East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature

English 8 Learning Module

Quarter II

What is Irony?
Irony is a literary device where the chosen words are intentionally used to indicate a
meaning other than the literal one. Irony is often mistaken for sarcasm. Sarcasm is
actually a form of verbal irony, but sarcasm is usually intentionally insulting. When you
say, "Oh, great" after your drink has spilled all over your expensive new clothes, you
don't actually mean that the incident is positive. Here, using the word
'great' ironically indicates a higher negative implication, even though the wording itself is
positive.

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

a) Distinguish between and among verbal, situational, and dramatic types of irony and
give examples of each;
b) Produce the sounds of English correctly and effectively when delivering an
entertainment speech; and
c) Compose effective paragraphs
East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature
English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

LESSON:

1. Verbal irony 
occurs when a speaker speaks something contradictory to what he intends to
say. It is an intentional product of the speaker, and is contradictory to his/her emotions
and actions. To define it simply, it occurs when a character uses a statement with
underlying meanings that contrast with its literal meaning; it shows that the writer has
used verbal irony. Writers rely on the audience’s intelligence for discerning the hidden
meanings they intend to convey. Writers also use ironic similes to convey exactly the
opposite of what they intend to say, such as “soft as concrete.”

Types of Verbal Irony

 Sarcasm
 Exaggeration or Overstatement
 Understatement

Examples of Verbal Irony from Literature

Example #1: Romeo & Juliet (By William Shakespeare)

“Again and again, he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked
away with his nose in the air, saying: ‘I am sure they are sour.”

“I will not marry yet; and, when I do, I swear it shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,
rather than Paris.”

Juliet does not like the decision of her father to marry with Paris, whom she dislikes and
instead adores Romeo. Hence, she makes a decision to marry Romeo and tells her
mother about it ironically that whenever she would marry, it would be Romeo – whom
she dislikes – and not Paris, thus confusing her mother.

East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature

English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

Example #2: Pride & Prejudice (By Jane Austen)

“She is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me.”

We can find many fine examples of verbal irony in Pride and Prejudice. In this example,
we relish ironic flavor of Darcy’s statement, as we later find out that the woman he found
unsuitable to dance with, ends up taking a place in his heart.

Example #3: The Unknown Citizen (By W. H. Auden)

The title of the poem, The Unknown Citizen, employs verbal irony, as the poet describes
a person whom everyone knows, yet he is still unknown. Also, by deliberately
capitalizing common words, the speaker makes them sound meaningless, ironic, and
sarcastic: “the Greater Community,” “Social Psychology,” “Union,” “Public Opinion,” and
“High Grade Living.” All of these terms sound formal, pompous, bureaucratic, and
arrogant. Simply, through verbal irony, the poet shows how governmental agencies,
which should serve human beings, have rather enslaved them.

Functions of Verbal Irony

Verbal irony is very common in everyday speech, plays, novels, and poetry, and usually
occurs in the form of sarcasm. It depends upon timing and suitable circumstances to
achieve its effect. Verbal irony develops funny and dramatic situations. Through verbal
irony, writers and poets can convey their bitter messages indirectly, in a less bitter and
more effective way. It makes a literary piece more effective by provoking readers into
analyzing and thinking harder about a situation. By contrasting and comparing
suppositions with reality, the readers can better understand the writer’s intent.
Verbal Irony is when words express something contrary to truth or someone says the
opposite of what they really feel or mean. Verbal irony is often sarcastic.
East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature
English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

Examples of Verbal Irony:

Verbal Irony Examples:
1. Looking at her son's messy room, Mom says, "Wow, you could win an award for
cleanliness!"
2. On the way to school, the school bus gets a flat tire and the bus driver says,
"Excellent! This day couldn't start off any better!"
3. Mark is very upset over the fact that his brand new truck has a little speck of mud on
the bumper, and Jennifer, who has a used car, says, "My goodness! That's a shame!"

Examples of Verbal Irony in Literature:

1. In the movie Annie, the orphans say, "We love you Ms. Hannigan," to their guardian
who is mean to them.
2. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Marc Antony gives a speech in which he repeatedly
refers to Brutus as "an honorable man," when Brutus just participated in murdering
Caesar.
3. In Beauty and the Beast, an animated Disney movie, Belle refuses to marry Gaston
by saying "I just don't deserve you!"

