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Thursday, May 14, 2015
Creative Writing: Irony (Eggers)
1. After reading the first Chapter of What is the What, identify 3 excerpts from narration or dialogue that contain irony. For each selection, compose a statement that defends your observation of the irony within.
It is ironic because cars are meant to drive on the streets but hers broke down on it.
2) It is also ironic the lady came to his house asking for help so he told her where the phone as to call the police but he was really the one who needed help because they ended up robbing him.
3) We have an interest in the concept of evil, I admit it, and the idea of an exorcism had intrigued us. Though we felt our faith was strong and we had received a thorough Catholic education...
This is ironic because they are interested in evil but they received a very good catholic education and believe in God.
1) he came to America to be safe, but then ends up being robbed and shot. 2)The woman wanted to call the police but now he needs to call the police. 3)He calls the robbers his friends, but really they aren't. Elise Cracco
Three examples of irony from the narration/dialog in the story What is the What are the narrator of the story moves to America from Africa for peace and freedom but here is getting robbed of all his possessions. Another example of irony in this story is when the man Powder who seems like he is going to kill the narrator says they are brothers because they are from Africa. The last example of irony that I found in What is the What is when Achor Achor accidentally signs up for a class but at this class ends up meeting his long time girlfriend.
Hannah Patalano 1) Valentine moved to the USA to escape violence but found a lot in the USA 2) Achor Achor signed up for a class by accident but met his girlfriend there 3) The robber says Valentine is his brother but then says all Nigerians are dumb
Kaylin McMahon Irony 1.) It is ironic that he moved to the United states to find peace, however during the robbery he is having a gun pointed at him. This is ironic because it's unexpected.
2.) More irony is present in the first sentence where he states, " I have no reason not to answer the door so I answer the door". This is ironic because his reason to answer the door is because he had no reason and logically, if you have no reason- why answer the door?
3.) Lastly, it is ironic when he says the robbery is "acceptable". He says he is okay with the robbery because he has experienced smaller robberies. Usually you would say this if you have experienced something worse, but not in his case.
Valentine wants to go back to dangerous, starving African even though he is much safer in American is ironic because the typical person would rather stay safer and healthier than in a place with bad conditions. He says, "In Kakuma there was no rain, the winds blew nine months a year, and eighty thousand war refugees from Sudan and elsewhere lived on one meal a day. But at this moment, when the woman is in my bedroom and the man is guarding me with his gun, I want to be in Kakuma, where I lived in a hut of plastic and sandbags and owned one pair of pants". It is also ironic that while he was being robbed, he was most worries about his backpack with his homework in notes in it, "I look up to find that the woman and Powder have my backpack, which contains nothing but my homework from Georgia Perimeter College. Imagining the time it will take to reproduce those notebooks, now so close to midterm exams, almost brings me to my feet again. I stare at my visitors with as much hatred as I can muster, as my god will allow". One might think he would be worried about his electronic or expensive possessions rather than school work. Lastly, it is ironic that in the midst of a robbery, the police come to the area for a different situation. It states, " When the pile reaches his chin, the woman walks to the front door and opens it.‘Fuck!’ she says, closing the door quickly. She tells Powder that outside is a police car, parked in our lot. The car is, in fact, blocking their own car’s exit". A thief would not expect or desire a police officer's car to be blocking their escape or be at the scene for a reason other than their own.
In the beginning of chapter 1 of the novel, a woman knocks on the narrators door. She asks to use the narrators phone because her car has broken down. She then asks to use the phone so she can call the police. This is ironic because one would not expect someone to call the police if their car broke down, one would normally expect them to call a relative to help them, a car repair shop, or a tow company. Police deal with crimes, not broken down cars.
The man robbing the narrator's house claims that they are brothers, offers advice, and then threatens to shoot him in the chest. It is ironic that someone who is stealing your possessions, and threatening you with death would call you family.
The narrator refers to the people that are robbing him as his friends. This is ironic because one would not expect that the victim of theft and assault would refer to his attackers as his friends.
