The purpose of this lesson is to have students examine how form and structure are affected by literary devices. At the end of the lesson, students are going to: 
- Determine irony in some literary works.
- Examine how irony is used.
- Elucidate how irony relates to the overall piece of work.
- Maintain accumulating more powerful illustrations of metaphors and sensory details.
- Examine and comment on their works as well as those of their peers. 

- In what ways does text interaction encourage thought and action?

- Author’s Purpose: The author’s intent is either to inform or teach someone about something, to entertain people, or to persuade or convince their audience to do or not do something. 
- Literary Devices: Tools used by the author to enliven and provide a voice to the writing (e.g., dialogue, alliteration). 
- Irony: The use of a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or usual meaning; incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the expected result.

- “The Little Girl and the Wolf” by James Thurber http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/%7Elcrew/quotes/picnicba.html 
- “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/redchief.html 
- “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/ 
- “The Interlopers” by Saki http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/925/ 

- Students' responses to how irony is used in "The Ransom of Red Chief" will show you whether or not they understand the term and whether or not they need more practice.
- It will be possible to identify students who require reteaching by watching the groups as they discuss how irony affects the stories they study.
- Students who require reinforcement will be identified by their paragraphs regarding the best ways to use irony.

Scaffolding, Active Engagement, Clear Instruction 
W: Go over the various forms of irony with the students and then give them practice identifying and evaluating how they are used in a few stories. 
H: Assign students to examine irony in each selection and connect it to the author's intention in small groups. 
E: Assist students in analyzing the use of irony in a literary work and how it impacts the piece. Encourage them to collaborate with others to take advantage of their expertise and experience, and to practice the techniques that they will apply in their own assignments. 
R: Allow students to review their homework and build upon previously learned information and skills. 
E: Provide students with an opportunity to reconsider how irony impacts literary works.
T: Assign students to share how form and author's purpose relate to each other with the whole class, in small groups, and individually.
O: Expanding on prior knowledge, this lesson provides an opportunity to examine the correlation between irony and an author's intention. Students can then showcase their comprehension by critically analyzing each instance of irony in a narrative.

Focus Question: How does the use of irony affect a literary work?

Say, "Imagine this scenario: You have a ten-page assignment with a deadline of tomorrow, and you are feeling frustrated. You had planned to go to different places after school to pick up job applications, but you decided to go to the library to finish your paper. As you enter the library, you notice that the librarian is putting up a help-wanted sign on the bulletin board. You take advantage of the opportunity and manage to land the perfect part-time job."

Say, "That is an example of situational irony, where an event occurs in a way that is completely different from what was expected. Another type of irony is dramatic irony, where the characters in a play are unaware of what is going to happen, but the audience or other characters are. At this point, the viewers may feel tempted to yell warnings at the performers."

Part 1

Read the opening lines of Thurber's fable "The Little Girl and the Wolf" aloud to the class. Then, ask them to guess what will happen next. There may be some additional ideas besides the well-known story. Next, read the rest of the fable out loud. You may need to explain the references to Calvin Coolidge and the Metro-Goldwyn Lion in more detail. Finally, it's worth noting that the ending is unexpected and demonstrates situational irony.

Please ask this question: "How does the use of irony affect the shape of the story?" (The narrative changes when the young child realizes that the person in the bed is not her grandmother. From there, irony gives the story an unexpected twist and directs the conclusion and moral.) "What might be the author's intention?" (The author's intention could be to highlight that women are capable and efficient, to demonstrate how times are changing and how women's roles are evolving, and to amuse the reader with an unexpected turn of events.)

Part 2

Read "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry aloud (see Materials). Ask students to write a sentence outlining the story's use of irony before you discuss it. After gathering the answers, have a discussion. (The kidnappers, who initially believed they would be collecting a ransom, later realize they have been kidnapped themselves and must demand a ransom for their freedom.) Ask: "What kind of irony is used?" (situational irony)

Assign students to groups to reread the story and consider how the author's use of irony influences the narrative and the story's overall message. Walk around the room observing students before having one of the groups present. Emphasize the following concepts in the discussion:

The narrator Sam introduces irony almost immediately when he says, "But wait till I tell you," suggesting that their plan does not turn out to be as successful as they had hoped.

Red Chief is the one who causes physical and psychological suffering for Bill, scaring him with threats of scalping, putting a hot potato down his back, and hitting him with a rock until he passes out. Bill and Sam are the ones who kidnap the victim. Red Chief's entire behavior emphasizes how absurd their circumstances are.

To convince Red Chief's father to release him, the kidnappers need to pay a ransom. This is the ultimate irony.

Make it clear that irony is the driving force behind the story. As the author intended, it makes readers laugh by telling the traditional kidnapping victim story backward.

Part 3

Try the exercise again using a different story (e.g., Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" or Saki's "The Interlopers"; see Materials). Make sure your students understand how irony contributes to the shaping of the stories, how it provides the "ironic twist" at the end, and how it relates to the author's intentions. Regarding these two tales, the writer's intention is more grave—illuminating the perils of succumbing to hatred.

Assign students to write a paragraph describing which of the stories they have read for this lesson best employs irony, along with justifications and passages that support their arguments.

Extension:

For students who require more learning opportunities, they could do a readers' theater production of "The Ransom of Red Chief," in which they can play various roles, including the narrator.