Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr.

Clayton, I'm here to guide you through your learning journey today.

Today's lesson is called Using and Understanding Irony in Nonfiction Writing.

Irony is something we throw around quite a lot as a phrase.

We say, "Oh, I was being ironic." Today we're going to delve into what that actually means to say that something's ironic, and how it might be useful in persuasive writing.

So if you're ready, grab your pen and laptop, whatever you need for this lesson and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to understand and explain the use of irony and use it for effect in your own writing.

So we have five words today we're gonna be using as our keywords.

They'll be identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I'll try to point them out as well, so you can see them being used in context.

So our first keyword is irony.

Now there are three main types of irony that we're gonna talk about in this lesson.

But essentially irony is a contrast between expectations and reality.

Our second keyword is subvert, which means to criticise or undermine the usual way of doing something or common values.

We're going to be thinking about how using irony can subvert our expectations and therefore be useful in persuasive writing.

Our third keyword is persuade, which is to convince someone to do something through reasonable argument.

We're going to be looking at some examples of irony in persuasive writing, and then you're gonna be writing your own persuasive writing using irony.

Our fourth keyword is hypocrisy, which is the behaviour of people who do things they tell other people not to do.

Hypocrisy will be part of our persuasive writing example that we're going to be looking at later in the lesson.

Our final keyword is preconception, which is an idea or opinion formed before enough information is available to form it correctly.

As with the hypocrisy, preconception forms part of the persuasive writing example we're going to be looking at later in the lesson.

So I'll just give you a moment to write down those keywords and their definitions.

So pause the video, write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to explore the three main types of irony and talk through some examples of what effect using them might have on the reader.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to think about if we can use irony in our own persuasive writing for effect.

So let's start by looking at the definition of irony and the three main types of irony.

As we said earlier, broadly speaking, irony is when there's a contrast between expectation and reality.

And there are three main types of irony.

We have verbal irony, which is when someone says something but means the opposite, situational irony, when the opposite of what's expected happens, and dramatic irony, when the audience of a play knows something the characters on stage do not.

Now potentially, you also might hear people talk about cosmic irony, which means there's a higher power or unseen force that creates an outcome that's different to what you might expect.

You also might hear about Socratic irony, which is when you feign ignorance to expose an issue with someone else's argument or get them to admit something.

Now, we're gonna be focusing on verbal, situational, and dramatic irony, as these are three main types you're most likely to come across and use in your writing.

So now let's see examples for each of the three main types of irony so you can see what they might look like.

So verbal irony: Dropping a phone, cracking the screen and announcing "That's just fantastic!" Obviously it's not fantastic if you damage your phone, therefore saying the opposite of what you mean.

Situational irony: So the story of the tortoise and the hare, we expect the hare will win the race, but in reality the tortoise wins.

So for example the expected outcome is the opposite of what actually happens.

Dramatic irony: when a character in a play is pretending to be someone else.

The audience knows their real identity, but the other characters on stage do not.

Therefore the audience is aware of something the other characters are not aware of.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is fill in the blanks to show which type of irony each example is.

So, irony is when Romeo believes that Juliet is dead in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Irony: seeing it's heavily raining outside and saying "What lovely weather we're having." Irony: going to a police station to report a crime and being robbed while you're there.

So pause the video, fill in the gaps now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Let's talk through the answers.

So when Romeo believes that Juliet is dead in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," it's dramatic irony.

Because we, as the audience know that Juliet is only faking her death, in order to escape having to marry Paris.

But Romeo does not know this.

Therefore, we as the audience are aware of information the characters are not aware of.

Now, seeing it's heavily raining outside and saying "What lovely weather we're having" is verbal irony.

Since we typically don't consider heavy rain to be ideal weather.

Therefore you're saying the opposite of what you mean if you say "What lovely weather we're having." Now, going to a police station to report a crime and being robbed while you're there is situational irony, since we expect to be safe in a police station, yet the opposite has happened, since we've been robbed in a supposed safe place.

So very well done if you've got those right.

So now that we've talked through the definitions and looked at some examples, let's think about why you might choose to use irony.

So what I'd like you to think about is why might a writer choose to use each form of irony? Now just a reminder, verbal irony is saying the opposite of what you mean.

Situational irony is when the opposite of what's expected happens.

And dramatic irony is when the audience knows something the characters do not.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Let's talk through what you might have said.

Now, verbal irony is when you say the opposite of what you mean.

So you might say it subverts expectations.

It might criticise or undermine what our expectations were and use that to perhaps alter our perceptions or our viewpoint.

