Question

Read the following example and determine which type of irony is being used:
As the holiday season ended, Gigi struggled to put on her blue jeans. They seemed much tighter than usual, so she stepped on the weight scale and received the bad news. She had never seen such a high number on the little scale, so she resolved to change. That day she threw out all of the junk food in her fridge and went grocery shopping. She was determined to lose weight, so she bought low-fat and reduced calorie versions of all of her favorite foods. When she got home she had a low-sodium bacon sandwich and a diet soda. For dinner she had two burgers with reduced fat cheese and half-fat mayonnaise, along with two low-calorie ice-cream sandwiches for dessert. Before she went to bed, she ate a bag of baked potato chips, which are healthier than normal chips, and dipped them into low-fat cream cheese. When Gigi woke up the next morning, she was pleased with how well her diet was going, but when she stepped on to the scale, she saw that she had gained a kilogram.

• A. Verbal Irony
• B. Situational Irony
• C. Dramatic Irony
• D. None of the above

Answer 1

Answer: (B), (C)

Situational Irony
Dramatic Irony

Irony is a figure of speech or literary device in which what actually happens is completely different or opposite from the reader or audience's expectations. In this example, there are two ironies at play here - one that is obvious, and the other that depends on the audience.
Option B is correct. Situational irony occurs when the actual result of a situation is totally different (often, the complete opposite) from what the person involved expect the result to be. The setting here is Gigi deciding to diet by buying "low-fat and reduced calorie versions" of her favourite foods. One would expect eating low-fat foods would be healthier, when in fact, it only makes Gigi gain more weight.

Option C is also correct. Dramatic Irony is often found when the audience is aware of something that the character is not. For example, the audience watches the villain of the movie enter the main character's empty house and hide in a dark room. Then the main character walks into the house, not knowing the villain is hiding there. But the audience does. It is ironic because the audience knows more than the character. Similarly, we all know that "low-fat" and "low calorie" versions of junk foods are lies and do not actually help in reducing weight, especially considering the amount of these low-fat foods Gigi is eating. Thus, while Gigi thinks she'll lose weight, the reader knows that the opposite is true.

Option A is incorrect. Verbal Irony shows a contrast between what is said and what is meant. The most obvious thing to notice is that there is no dialogue in the question. No one is speaking. It only gives a situation. Thus, there is no verbal irony.

Option D is incorrect as the answers lie in both B and C.