1) "You're from Africa right. That means we're brothers" -Power says this to Valentino and gives him advice saying not to open his door to strangers. He says they are brothers and then continually hits Valentino all over his body and threatens him with his gun.
2) Valentino moves to America to find peace but he actually finds more violence. He's only there for a short time and he gets robbed and beaten which never happen before he moved.
3) Anchor Anchor signed up for a class by accident but then found his long time love there so it worked out in the end.
1)"It is a strange thing, I realize, but what I think at this moment is that I want to be back in Kakuma. In Kakuma there was no rain, the winds blew nine months a year, and eighty thousand war refugees from Sudan and elsewhere lived on one meal a day." This is ironic because the reader would not expect a man to want to return to oppression like this man wants. 2) "We were fleeing Ethiopia, chased by hundreds of Ethiopian soldiers shooting at us, the River Gilo full of our blood, and out of the high grasses she appeared. Come to me, children! I am your mother! Come to me! She was only a face in the grey grass, her hands outstretched, and I hesitated. Two of the boys I was running with, boys I had found on the bank of the bloody river, they both went to her. And when they drew close enough, she lifted an automatic rifle and shot through the chests and stomachs of the boys. They fell in front of me and I turned and ran." This is ironic because a mother is expected to be a caring figure, but in this case a mother is a killer, which is very different from what readers expect mothers to be. 3) "Achor Achor has found a girlfriend, an African-American woman named Michelle. She is lovely. They met at the community college, in a class, quilting, which Achor Achor registered for by accident." This is ironic because people expect that a class you accidentally registered for will not be enjoyable, but as for Achor Achor, he really enjoyed the class because he found love.
1. "But at this moment, when the woman is in my bedroom and the man is guarding me with his gun, I want to be in Kakuma, where I lived in a hut of plastic and sandbags and owned one pair of pants." This is irony because Valentino was in extremely poor conditions back in Africa and came to America to be safe, yet he's being robed and would rather be in Africa.
2. "She tells Powder that outside is a police car, parked in our lot. The car is, in fact, blocking their own car’s exit." This is ironic because as the robbers were trying to leave and commit a crime, but their getaway is being blocked by a cop.
3. "She is lovely. They met at the community college, in a class, quilting, which Achor Achor registered for by accident." This can be considered an example of irony because he wasn't going to take the class and hadn't signed up for it but then met his girlfriend and stayed.
1) He came to the United States to find peace and safety, but he gets robbed and shot and experiences a lot of violence. 2) He wants to go back to Kakuma even though he witnessed a lot of death and violence there. He does not like the United States because he is getting robbed, and he has yet to become successful. 3) Powder considers them to be brothers because he is also from Africa, but he seems like he wants to kill the narrator.
1)"If this is punishment for the hubris of wanting to leave Africa, of harboring dreams of college and solvency in America, I am now chastened and I apologize" - It is ironic that he came to America thinking it would be safer and better than Africa, but he had been robbed and beaten. 2)"...Powder that outside is a police car, parked in our lot. The car is, in fact, blocking their own car’s exit" - It is ironic that there is a police car outside, but he isn't there to help the robbery. 3) "I look up to find that the woman and Powder have my backpack, which contains nothing but my homework from Georgia Perimeter College." - It is ironic he seemed most concerned about them stealing his backpack instead of the more expensive belongings.
“I want to be in Kakuma, where I lived in a hut of plastic and sandbags and owned one pair of pants” This is ironic because he has gone through many times much harder than this, but the robbery makes him prefer those times.
“You’re from Africa, right?’ I nod. ‘All right then. That means we’re brothers.” This is ironic because a man would not want to rob his brother, but instead would want to protect him.
“We expected a land without war and, I suppose, a land without misery.” This is ironic because he expected to come to America because he expected it to be without misery, but he is currently being robbed. It is also unrealistic to expect somewhere without war or misery.
