Type of Irony	Example	Purpose	Effectiveness
Sample: Verbal Irony	Diana's homecoming date arrived late and left early -- without her. When her friends took her home, they hugged her and said "What a great night and date!"	Diana's friends are trying to jokingly make the point that they know it was a bad night and a terrible date. They are using verbal irony because they know it was not a "great night" for their friend.	By making what could be a stressful situation into a humorous event, Diana's friends are successful in their use of verbal irony. While their words show Diana that they acknowledge her pain, they also offer a light perspective and probably lead to laughter. SUCCESS!
Situational Irony	The characters in the Wizard of Oz go on their journey from Munchkinland to Emerald City to see the wizard to get things they want, but they eventually realize that they had what they wanted the entire time.	This component of the story may come as unexpected to the reader, or be something they don't think about right from the beginning. They may believe that when the four characters reach Emerald City, the wizard will give them what they want, however that is not needed as they already have what they are setting out for.	Incorporating this situational irony into the flow of the story in this specific case is very effective in sending the message that we for the most part already have the things we want in life (such as courage and having a heart), we just have to release them and let them shine.
Situational Irony	In the story Matilda, the traditional roles of children and adults are swapped. Matilda is depicted as more mature and wiser than the adults, while the adults for the most part are rude, tempered, and mostly uneducated.	In life as kids, we always see the adults as more wise, educated, and well-standing. They are the ones who help us to grow up and become great people. However in the story, it is the complete opposite. Matilda, who is only 5-6 years old, is that kind of almost that person already, while the adults here are uneducated and unreasoned. It goes to show that you should always keep your head high, even if there are those who get in your way, keep your independence.	This example of situational irony is up there at the top when it comes to effectiveness, as it really at a subliminal level is teaching the audience a great life lesson, to always keep your head high and don't let others bring you down. We see how the adults in the story try to discourage Matilda many different ways on many different levels, despite not having much knowledge themselves. If there is anything important you can have to get you through life, it is to have independence, and this story does a really great job of showing the importance of that.
Verbal Irony	After falling over for the tenth time, a person says "Oh, I meant to do that."	The person of course did not really "mean to do that", but they are trying to make light of this not-so-positive situation.	By making what may be a possibly painful event into a humorous one, the person is successful in their use of irony. By saying what they said, they acknowledge what has happened, but at the same time bring to the table a more positive and sarcastic perspective to make the situation a little better.
Verbal Irony	A child says "I want food now!" and their mom responds with "Thank you for using such great manners."	Here we see that the child is not being polite toward their parent on wanting to get their food, and instead of the parent replying with a impolite response back, they respond with the exact opposite, instead "congratulating" them to point out their impoliteness.	The mom decides in this situation to reply with an opposite type of response to specifically point out the child's impoliteness, instead of responding with an impolite response themselves. This use of humor and sarcasm delivers it in a way that the child won't resent it as much (as an impolite response in this case may bring that), and that it will stick out in the child's head more than just simply coming back in the same manner.
Situational Irony	The fire house burned down.	When we think of a fire house, we think that it is always in safety, as they have people there to fix any problem that goes wrong on the spot. But here, it is the complete opposite.	This simple use of irony is very effective as nobody would ever think a fire house would burn down, but yet the complete opposite happened. It may come as a surprise to people, and also can serve as a message that not everything is perfectly safe, you must protect everything you have with great care and take the steps to protect yourself as well.