Story #2
Lazy Day Sunday (From Illuminate)
It was a lazy Sunday, and Matilda was trying to catch up on the sleep she missed all week. After all, getting up at 7:00 every morning was downright inhuman, and the oversized pillow in the corner of the sofa was a cloud in the sky, calling her to float away with it.
Perhaps that’s why she made the not-so-wise decision to ignore her mother’s request as she ran out to the supermarket. It was a simple request to turn off the oven at 5:30 and pull the roast out to cool, but that cloud in the sky was calling her name. Matilda had opened one eye at 5:35, but she hadn’t really noticed the time, and Mom would be home soon anyway.
Of course, when 6:15 arrived and the smell of smoke began to waft through the living room, she came down from her cloud a little. Where was Mom anyway, and wasn’t there something she had to do?
At 6:20, the smoke alarm went off, and Matilda began to regret the last hour. Suddenly remembering everything her mother had ever said in her entire life, she sprinted into the kitchen and slid right into her little brother, Max.
“Fire!” he shouted through the haze of the smoke-filled kitchen.
“Shh, it’s just a little smoke from the oven.”
But Max had already run out of the kitchen to the sound of the blaring alarm.
Attempting to ignore the chaos around her, Matilda tried to save the roast first (“save” being the operative word, because the charred remains were barely recognizable). Groaning, she pulled on some oven gloves and opened the door, releasing a new wave of thick smoke into the room.
“Mom is going to be so . . .”
She never got to finish her thought because suddenly a spray of white foam enveloped both her and the roast. For a long moment, all she could do was blink as the foam dripped from her chin and hands. Then she slowly turned to find Max holding a fire extinguisher and grinning from ear to ear as he shouted, “I saved you!”
“Max, what are you doing! I wasn’t on fire. . . . What’s that noise?”
The sound of sirens filled the street, and both Matilda and Max ran for the front door. Outside, a group of firefighters, ambulance workers, and, yes, Matilda’s panic-stricken mother (for she had just gotten home from the supermarket) were running for the door.
Taking a deep breath, Matilda turned the knob to face the consequences, vowing that next time she would just listen to her mother. But in her own defense, it was a lazy Sunday, after all.
Question: How does the following sentence in the story show irony?
"Where was Mom anyway, and wasn’t there something she had to do?"
(1 point)
Responses
The reader already knows that Matilda's mother never left the house.
The reader already knows that Matilda's mother never left the house.
The reader already knows that the house is on fire.
The reader already knows that the house is on fire.
The reader already knows that the firefighters are at the house.
The reader already knows that the firefighters are at the house.
The reader already knows that Matilda forgot to turn the oven off.
The reader already knows that Matilda forgot to turn the oven off.
1 answer
The correct response to how the sentence "Where was Mom anyway, and wasn’t there something she had to do?" shows irony is:
The reader already knows that Matilda forgot to turn the oven off.
This is ironic because while Matilda is questioning where her mother is and what she should be doing, the reader knows that her neglect led to a significant problem (the smoke and the fire) that has already begun to unfold. The irony lies in Matilda's carefree attitude in the face of the chaos she created.