2. Situational Irony
Irony is when something is said that is the opposite of what is meant or when
something occurs that is the opposite of what is expected. There are three types of
irony: verbal, situational, and dramatic.
Situational Irony occurs when actions or events have the opposite result from what is
expected or what is intended.
Examples of Situational Irony:

East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature

English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

1. Ralph wakes up late and thinks he is going to be late to school. After rushing around
to get dressed, he realizes it is Saturday.
2. The fire station burns down while the firemen are out on a call.
3. Sara is trying to avoid a water gun fight that her brothers are having and she falls into
a puddle.
Examples of Situational Irony in Literature:
1. In "The Gift of the Magi," by O. Henry, the husband sells his watch to buy his wife
combs for her hair and the wife sells her hair to buy her husband a chain for his watch.
2. In the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge, the men are surrounded by an
ocean of water, but they are dying of thirst ("Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to
drink.")
3. "The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin tells of a wife who learns that her husband is
dead. She feels a sense of freedom as she thinks about a life without restriction. Then,
he returns (he wasn't dead after all) and she dies of shock.

3. Dramatic Irony
There are three types of irony-verbal, situational, and dramatic. Irony is defined as the difference
between what is said and what is meant or the difference between what appears to happen and
what actually happens.
Dramatic Irony occurs when the audience (of a movie, play, etc.) understands something about a
character's actions or an event but the characters do not.
Dramatic irony is an important stylistic device that is commonly found in plays,
movies, theaters, and sometimes in poetry. Storytellers use this irony as a
useful plot device for creating situations in which the audience knows more about
the situations, the causes of conflicts, and their resolutions before the leading
characters or actors. That is why readers observe that the speech of actors takes on
unusual meanings.
East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature
English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

For instance, the audience knows that a character is going to be murdered, or

will make a decision to commit suicide; however, one particular character or others
may not be aware of these facts. Hence, the words and actions of characters would
suggest a different meaning to the audience from what they indicate to the
characters and the story. Thus, it creates intense suspense and humor. This speech
device also emphasizes, embellishes, and conveys emotions and moods more
effectively.

Examples of Dramatic Irony:

1. Girl in a horror film hides in a closet where the killer just went (the audience knows
the killer is there, but she does not).
2. In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows that Juliet is only asleep-not dead-but
Romeo does not, and he kills himself.
3. In Macbeth, King Duncan says that he trusts Macbeth ("he was a gentleman on
whom I built an absolute trust), but the audience knows that Macbeth is plotting to kill
Duncan.

Examples of Dramatic Irony from Literature

Example #1: Macbeth (By J William Shakespeare)
“There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.”

This is one of the best examples of dramatic irony. In this case, Duncan says that he
trusts Macbeth, not knowing about the prophecy of witches that Macbeth is going to be
the king, and that he would kill him. The audience, on the other hand, knows about the
prophecy. This demonstrates dramatic irony.

East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature

English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

Example #2: There’s Something About Mary (By Jonathan Richman)

“I’ve done it several times before.”
“It’s no big deal.”

Jonathan Richman’s comedy movie, There’s Something About Mary, contains several

instances of dramatic irony. For instance, when Ted thinks that the police have arrested
him for picking up a hitchhiker, the audience knows that the police are actually
interrogating him about a murder. Therefore, when Ted delivers these seemingly-
innocuous lines, it is comedic to the audience.
East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature
English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

What’s New

You learned that the human speech communication involves not just the
production of sounds should be given emphasis so you will be understood in
following the thought pattern of each speech and the overall progression of the
scene hence lines are part of the play they don’t exist on their own.

How do I SOUND thee?

Vowels include the sounds we ordinarily represent as the letters, as well as a

number of other sounds for which the ordinary alphabet has no unique symbols.

Vowels are distinguished from consonants in several ways. As we have seen,

consonants are produced by constricting the airstream to various degrees as it flows
through the oral tract. Vowels are produced with a smooth, unobstructed airflow through
the oral tract.

Differences in vowel quality are produced by different shapes of the oral cavity.
Characteristic vowel qualities are determined by

(a) the height of the tongue in the mouth;

(b) the part of the tongue raised (front, middle, or back);

(c) the configuration of the lips; and

(d) the tension of the muscles of the oral tract.

 An articulatory description of a vowel must include all of these features.

East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature

English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

Tongue height

Pronounce the words eat and at. Now pronounce just the vowels of these two
words. Notice that as you go from the vowel of eat to the vowel of at, your mouth opens.
If this is not obvious to you just by playing with these two vowels, look in a mirror as you
produce them. Alternate the words, and then just the two vowels.

Once you’ve become accustomed to the different degrees of openness of these

two vowels, pronounce ate between eat and at. The degree of openness of its vowel
falls between those of eat and at, so there is a continuous increase in mouth openness
as you go from one vowel to another. These degrees distinguish high, mid, and low
vowels. We will use the following symbols for this sequence of vowels:

eat [ i ] High

ate [e ] Mid

at [æ] Low

Now compare the vowel of beat with that of boot. Alternate the words, and then
just the vowels. It will be more difficult this time to monitor the activities of your tongue
as you shift from one of these to the other, but try anyway.

