Question

Which instances of situational irony occur in the passage? Select two options. “Whoever it was who had made the wager was likely to lose his bet.” “‘Come over here and listen to a story,’ said the aunt, when the bachelor had looked twice at her and once at the communication cord.” “The children moved listlessly towards the aunt’s end of the carriage.” “Evidently her reputation as a story-teller did not rank high in their estimation.” “In a low, confidential voice, interrupted at frequent intervals by loud, petulant questionings from her listeners, she began an unenterprising and deplorably uninteresting story about a little girl who was good.”

Answer 1

Situation irony is when during a given situation the outcome is completely different as the one expected. In this case the correct instance would not be the ones that include a sarcastic comment by the narrator as that is explicit sarcasm. In here the situational irony is subtly implied by the description of the situation itself:

- “Come over here and listen to a story,’ said the aunt, when the bachelor had looked twice at her and once at the communication cord.” The fact that the bachelor is hesitating so much about accepting the aunt’s summoning is already ironic as it hints out at the fact that he is hesitant because he does not expect the storytelling to go well, whereas the aunt is obviously firmly convinced that her stories are awesome and that she is the quintessential storyteller. This sharp contrast between her idealized vision of herself and the bachelor’s incredulity is quite ironic.

- “In a low, confidential voice, interrupted at frequent intervals by loud, petulant questionings from her listeners, the behavior of the children here is obviously ironic as children usually focus intently on things that interest them and which they like but here they are disruptive, they openly voice their discontent and their confrontational stance with the aunt. Again, we have a contradiction between what the aunt thinks of herself and what the children actually think about her.

Answer 2

Answer: C and E

Explanation: