Question

Situational irony is a form of irony in which a reader or character expects one thing to happen,
but something completely and surprisingly different happens. Here is an example:
The firemen of Station 12 were all called to a three-alarm fire. While they were away, their station
house catches fire an burns down.
Readers who are familiar with a particular story or a genre of fiction form a point of view, or
perspective, in which they make assumptions about the story. These assumptions may include
the types of characters that will appear in the story, what those characters are like, and how they
will behave and react to conflicts and other events in the story. Situational irony challenges those
assumptions by contradicting the expectations that readers have about the characters or the
situation.
DIRECTIONS: Read each item below. Then, on the short line for each, write yes if the sentence
contains an example of situational irony or no if it does not. Explain the reason for your answers.
1. Late in the afternoon, a husband suddenly remembers that it is his wife’s birthday. On
his way home from work, he rushes to get her a gift and to make dinner reservations. He waits
for his wife at home, but she has forgotten what day it is, and stays at work late.
Reason:
2. A character has volunteered to bake cookies for a friend’s party. However, when he
looks in his kitchen cabinets, he is disappointed to see that he needs to buy more flour.
Reason:
3. In a cartoon on TV, a terrified cat leaves home forever after a gang of mice chases him.
Reason:
4. Pablo is embarrassed to go to school because when he got a haircut, the barber
accidentally shaved the sides of his head. He thinks the other kids will make fun of how he looks.
When he gets to school, however, the other kids seem to love his new haircut, and many want
one like it.
Reason:

Answer 1

1. Yes
Reason: The husband expects his wife to be home so he can surprise her; instead she has forgotten the date and stays late at work — the outcome reverses the expectation.

2. No
Reason: Needing more flour is an ordinary setback, not a surprising reversal of what readers would reasonably expect; it’s inconvenience, not situational irony.

3. Yes
Reason: Cats are expected to chase mice; the mice chasing the cat is a reversal of the typical predator/prey role, so the outcome is surprising and ironic.

4. Yes
Reason: Pablo expects ridicule for his haircut, but the opposite happens — other kids admire it — which contradicts his expectation and is situationally ironic.