Now because it's the opposite of what was expected, it might create a contrast between reality and our expectations, which could be humorous in some situations, or it could distort reality and make us feel disconcerted, so make us feel worried.

Now, situational irony might have a very similar effect.

This is where the opposite of what was expected happens.

So, it too subverts our expectations.

It might criticise or undermine what our expectations were and use that again to perhaps alter our perceptions or our viewpoint, and therefore also create a contrast between our expectations and reality, all to create a humorous situation.

In terms of dramatic irony, because the audience are aware of something the characters are not, it might create tension or suspense.

If the audience knows the character is not who they seem to be, but also might be comedic depending on the situation.

Now dramatic irony can also affect the audience's perception of a character.

If we take "An Inspector Calls" as our example.

A famous quotation by Arthur Birling about the Titanic is that it's unsinkable.

However the audience knows it did, in fact, sink.

Therefore, it shows that Mr. Birling is incorrect in his beliefs and reveals his ignorance.

So now let's think about how we can connect irony to persuasive writing.

Now, persuasive writing is writing where you are trying to convince someone of your belief, opinion or argument.

So you might use irony to say or apply something different or opposite to your meaning, or to set up a situation that has a different outcome than expected.

So what I'd like to think about is why might using irony be effective in persuasive writing? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great ideas there.

Now as Alex says, "You might use irony to expose or criticise an argument, or by subverting the reader's expectations, it might force them to reconsider their opinions or their preconceptions." Now, preconceptions was one of our keywords.

It means an idea or opinion formed before enough information is available to form it correctly.

So by undermining or criticising their expectations, the reader might be forced to reconsider their opinions or their ideas.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false that irony can be a useful tool in persuasive writing? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Now, the correct answer is true.

Now I'd like to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said that by contrasting the expectation with reality, irony might expose or criticise ideas and subsequently cause the reader to reconsider their perceptions.

So very well done if you've got those right.

Fantastic work, everyone.

For the first task of the lesson, so what I'd like you to do is read through the following paragraph, a persuasive article about teenagers' mobile phone use.

Now this is a topic that's talked about a lot in the media at the moment.

There's a stereotype that teenagers are addicted to their mobile phones, and therefore they have their access to their mobile phones restricted.

So the paragraph says, "Tapping away on their devices, their face is constantly lit in the unflattering blue light of a screen.

Tap, tap, tap.

Maybe they're playing the latest inane game or maybe they're liking their friend's holiday pictures on Facebook.

Then they'll grumble "Put down that phone, kids" without even looking up from their own iPad.

Now I'd like you to answer following questions.

So how has the writer used irony? So how have they played with the idea that something is the opposite of what was expected? And question two, what is the effect of the irony? So pause the video, answer the questions now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic work there.

So what I'd like you to do is think about Laura's answers and think about how well they align with your answers.

So question one, how has the writer used irony? And Laura said, "When we start reading the snippet, we expect it's the teenager that's on their phone.

However, we then discover it's the parent who's actually online while telling their child to put their own phone down." So it's the opposite than what we expected.

Number two, what is the effect of that irony? And Laura said, "It's subverts," so it undermines, "our ideas of technological use by showing that actually, older generations are just as likely to be on their devices as teenagers are, and therefore exposes society's hypocrisy by demanding that teenagers restrict their phone use." So it challenges ideas about mobile phone use, and exposes the behaviour of people who do things they tell other people not to do.

So when adults tell teenagers they should put their phones down, the adults themselves struggles to do so.

So pause the video, think about how well Laura's ideas align with your ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now we're going to take everything from this learning cycle about understanding irony and use it to write our own persuasive writing using irony in the next learning cycle.

You're all doing amazingly well, everyone.

We're now to our second learning cycle.

We're going to talk through some ideas about restricting smartphones for teenagers before you have a go using irony in your own persuasive writing.

So as I said, for the final task of the lesson, you are going to be writing a piece of persuasive writing using irony.

So we're just gonna spend a few minutes now gathering some ideas.

So I'd like you to imagine we're writing a persuasive article about restricting smartphone use for teenagers.

What I'd like you to think about is what are your initial thoughts about banning smartphones for under 16s? What pros and cons can you think of? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic ideas there.

Let's talk about some of the things you might have said.

So in terms of the pros of banning smartphones, you might have thought it could reduce concerns about online safety, so that people wouldn't have to worry so much about who teenager are talking to online or what they have access to.

You also might have thought it could increase their real world interactions, as our social lives become more in person rather than online.

And that might have social and mental health benefits.

Now you also might have thought about the fact it would save money, since smartphone contracts can be expensive.