You produce the [ i ] of beat with the front (blade) of your tongue raised toward
your palate. If you draw in your breath as you make this vowel, you will feel the cold air
against your palate. As you shift from [ I ] to [ u ], the vowel of boot, you will find yourself
raising the back of your tongue. (You will also find yourself pursing (rounding) your lips,
but disregard this for the moment.) Because of the relative positions at which these
vowels are made in the mouth, phoneticians call [ I ] and the other vowels in (1) front
vowels, and [u] a back vowel.

East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature

English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

The back vowels, like the front ones, descend from high, through mid, to low, in a
continuous sequence. You can observe this by pronouncing the words coot, coat, and
cot, and then just their vowels. As you produce this series of vowel, you’ll find your
mouth opening (monitor your lower jaw) as you go from coot to coat to cot. We use the
following symbols for these back vowels: (2) coot [ u ] High coat [o] Mid cot [a] Low

We combine these two series of vowels in Table 4:

front back

high i u

mid e o

low ɛ a

Lip rounding

As you compared [ i ] and [ u ] you probably noticed that your lips changed shape
as you shifted from the front vowel to the back one. Your lips were rounded as you
produced [u ]. They were unrounded (spread or neutral) as you produced [ i ]. As you
moved through the series of back vowels, you may also have noticed that lip rounding
decreased as you moved from high to low. In fact, the lips are unrounded during the
pronunciation of [a]. In English, the only rounded vowels are back, though many
languages, such as French and German, have rounded front vowels.

East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature

English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

vowels

First, pronounce the words meat, mitt, mate, met, and mat. Then pronounce just
their vowels:

Meat, me [ i ]

mitt [ ɪ ]

mate, may [e ]

met [ɛ ]

mat [æ]

The vowels we’ve just added, [ i ] and [ɛ], are intermediate in height between [ ɪ ]
and [e], and [e] and [ɛ ], respectively.

Voiced consonants are consonant sounds that are made by vibrating the

vocal cords. They can be compared with unvoiced consonants

These are the voiced consonants: [b], [d], [g], [j], [l], [m], [n], [ ŋ], [ r ], [z ], [ð], [ v], [ʒ], [
dʒ

Voiceless consonants do not use the vocal cords to produce their hard,
percussive sounds. Instead, they're slack, allowing air to flow freely from the lungs to
the mouth, where the tongue, teeth, and lips engage to modulate the sound. These are
the voiceless consonants: [ ʧ ], [ f ], [ k ], [p ], [s ], [ ʃ ], [ t ], and [θ] (as in "thing")

East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature

English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

What Is It?

You know that an important step in learning to read in English is to know what
sounds the letters of the English alphabet make. Of course, this is not all that is involved
in learning to read – teaching reading must be done with a focus on meaning.
The activity below is designed to help you keep focus on meaning as you sound
it.

Sounds Good!
Work on minimal pairs.
Minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, spoken or
signed, that differ in only one phonological element, such as a phoneme, toneme or
chroneme, and have distinct meanings.
East Asian Literature as an Art form Inspired and Influenced by Nature
English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

How to Write a Perfect Paragraph

Paragraphs are distinct blocks of text which section out a larger piece of writing—
stories, novels, articles, creative writing or professional writing pieces—making it
easier to read and understand. Good paragraphs are a handy writing skill for many
forms of literature, and good writers can greatly enhance the readability of their news,
essays, or fiction writing when constructed properly.

What Makes a Good Paragraph?

A good paragraph is composed of a topic sentence (or key sentence), relevant
supporting sentences, and a closing (or transition) sentence. This structure is key to
keeping your paragraph focused on the main idea and creating a clear and concise
image.

While creative writing does not necessarily follow the traditional paragraph structure,
it’s more about scene building and continuing a narrative. Efficient, well-written
paragraphs are a staple of good flash fiction and short fiction writing, as short stories
need to stay more focused on a central idea. As long as your sentences form
cohesive ideas and connect to one another, you can write a good paragraph.

5 Tips for Structuring and Writing Better Paragraphs

Whether you’re writing a short paragraph or a long paragraph, each should follow the
same basic rules of structure. While this format is not as rigid when writing fiction as it
is for non-fiction, the information or story you craft must logically or sequentially relate
to the next paragraph. These elements help the coherency of your body paragraphs,
tying them together to unify around an idea, or set up a narrative story.