1) He let the lady into his home so she could call for help with her car, but she ended up robbing him and he needed help, but she stole all the phones.
2) Powder calls him Africa, and says that because hes from africa that they are brothers, but still continues to beat him and call him a stupid Nigerian.
3)A cop is waiting outside of the apartment for a while but does not interfere with the robbery
1)"It is always the woman who answers the door, because when there is a knock, someone has come for the man" It is ironic because you would think that he would be suspicious about the person at the door because of how it was in Africa, but he opened the door and invited the lady in, and ended up being attacked and robbed. 2)"I find myself missing all of Africa. I miss Sudan, I miss the howling grey desert of northwest Kenya. I miss the yellow nothing of Ethiopia." This is ironic because you would think that he would dislike Africa because of all of the horrible things that happened to him there, but he actually misses it and wants to go back. 3)"Thinking of that day, when we were driven from Ethiopia back to Sudan, thousands dead in the river, gives me strength against this person in my apartment, and again I stand." This is ironic because the goal of the genocide was to exterminate and cause fear, when in reality the experience gives him the strength to stand up to the intruder.
1. "‘All right then. That means we’re brothers.’" Powder tells Valentino that they are "brothers" because they are both from Africa. This is ironic because brothers are associated with family and you want to protect family, but Powder is robbing him.
2. "...outside is a police car, parked in our lot. The car is, in fact, blocking their own car’s exit." This quote is ironic because Valentino is being robbed and there are police outside that could save him, but they do not know about what is going on and they are there for someone else.
3. "I am tired of this country" It is ironic how Valentino is tired of being in the United States because he is not having as much success as he wanted to because it is much better than in Africa was, regardless.
-Valentine moved to the us to escape violence but found a lot. -Anchor Anchor accidentally signed up for a knitting class but it worked out because he met the woman of his dreams -the woman who came into his house said she needed to call the police, when really he needs to call the police.
1) "We were fleeing Ethiopia, chased by hundreds of Ethiopian soldiers shooting at us, the River Gilo full of our blood, and out of the high grasses she appeared" -The irony is that the main character came to America looking to escape violence, but the opposite happened, and he was robbed/attacked.
2)"'I get enough of that. I know about your war. Tell me some other story'" -Valentino starts to tell his friend about the rebels and the war he faced back home, but it turns out his friend already knew about the war.
3)"‘You’re from Africa, right?’ I nod. ‘All right then. That means we’re brothers.’" -This is ironic because the man is calling Valentino his brother and is robbing him. If you call someone your brother, you would expect to protect them, not rob them
manny the man took off from the war to be alive he got to american to live and the war was very scary to him so now he said he would be safe in american but nope the women came to his house knocking and he open said she want to use his phone to call the police because her car broke down then a man can broke in the house and rob all of his thing t.v laptop everything and pull out the gun too and his life was scary still he thought he was in better place than being in the war so before that he was watching the movies and it was scary movie so he stop and ran to his room and locked him self which it was only a movie
"I want to be in Kakuma, where I lived in a hut of plastic and sandbags and owned one pair of pants. I am not sure there was evil of this kind in the Kakuma, and I want to return." The irony of this is the fact that it was a refugee camp. He lived a very unprivileged life with many struggles, but he wants to return after being robbed.
Pinyudo, the Ethiopian camp had "small pleasures", because he was a boy that could forget he "was a malnourished refugee a thousand miles from home." Irony is shown here because he was starving, and both mentally and physically abused, but due to his current situation being robbed, he'd like to return.
"my friends are by the window." The people by the window are not his friends at all. They just beat and robbed him, but he continues to call them his friends.
1. After reading the first Chapter of What is the What, identify 3 excerpts from narration or dialogue that contain irony. For each selection, compose a statement that defends your observation of the irony within.
22 comments:
Allie Woodason
1) My car broke down in the street.
It is ironic because cars are meant to drive on the streets but hers broke down on it.
2) It is also ironic the lady came to his house asking for help so he told her where the phone as to call the police but he was really the one who needed help because they ended up robbing him.
