversations of the two characters, Montresor and Fortunato. Although, Montresor is the character with most literary devices. Verbal irony can be seen in the story when Montresor told the “attendees” to stay in the house while he was gone.

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