Now, in terms of the cons of banning smartphones, you might have thought it could be a safety risk.

So teenagers wouldn't be able to contact their parents as easily and they wouldn't have access to resources to Google Maps, to help them navigate their surroundings.

You also might have thought about the missing out on social interactions.

Being online can mean you're able to make friends across countries or even with people outside your social circle.

They'd be unlikely to meet in real life and that can broaden your worldview.

You also might have thought about the fact that technology use is inevitable and banning smartphones may leave teenagers unprepared to deal with online encounters when they're older.

They might feel overwhelmed by it in a professional capacity, they haven't had the chance to practise it when they were younger.

So now let's think about how we can bring irony into this persuasive writing.

So what I'd like you to do is read this snippet from Alex's persuasive article.

"You say you want to take my beloved phone away from me, my lifeline to the world, my entire social and technological existence.

To that, I'd say: 'Please, don't.

I' would be absolutely lost without it.

'" So what I'd like you to think about is how is Alex's snippet not ironic? Remember the verbal ironies when you say the opposite of what you mean.

So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, like Laura, you might have thought that Alex isn't saying anything unexpected.

He sets us up to think he'd be lost without his phone by saying it's his lifeline, his entire world, and then confirms that by begging us not to take his phone away from him.

So it's exactly what we expected him to say, and therefore it's not ironic.

So now let's think about how we could alter Alex's declaration to make it ironic.

So think about the fact that, at the moment, Alex is saying exactly what we expect him to.

He sets it up thinking he'd be absolutely lost and devastated without his phone.

So what could he say that would be unexpected? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic ideas there.

Now instead of saying something unexpected, instead of begging them not to take his phone away, Alex might say something like, "Meh, no problem." This is entirely unexpected because we're built up to think he'd be devastated, but actually he's not bothered at all.

So what I'd like you to think about is what is the effect of this irony? What might it tell us about teenagers and smartphones? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great ideas there.

Now as our Oak pupil, Izzy says, "It subverts our expectations of how important Alex's phone actually is to him, and perhaps to make us reevaluate our preconceptions about teenagers and their mobile phones." So perhaps our ideas about teenagers and their smartphones is actually exaggerated and untrue.

They aren't actually as addicted to them as we fear they are.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

So which of the following examples is using irony? A: A teenager is happy about the plan to restrict smartphone use and says, "Oh no, please don't take it away from me!" Or B: A teenager is unhappy about the plan to restrict smartphone use and says, "Oh no, please don't take it away from me!" So which is saying something unexpected? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, in the first example, we're told the teenager is happy about the plan.

So they don't mind the idea of not having a smartphone.

And therefore it's ironic to say, "Oh no, please don't take it away from me!" Because that would be unexpected.

So very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're onto the final task of the lesson, So what I'd like you to do is write a persuasive paragraph on the proposed plan to restrict teenagers' smartphone use that includes irony.

So remember, irony is a contrast in expectation and reality.

You might say the opposite of what you mean.

Or set up a situation where the expected outcome doesn't match reality.

Irony can subvert our expectations, which means the reader's preconceptions might be challenged.

So pause the video and write your paragraph now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some amazing work there.

So what I'd like you to do now is read back through your work and reflect on the following questions.

So number one: Where have you used irony in your persuasive paragraph? And number two: What effect do you think your use of irony will have on the reader? So pause the video, reflect on the questions now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, for the final part of the lesson, I'd like you to look at Izzy's reflection on her work.

Tell if you see how irony can be effective in your writing.

So question one: Where have you used irony in a persuasive paragraph? And Izzy said, "I used verbal irony since I built up the expectation that taking my smartphone away would have a drastically negative on impact on my life, but I then subverted that expectation, so I undermined it by saying, 'Oh well, never mind.

' What effect do you think irony will have on the reader? "I think it will challenge the preconception that teenagers are obsessed with their phones.

They can't live without them." So Izzy has used irony to challenge how society views teenagers.

Now, hopefully you come away with an understanding of what irony is and how you can use it effectively in your persuasive writing.

You all did amazingly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

Broadly speaking, irony is a contrast in expectations and reality.

There are three main types of irony: verbal, situational, and dramatic.

So verbal irony is when you say the opposite of what you mean.

Situational irony is when the outcome is different to what you expected.

And dramatic irony is when the audience is aware of something the characters are not aware of.

Now, irony might be used to criticise preconceptions or expectations, or to create humour.

Dramatic irony might also affect our opinion of a character.

In persuasive writing, irony might be used to subvert the reader's expectations and challenge their ideas.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone.

I hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.