3) We have an interest in the concept of evil, I admit it, and the idea of an exorcism had intrigued us. Though we felt our faith was strong and we had received a thorough Catholic education...
This is ironic because they are interested in evil but they received a very good catholic education and believe in God.
1) he came to America to be safe, but then ends up being robbed and shot.
2)The woman wanted to call the police but now he needs to call the police.
3)He calls the robbers his friends, but really they aren't.
Elise Cracco
Three examples of irony from the narration/dialog in the story What is the What are the narrator of the story moves to America from Africa for peace and freedom but here is getting robbed of all his possessions. Another example of irony in this story is when the man Powder who seems like he is going to kill the narrator says they are brothers because they are from Africa. The last example of irony that I found in What is the What is when Achor Achor accidentally signs up for a class but at this class ends up meeting his long time girlfriend.
Hannah Patalano
1) Valentine moved to the USA to escape violence but found a lot in the USA
2) Achor Achor signed up for a class by accident but met his girlfriend there
3) The robber says Valentine is his brother but then says all Nigerians are dumb
Kaylin McMahon Irony
1.) It is ironic that he moved to the United states to find peace, however during the robbery he is having a gun pointed at him. This is ironic because it's unexpected.
2.) More irony is present in the first sentence where he states, " I have no reason not to answer the door so I answer the door". This is ironic because his reason to answer the door is because he had no reason and logically, if you have no reason- why answer the door?
3.) Lastly, it is ironic when he says the robbery is "acceptable". He says he is okay with the robbery because he has experienced smaller robberies. Usually you would say this if you have experienced something worse, but not in his case.
Valentine wants to go back to dangerous, starving African even though he is much safer in American is ironic because the typical person would rather stay safer and healthier than in a place with bad conditions. He says, "In Kakuma there was no rain, the winds blew nine months a year, and eighty thousand war refugees from Sudan and elsewhere lived on one meal a day. But at this moment, when the woman is in my bedroom and the man is guarding me with his gun, I want to be in Kakuma, where I lived in a hut of plastic and
sandbags and owned one pair of pants". It is also ironic that while he was being robbed, he was most worries about his backpack with his homework in notes in it, "I look up to find that the woman and Powder have my backpack, which contains nothing but my homework from Georgia Perimeter College. Imagining the time it will take to reproduce those notebooks, now so close to midterm exams, almost brings me to my feet again. I stare at my visitors with as much hatred as I can muster, as my god will allow". One might think he would be worried about his electronic or expensive possessions rather than school work. Lastly, it is ironic that in the midst of a robbery, the police come to the area for a different situation. It states, " When the pile reaches his chin, the woman walks to the front door and opens it.‘Fuck!’ she says, closing the door quickly. She tells Powder that outside is a police car, parked in our lot. The car is, in fact, blocking their own car’s exit". A thief would not expect or desire a police officer's car to be blocking their escape or be at the scene for a reason other than their own.
Kerri Weber
In the beginning of chapter 1 of the novel, a woman knocks on the narrators door. She asks to use the narrators phone because her car has broken down. She then asks to use the phone so she can call the police. This is ironic because one would not expect someone to call the police if their car broke down, one would normally expect them to call a relative to help them, a car repair shop, or a tow company. Police deal with crimes, not broken down cars.
The man robbing the narrator's house claims that they are brothers, offers advice, and then threatens to shoot him in the chest. It is ironic that someone who is stealing your possessions, and threatening you with death would call you family.
The narrator refers to the people that are robbing him as his friends. This is ironic because one would not expect that the victim of theft and assault would refer to his attackers as his friends.
1) "You're from Africa right. That means we're brothers"
-Power says this to Valentino and gives him advice saying not to open his door to strangers. He says they are brothers and then continually hits Valentino all over his body and threatens him with his gun.
2) Valentino moves to America to find peace but he actually finds more violence. He's only there for a short time and he gets robbed and beaten which never happen before he moved.