1. Make the first sentence of your topic sentence. The first line of your first
paragraph sets up what information is to come as your audience reads on.
Even in fiction, the introduction of a paragraph either establishes an idea or
scenario or continues one from the paragraph before. Regardless of what
format or genre you’re writing for, every good paragraph starts with a central
focus that the rest of the paragraph will aim to support.
2. Provide support via the middle sentences. These sentences include follow-up
information to your key sentence or previous paragraph. Whatever idea you
aim to convey, these sentences are where you convince your reader to believe
or envision what you do, and give them everything they need to see your point
of view.
3. Make your last sentence a conclusion or transition. Even if it’s not at the end of
the piece, a conclusive sentence can refer to the last line of its own paragraph,
which concludes a particular idea or train of thought before moving on to start
a new line for the next paragraph. This next paragraph can continue on the
same idea, but the ending of each paragraph should briefly summarize the
information that was provided before moving on.
4. Know when to start a new paragraph. A paragraph break is necessary when
starting a new topic, introducing a new speaker, contrasting other POVs or
ideas, or providing white space to give readers a pause from a longer
paragraph. For example, in a novel, you may start a new paragraph when
bringing in a new character, or specify when a different character is speaking,
which can help the reader separate action text from dialogue more readily.
Paragraph breaks can control the pacing of your writing, and generate
particular feelings or moods for your reader. While there is no set number of
 sentences required per paragraph, in some instances, a single paragraph may
consist of a single sentence, but it is acceptable as long as it supports your
central idea, and doesn’t overwhelm your audience with too much information.
5. Use transition words. Transition words help tie together separate paragraphs,
connecting them to form a coherent idea. Phrases like “in addition” or
“moreover” can help readers track your ideas and understand how they relate

English 8 Learning Module

Quarter II

to each other, making for a smoother, more pleasant reading experience. This is
especially useful for essay writers and bloggers, who often focus on a singular idea at
a time to share with their audience.
ACTIVITY 1: Defining Irony
Directions: Read the following examples of irony. Determine which is the three types
of irony are being used and then explain your answer.

Dramatic Irony- This occur when the reader or audience understands more about the events of a
story than a character.
Situational Irony- This occurs when what actually happens is the opposite of what is expected or
appropriate.
Verbal Irony- A person or character says one thing but really means the opposite.
1. When Mr. Goodenwell saw his baby boy Vince for the first time, he swore that he'd do
anything to protect the little guy. This was easy at first, when all Vince did was lie in a
pillow and drink milk. But as little Vince grew bigger, he started walking. And once he
started walking, he got into everything. He was becoming a serious threat to himself
when Mr. Goodenwell, making good on his vow to protect his son, went to the store and
bought $150 worth of equipment to childproof his home. He put covers on the outlets,
bumpers on the table corners, and a sliding lock on the toilet lid. But right as Mr.
Goodenwell was adjusting the covers on the door knobs, Vince pulled the cap off an
outlet and choked on it. Mr. Goodenwell found him just in time.

Which type of Irony is used?

Explain your answer:

English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

2. One bright and warm Easter morning, Timmy Holloway woke up to the smell of eggs,
but not breakfast eggs, Easter eggs. That's right Timmy had a craving for Easter eggs,
and today was the day to get them boy howdy. There was only one thing standing in his
way, well two really: the Solomon brothers. The Solomon brothers got more eggs than
Timmy every year because there were two of them and they counted their eggs as one.
Timmy suspected that this was cheating but he couldn't articulate the notion. When
Timmy got to the fairgrounds, he clutched his Easter egg sack behind his back and
approached the Solomon brothers. The taller one distracted Timmy while the shorter
one snuck behind him, clipping the corner of Timmy's egg sack and making quite a big
hole. Unfortunately, Timmy failed to notice this. When the whistle blew, Timmy was off.
He was surprised to see the Solomon brothers behind him, since he was much faster
than they, but he didn't mind. Timmy beat them to every egg, and raced on to the next,
never noticing that his sack wasn't getting heavier. As he approached the end of the
course, Timmy was elated that he was the first to finish. The Solomon brothers were
right behind him. "Maybe next year, loser twins," Timmy chuckled, right before he
noticed that his sack was empty.

Which type of Irony is used?

