A study on irony in short stories by edgar allan poe

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************** LÊ THỊ HƢƠNG A STUDY ON IRONY IN SHORT STORIES BY EDGAR ALLAN POE (Nghiên cứu tính mỉa mai truyện ngắn Edgar Allan Poe) M A Minor Program Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 HA NOI – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************** LÊ THỊ HƢƠNG A STUDY ON IRONY IN SHORT STORIES BY EDGAR ALLAN POE (Nghiên cứu tính mỉa mai truyện ngắn Edgar Allan Poe) M A Minor Program Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Trần Thị Thu Hiền, Ph.D HA NOI – 2016 DECLARATION I hereby certify my authority of the research submitted entitled “A Study on Irony in Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Hanoi, 2016 Lê Thị Hƣơng i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout accomplishing this thesis, namely “A Study on Irony in Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe”, several outstanding individuals are integrally involved and make substantial contributions First of all, my deepest gratitude goes to all my lecturers at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for their endless enthusiasm and undeniable helpful lectures I would be very grateful to the staff of the Post-graduate Department for their support during the time of studying I especially would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr Trần Thị Thu Hiền for her invaluable guidance, insightful comments and endless support of material I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Ngô Tự Lập for his discerning comments, helpful advice and inestimable material support My thanks are extended to my friends, who gives me wise idea and always ready to help me whenever I have difficulties Last but not least, my warmest thanks are due to my family, especially my mother for their unconditional love and continual encouragement To all mentioned, and to many more, my heart extends the most enormous thanks Hanoi, 2016 Lê Thị Hƣơng ii ABSTRACT The research aims at studying irony in Edgar Allan Poe‟s works represented in three short stories - The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell- Tale Heart, and The Black Cat The theory of irony in literature suggested by Muecke (1969) is mainly adopted as the analytical framework in this study This research utilizes quantitative and qualitative methods with priorities given to the qualitative The data is collected by means of reading, identifying, classifying and reporting them into the analysis 31 samples of ironical expressions were found in Poe‟s three short stories, of which there is one sample both verbal and dramatic ironies The results show that verbal, situational and dramatic ironies are mainly used in Poe‟s works In addition, the findings reveal that irony can be created by ten techniques in the art of irony including pretended advice or encouragement to the victim, pretended agreement with the victim, rhetorical question, innuendo and insinuation, ambiguity, false statement, internal contradiction, fallacious reasoning, hyperbole and stylistically signalled irony This study hopes to bring additional knowledge to learners about types of irony as well as a typical technique of creating irony in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories in particular and an awareness of using and interpreting irony in literary works in general iii iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study It is obvious that English has become an important part not only in communication but also in many other aspects of life; therefore, mastering this foreign language is of great importance Learning English through literature works is a good way When learning literature works, we can not ignore to study stylistic devices which make works more intriguing and interesting Similarily, when learning stylistic devices, we can not pay no attention to studying irony However, how to study it well is still a difficult question for many learners Irony is an interesting language phenomenon used frequently in any spoken or written genre Simply, irony is a contrast between what is said and what is meant; what is expected to happen and what actully happens; or what readers know and what characters believe Irony is a rhetorical device in literature which is often employed to gain the desired effect of being scoffing, satirical, humorous and amusing Moreover, real life is full of ironical expressions and situations Therefore, the studying of irony in the literature works brings it closer to the life Edgar Allan Poe is one of the great American writers; he is also known as a master of horror and irony who has the ability to use every word to his advantage, thus creating a short story of great substance In most of literary criticism dealing with Edgar Allan Poe, little attention has been accorded to irony In this sense, this title, namely “A Study on Irony in Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe” is conducted to help learners understand irony concepts, identify and interpret types of irony in Poe‟s short stories in particular and in literature works in general more easily 1.2 Aims of the study The study aims at: (1) finding out common types of irony in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories; (2) investigating the creation of irony in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories; (3) suggesting the implications for teaching and learning irony in literature works 1.3 Scope of the study Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories include tale of horror, detective story and science fiction As a whole, this paper does not expect to cover irony in all works of Poe Poe‟s tales of horror is paid the most attention because of being often written ironically Due to the limited time, the data of this paper will only be collected from three out of Poe‟s typical tales of horror: The Cask of Amontillado, The TellTale Heart, and The Black Cat, three relatively short stories written between the years 1843-1846 The selected stories are among Poe's masterpieces which possesses the quintessential-features of the gothic tale: a haunted house, darkness, terror, madness and death They are translated into Vietnamese most among Poe‟s short stories as of 2011 and served as teaching American and English literature at some Vietnamese universities 1.4 Significance of the study Irony is an interesting rhetorical device in literature, thus a detailed and systematic study on irony has both theoretical and practical significances Firstly, the study is expected to provide useful knowledge about types of irony as well as the creation of irony in Poe‟s short stories Secondly, the study helps Vietnamese learners of English better understand and interpret irony in literary works Moreover, it can contribute to teaching American and English literature at Vietnamese universities of foreign languages Eventually, the study hopes to add to a new approach to Poe‟s short stories, which creates more diversity in an research area on Poe‟s short stories latterly 1.5 Research methodology 1.5.1 Research questions In order to cover all above aims, the study is to shed light on the following research questions: (1) What common types of irony are found in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories ? (2) How is irony created in Edgar Allan Poe‟s short stories? 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