Effective Use of Literary Devices in the Short Story

How to Write a Short Story

Literary Devices

 A literary device that uses contradictory statements or situations to reveal a reality different from what appears to be true. It is ironic for a firehouse to burn down, or for a police station to be burglarized. Verbal irony is a figure of speech that occurs when a person says one thing but means the opposite. Sarcasm is a strong form of verbal irony that is calculated to hurt someone through, for example, false praise. Dramatic irony creates a discrepancy between what a character believes or says and what the reader or audience member knows to be true. Tragic irony is a form of dramatic irony found in tragedies such as Oedipus the King, in which Oedipus searches for the person responsible for the plague that ravishes his city and ironically ends up hunting himself. Situational irony exists when there is an incongruity between what is expected to happen and what actually happens due to forces beyond human comprehension or control. Cosmic irony occurs when a writer uses God, destiny, or fate to dash the hopes and expectations of a character or of humankind in general. In cosmic irony, a discrepancy exists between what a character aspires to and what universal forces provide. Stephen Crane's poem "A Man Said to the Universe" is a good example of cosmic irony, because the universe acknowledges no obligation to the man's assertion of his own existence. In O. Henry's short story "Ransom of Red Chief" there is verbal irony in the name of the town, the town is "flat as a pancake" and is called "Summit." Also, when the kidnappers sign their ransom note "two desperate men," it's not what the phrase usually means—they're desperate to get rid of the boy. "Ransome of Red Chief" also has irony of situation because the kidnapped child doesn't want to go home. The kidnappers threaten to take the child back if he doesn't behave and end up paying the father to take the child back. There's dramatic and verbal irony in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," Dramatic irony in that the reader knows Montressor hates Fortunado and has lured him into the vaults for the purpose of revenge, while Fortunado believes he is going there to taste a friend's wine. This dramatic irony creates verbal irony in almost everything Montressor and Fortunado say: "My dear Fortunado, you are luckily met," "A man to be missed," "Shall not die of a cough," toast to "Long life," "Then I must positively leave you," "In pace requiescat."

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