Stacia Linz
SLM 521
Web Dropin #2
© 2009 by the University of South Florida
EDGAR
ALLAN POE
AND
THE USE OF IRONY
At this point, you have independently
explored, journalled in your Writer’s Log, and met in
your small groups to discuss Irony. Today, with this concept fresh in your
mind, I want you to read the third story in our Edgar Allan Poe unit, The Cask of Amontillado,
and look for examples of each of the three types of
Irony we’ve addressed.
Please read The Cask of Amontillado and look at the following excerpts
from the story. Jot down your ideas and
justifications for which type of Irony is best embodied by each quote. Be prepared
to defend your answers to your small group.
Passages to consider:
#1 “You, who so well know
the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a
threat.”
#2 "’True -
true,’ I replied ; ‘and, indeed, I had no intention of alarming you
unnecessarily - but you should use all proper caution. A draught of this Medoc
will defend us from the damps.’"
#3 "’I
drink," he said, ‘to the buried that repose around us.’
‘And I to your long life.’"
#4 “We passed through a
range of low arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived at a
deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to
glow than flame.”
#5 "’The Amontillado !’
ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from his astonishment.”
#6 “My heart grew sick -
on account of the dampness of the catacombs.”
You will
read the story aloud, as a group, and explore your answers together. Please take
notes from your discussion, and then reflect and write about it in your Writer’s
Log.
[The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe]