A pickpocket works a crowded train platform all afternoon, then gets home and finds that his own wallet was lifted on the ride back. Which type of irony is this?

The audience of a play watches a servant hide poison in a cup on the banquet table. The host walks in, lifts that cup and toasts his guests' health. This moment is an example of which type of irony?

A student gets back a five-page essay covered in red ink, looks at it, and says to her friend, 'Well, that went beautifully.' Which type of irony is she using?

A marriage counselor whose clients call her the reason their marriages survived files for divorce after three months of her own. What kind of irony does this situation show?

Viewers of a horror film have already seen the intruder crouch behind the basement door. The babysitter hears the noise, decides it is the cat, and reaches for the handle. Name the type of irony at work.

Rain has soaked through the tent and every sleeping bag in it. The camp leader looks around at the mess and announces, 'Perfect weather for a camping trip.' Which type of irony is this?

A town builds an expensive library to get teenagers reading. The building runs so many loud events that students walk to the next town to find somewhere quiet to read. Which type of irony is this?

In chapter 2 of a novel the reader learns that Mr. Hale has already been fired. In chapter 3 he tells his wife the promotion is as good as his. Which type of irony is this?

A safety inspector finishes a report warning that the lobby floor is dangerously slippery, then slips on that floor while carrying the report to the manager. What kind of irony does this show?

Forty minutes into a traffic jam that has moved two blocks, a driver turns to his passenger and mutters, 'I love how quickly this city moves.' Which type of irony is this?

In Julius Caesar the audience has watched the conspirators plan the murder. Caesar then greets them: 'Good friends, go in and taste some wine with me, / And we, like friends, will straightway go together.' Which type of irony is this?

Duncan arrives at Macbeth's castle, where the audience has heard his murder planned, and says, 'This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air / Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself / Unto our gentle senses.' Which type of irony is this?

Romeo, not knowing Juliet has taken a sleeping potion, stands over her: 'Thou art not conquered. Beauty's ensign yet / Is crimson in thy lips...' The audience knows she is alive. Which type of irony is this?

Antony opens his funeral oration over Caesar's body with 'I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him,' and then praises Caesar for the rest of the speech. Which type of irony is this?

The speaker of Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' writes that 'a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food.' Which type of irony is this?

Stabbed and bleeding to death, Mercutio says of his wound, "No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door, but 'tis enough. 'Twill serve." Which type of irony is this?

In Shelley's 'Ozymandias' the pedestal of a ruined statue reads, 'Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' The poem then says, 'Nothing beside remains.' Which type of irony is this?

At the end of 'The Gift of the Magi,' Jim tells Della, 'I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.' She has already sold the hair those combs were for, to buy his watch chain. Which type of irony is this?

Which of these is situational irony rather than plain bad luck?

Sarcasm is verbal irony aimed at wounding someone. Which of these lines is sarcasm?

Which of these is a coincidence rather than irony?

Which of these is dramatic irony rather than a lucky coincidence?

A classmate knocks her project off the desk and it shatters. A student standing over her says, 'Nice job.' What is the most precise name for that remark?

Which of these describes bad luck rather than irony?

In a thriller the reader knows the detective's trusted partner planted the evidence. The detective hands him the whole case file. What does that gap between reader and character create?

A narrator calls the leaking, crumbling apartment he rents 'a palace.' What does that verbal irony do for the reader?

A soldier survives four years at the front and is killed by a falling branch the week he gets home. What does that outcome do to a reader?

In Macbeth the audience hears the apparitions promise that no man born of woman can harm Macbeth, and watches him treat that as a guarantee. What does knowing more than Macbeth do to the audience?

A playwright tells the audience in scene 1 that the letter will never arrive, then shows two characters waiting for it for three acts. Why give the audience that information early?

A student essay calls a two-hour fire drill in freezing rain 'the highlight of my education.' What does the irony reveal about the writer's tone?