Explain your answer:

English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

3. Making friends isn't easy. Ask Juan Guerrero, who moved to New High School High
three months ago but still eats lunch by himself. Nobody picks on him really, but they
pretty much ignore him completely, at least since the incident. You see, Juan had his
chance. We almost adopted him into our crew, the skaters, after Juan said he could
skate. "Oh yeah?" asked my boy Romeo, "well, where's your board?" Juan replied
shakily, "Uh, my mom ran over it with her car, but I do flips and grinds and all that stuff."
Romeo didn't believe him. "Why don't you use my board? Show me one of those flips,"
Romeo challenged. Juan gulped and grabbed the board. "Uh... Ok," he replied. When
you see a good skater on TV or in a video game, skateboarding may look easy, but just
moving properly, let alone doing any tricks, takes a lot of practice. Because of this, I was
not the least bit surprised when Juan landed flat on his can before he even made it
across a single sidewalk square. "Wow! What an awesome flip, Tony Hawk. You'll have
to teach me that," Romeo sneered. Now Juan eats lunch alone.

Which type of Irony is used?

Explain your answer:

English 8 Learning Module
Quarter II

ACTIVITY 2: Tell a Photo Story

Storytelling is critical to engaging your audience and helping them retain the information
you’re sharing. To practice developing narratives, find an interesting photo online and
record yourself presenting a story about it. Discuss what you think the backstory is, who
the people are, their dreams, their motivations, and anything else that’ll tell a compelling
story about them.

Speech Rubric

Speaker’s name: _______________________ Evaluator: __________________________

Rating Rating Rating Rating Score

Criterion
Excellent Good Satisfactory Needs
Improvement

  Points 10-9 Points 9-8 Points 8-7 Points 7-6  

Introduction (1) Gets attention   Meets any three of Meets any two of Meets only one of  
the four criteria the four criteria the four criteria
(2) Clearly identifies
topic

(3) Establishes
credibility 

(4) Previews the

main points
 Body Main points are Main points are Main points Main points
clear,
somewhat clear, need clarity are not clear
well supported, and
some support, and and support and have no
sources are support
documented some lack of
documentation and no sources or
sources and documentation
documentation

Conclusion (1) Reviews main Reviews main Brings closure Does not bring  
points points , brings closure; the
audience is left
(2) Brings closure closure hanging
(3) Memorable

Eye Contact Eye contact with Eye contact with Eye contact with Little or no eye  
audience virtually audience less than audience less than contact
all the time (except 80% of the time 75% of the time
for brief glances at
notes)

Use of Language Use of language Use of language Use of language Use of language is  
contributes to does not have causes potential inappropriate
effectiveness of the negative impact, confusion, and/or
speech, and and vocalized vocalized pauses
vocalized pauses pauses
(um uh er etc.)
(um uh er etc.) (um uh er etc.)
are distracting
not distracting not distracting

Body language Body language, Body language, Body language, Body language,  
gestures, and facial gestures, and
expressions gestures, and facial facial expressions
and gestures facial expressions
adds greatly to the expressions are lacking or
message compliment lack variety and inappropriate
message spontaneity

Clarity Speaks clearly and Speaks clearly and Speaks clearly and Often mumbles or  
distinctly all the distinctly nearly all distinctly most of can not be
time with no the time with no the time with no understood with
mispronounced more than one more than two more than three
words mispronounced mispronounced mispronounced
word words words

Topic is specific, Topic is specific, Topic is clear Topic lacks clarity No specific
follows appropriate and purpose--
assignment appropriate and and focus inappropriate for
somewhat adapted
Adapted to adapted needs adapting to audience or
audience audience occasion
 Visual Aids Visual aids well Minor problems Significant problems No visual aids  
chosen and with visual aids with visual aids
presented

Time Within allotted time Within 10% of Within 20% of Not within 20% of  
allotted time allotted time allotted time

(Adapted from Dan Rooney)

English 8 Learning Module

Quarter II

ACTIVITY 3: Pick a Paragraph

1. Read the sentences below.

Choose three sentences that all support the same main idea, and that could go
together to become a paragraph. Put check marks next to the sentences that you
choose.
       Factory farming is always contributing to greenhouse gases.    
 Many people prefer the taste of beef to the taste of buffalo.    
Factory farms have often been accused of the inhumane treatment of
animals.    
Legislative solutions to the problem of factory farms have not seemed to
work.    
Because animals are in close quarters, there is often a buildup of waste
matter which can result in a problem with dangerous bacteria in the meat.      
Vegetarians tend to have less health problems than meat eaters.    
Widespread vegetarianism will lower the demand for meat, which could put
some factory farms out of business.      
An alternative to factory farms is for people to purchase meat from small
farmers who raise animals on a sustainable scale.  
 2.What is the main idea that ties together the sentences that you chose?
_______________________________________________________________

3. Thinking about your answers for the first two questions, write a topic sentence for
your paragraph.
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

English 8 Learning Module

Quarter II

4. Now, on a separate sheet of paper, write the paragraph. Don’t forget to create
a good concluding sentence.