3) Anchor Anchor signed up for a class by accident but then found his long time love there so it worked out in the end.
1)"It is a strange thing, I realize, but what I think at this moment is that I want to be back in Kakuma. In
Kakuma there was no rain, the winds blew nine months a year, and eighty thousand war refugees from
Sudan and elsewhere lived on one meal a day." This is ironic because the reader would not expect a man to want to return to oppression like this man wants.
2) "We were fleeing Ethiopia, chased by hundreds of Ethiopian soldiers shooting at us, the River Gilo full of our blood, and out of the high grasses she appeared. Come to me, children! I am your mother! Come to me! She was only a face in the grey grass, her hands outstretched, and I hesitated. Two of the boys I was running with, boys I had found on the bank of the bloody river, they both went to her. And when they drew close enough, she lifted an automatic rifle and shot through the chests and stomachs of the boys. They fell in front of me and I turned and ran." This is ironic because a mother is expected to be a caring figure, but in this case a mother is a killer, which is very different from what readers expect mothers to be.
3) "Achor Achor has found a girlfriend, an African-American woman named Michelle. She is lovely. They met at the community college, in a
class, quilting, which Achor Achor registered for by accident." This is ironic because people expect that a class you accidentally registered for will not be enjoyable, but as for Achor Achor, he really enjoyed the class because he found love.
Morgan Nicholson
1. "But at this moment, when the woman is in my bedroom and
the man is guarding me with his gun, I want to be in Kakuma, where I lived in a hut of plastic and
sandbags and owned one pair of pants." This is irony because Valentino was in extremely poor conditions back in Africa and came to America to be safe, yet he's being robed and would rather be in Africa.
2. "She tells Powder that outside is a police car, parked in our lot. The car is, in fact, blocking their own car’s exit." This is ironic because as the robbers were trying to leave and commit a crime, but their getaway is being blocked by a cop.
3. "She is lovely. They met at the community college, in a
class, quilting, which Achor Achor registered for by accident." This can be considered an example of irony because he wasn't going to take the class and hadn't signed up for it but then met his girlfriend and stayed.
1)The woman wanted to call the police and now he wants to call him.
2)He calls the robbers his friends when there really not.
3)He moved to the US to escape violence but has found that there is a lot.
4)Achor signed up for a class by accident but ended up meeting his girlfriend there.
5)They are interested in evil but believe strongly in the catholic religion.
John Silvia's 3 Irony Examples:
1. This man moves to America to find peace and safety, and now he is having his house robbed.
2. These two people are robbing the man's house, and as they are leaving, a cop is outside addressing a whole different matter.
3. Edgardo is a car mechanic, yet needs rides to places from this man.
1) He came to the United States to find peace and safety, but he gets robbed and shot and experiences a lot of violence.
2) He wants to go back to Kakuma even though he witnessed a lot of death and violence there. He does not like the United States because he is getting robbed, and he has yet to become successful.
3) Powder considers them to be brothers because he is also from Africa, but he seems like he wants to kill the narrator.
Katie Mullins:
1)"If this is punishment for
the hubris of wanting to leave Africa, of harboring dreams of college and solvency in America, I am now chastened and I apologize"
- It is ironic that he came to America thinking it would be safer and better than Africa, but he had been robbed and beaten.
2)"...Powder that outside is a police car, parked in our lot. The car is, in fact, blocking their own
car’s exit"
- It is ironic that there is a police car outside, but he isn't there to help the robbery.
3) "I look up to find that the woman and Powder have my backpack, which contains nothing but my
homework from Georgia Perimeter College."
- It is ironic he seemed most concerned about them stealing his backpack instead of the more expensive belongings.
“I want to be in Kakuma, where I lived in a hut of plastic and sandbags and owned one pair of pants” This is ironic because he has gone through many times much harder than this, but the robbery makes him prefer those times.
