Let's Talk About This Contradiction - And Irony Of It
If you're reading this right now, then you probably found one of the most frustrating contradictions and ironies in existence. Confusing? Maybe not so much. You see, we've been teaching you how to write good introduction paragraphs for informative and factual blog posts all semester but I forgot to tell you that as soon as we graduate, I'm going to delete this entire document without a second thought. Now that's irony for ya!
It's important to note that irony is more complex than simply saying the opposite of what someone else says or expects - it can be quite intricate and subtle. However, it is still easy enough to understand if with a little bit of time and effort. For example, if someone is saying "this is such an honor" and then says something completely opposite, it would be ironic because they are speaking in a contradictory manner. Now, if someone says "this seat is uncomfortable" and then you sit down on it anyway, that's not irony - that's stupidity.
In this article we will discuss the different types of irony and how to avoid them when we write blog posts.
Let's start by defining what irony is first before we move on to identifying its different forms. In simple terms, irony is the unexpected or unintended effect of an event or statement.
Irony can be comedic and dramatic at the same time, but it's easy to detect and not always funny. For example, in The Simpsons' episode, "Grade School Confidential", Homer gets a Marge bobble-head doll for Christmas but she keeps sneezing whenever he hugs her. This is obviously a classic example of comedic irony - something that makes you laugh. But what if it wasn't funny? What if someone's happiness is actually diminished because of Homer - Is that dramatic irony?
Now let's move on to different types of ironic situations and how best to avoid them.
Situational / Verbal Irony
Situational irony is when the outcome of an event is the complete opposite of what one expects. For example, in the movie Annie Hall, Alvy Singer mentions that he was considering taking his girlfriend out to a film about how boring and empty life can be. However, as it turns out, there were two films that were scheduled for that night - one about how boring and empty life can be and another called Los Angeles. He ends up taking her to the latter because he thought it would be better than watching a film about being bored. Obviously this event was not what he expected! This is situational irony because his expectation wasn't met (in fact, it was completely reversed).
Verbal irony is the result of someone using words that are completely opposite of how they actually feel or what they mean to say. For example, if you said "I'm really happy right now" but then said "you know what you should do is take some drugs and be happy." Then your statement wouldn't be verbal irony because it is consistent with your words - you didn't say anything contradictory. But if you said "I'm really happy right now" but then instead of taking drugs, titled a blog post called "Cannabis and Cannabis Literature," it might qualify as verbal irony because it would clearly be contradictory with your words and why you said them.
Now that we have these two forms of irony down, let's move on to how to avoid them.
Avoiding Irony in Blog Posts
There are many ways you can avoid unintentional irony in your blog posts. In fact, there's a whole entire book written about it. You can read that here: Don't Use Words Accurately! by Mr. David Foster Wallace. But for the sake of this article, I'm going to show you 3 types of easy-to-use tricks on how to make sure you don't get caught up in irony.
Trick # 1: Avoid Using Absolute Statements
When you make an absolute statement, you take away all of the subjectivity from the topic and leave yourself open to misunderstanding. For example, if you were writing a blog post about how food affects your health and you said "you should eat VERY healthy", then there is no way for your reader to interpret what you mean by that statement because we can't know how much "very" good or bad something is. So instead of making statements like this, use phrases like "a little" or "some". For example, "you should eat a little healthier", or "try avoiding very unhealthy foods." This will be much clearer and therefore avoid ironic situations.
Trick # 2: Avoid Making Comparisons
Whenever you make a comparison, there is always a possibility that your reader may not understand it. For example, if you said "X is better than Y", then your reader will tend to assume that X is better than everything else. That's not what you mean. It might be better than Y but it doesn't mean it's the best out there. This will cause your reader to become misinformed and take away the opposite of what you meant. Try changing comparisons into disclaimers instead - "Although X may be good in some areas, Y can still be considered the best." This way, there's no confusion between whether or not something can be considered the best or not.
Trick # 3: Avoid Using too Many Adjectives
When you use too many adjectives, it's kind of like hitting people over the head with your message. For example, if you say "I'm a very happy person" or "I'm a super cool guy", then there is no room for your reader to interpret what you mean because there are too many words quantifying what should be left subjective. Instead, try being more succinct and simply use words like "happy" or "cool." It will still make your point clear without the unnecessary adjectives. In other words, don't complicate things with extra information that doesn't need to be there.
Avoiding Irony in Future Articles
Now that you know how to avoid unintentional irony in blog posts, I hope it will help you when you're writing future articles. Please leave your comments below and share with me any other ways you can best avoid unintentional irony when writing blog posts.
For more writing tips, read this free guide on how to write a blog post: How to Write a Blog Post That Gets Popular!
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Conclusion
Now that you know how to use humor and avoid situations of irony, you're already well on your way to becoming a more interesting and better writer! The key is to just find creative ways to express yourself. Avoid the traditional route of saying exactly what you mean and always try to bring something extra to the table. This will leave your reader with a deeper message than they originally expected.
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