“You’re from Africa, right?’ I nod. ‘All right then. That means we’re brothers.” This is ironic because a man would not want to rob his brother, but instead would want to protect him.
“We expected a land without war and, I suppose, a land without misery.” This is ironic because he expected to come to America because he expected it to be without misery, but he is currently being robbed. It is also unrealistic to expect somewhere without war or misery.
1) He let the lady into his home so she could call for help with her car, but she ended up robbing him and he needed help, but she stole all the phones.
2) Powder calls him Africa, and says that because hes from africa that they are brothers, but still continues to beat him and call him a stupid Nigerian.
3)A cop is waiting outside of the apartment for a while but does not interfere with the robbery
1)"It is always the woman who answers the door, because when
there is a knock, someone has come for the man"
It is ironic because you would think that he would be suspicious about the person at the door because of how it was in Africa, but he opened the door and invited the lady in, and ended up being attacked and robbed.
2)"I find myself missing all
of Africa. I miss Sudan, I miss the howling grey desert of northwest Kenya. I miss the yellow nothing of
Ethiopia."
This is ironic because you would think that he would dislike Africa because of all of the horrible things that happened to him there, but he actually misses it and wants to go back.
3)"Thinking of that day, when
we were driven from Ethiopia back to Sudan, thousands dead in the river, gives me strength against this
person in my apartment, and again I stand."
This is ironic because the goal of the genocide was to exterminate and cause fear, when in reality the experience gives him the strength to stand up to the intruder.
1. "‘All right then. That means we’re brothers.’"
Powder tells Valentino that they are "brothers" because they are both from Africa. This is ironic because brothers are associated with family and you want to protect family, but Powder is robbing him.
2. "...outside is a police car, parked in our lot. The car is, in fact, blocking their own
car’s exit."
This quote is ironic because Valentino is being robbed and there are police outside that could save him, but they do not know about what is going on and they are there for someone else.
3. "I am tired of this country"
It is ironic how Valentino is tired of being in the United States because he is not having as much success as he wanted to because it is much better than in Africa was, regardless.
-Valentine moved to the us to escape violence but found a lot.
-Anchor Anchor accidentally signed up for a knitting class but it worked out because he met the woman of his dreams
-the woman who came into his house said she needed to call the police, when really he needs to call the police.
1) "We were fleeing Ethiopia, chased by hundreds of Ethiopian soldiers shooting at us, the
River Gilo full of our blood, and out of the high grasses she appeared"
-The irony is that the main character came to America looking to escape violence, but the opposite happened, and he was robbed/attacked.
2)"'I get enough of that. I know
about your war. Tell me some other story'"
-Valentino starts to tell his friend about the rebels and the war he faced back home, but it turns out his friend already knew about the war.
3)"‘You’re from Africa, right?’
I nod.
‘All right then. That means we’re brothers.’"
-This is ironic because the man is calling Valentino his brother and is robbing him. If you call someone your brother, you would expect to protect them, not rob them
manny
the man took off from the war to be alive he got to american to live and the war was very scary to him so now he said he would be safe in american but nope the women came to his house knocking and he open said she want to use his phone to call the police because her car broke down then a man can broke in the house and rob all of his thing t.v laptop everything and pull out the gun too and his life was scary still he thought he was in better place than being in the war so before that he was watching the movies and it was scary movie so he stop and ran to his room and locked him self which it was only a movie
"I want to be in Kakuma, where I lived in a hut of plastic and sandbags and owned one pair of pants. I am not sure there was evil of this kind in the Kakuma, and I want to return."
The irony of this is the fact that it was a refugee camp. He lived a very unprivileged life with many struggles, but he wants to return after being robbed.
Pinyudo, the Ethiopian camp had "small pleasures", because he was a boy that could forget he "was a malnourished refugee a thousand miles from home."
Irony is shown here because he was starving, and both mentally and physically abused, but due to his current situation being robbed, he'd like to return.
"my friends are by the window."
The people by the window are not his friends at all. They just beat and robbed him, but he continues to call them his friends.
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