"Hazel Tells LaVerne"

"an how i can be a princess

me a princess" (12-13)

The entire time I read "Hazel Tells LaVerne" by Katharyn Howd Machan, I was wondering why she is the only poet who thought to have a sense of humor in her writing.  For one, the setting does not include some depressing nature image, but rather a bathroom at her job.  Next, there is a frog trying to climb up a toilet seat. Lastly, the lady does not speak proper English, which is always funny.  The tone of the poem is kind of sarcastic and doubtful.  Not only does the speaker get asked to kiss a frog, but she turns it down.  Oh, and not to mention the fact that the frog in a toilet starts to talk?  Talk about situational irony.  Now for the punctuation... lack of punctuation that is.  I really have no clue behind the reasoning in this poem other than that it kind of contributes to the humor and sarcastic nature of the poem.  It almost could be seen as satirizing the working class and how they tend to lack the required work ethic to speak properly.

"APO 96225"

"And the father wrote right back,

'Please don't write such depressing letters.  You're

upsetting your mother" (16-18).

Question one of "APO 96225" by Larry Rottmann confused me for the entire class today.  I think that this poem deserves a list for situational irony and dramatic irony.

Situational Irony:

1. When his mother asks him to tell them everything, he writes only about monkeys and sunsets.
2. When he tells his mother everything, his father writes back telling him not to upset his mother.

Dramatic Irony:

1. Everything is positive, but that is only because the actual situation is so negative.

Okay, so those lists are really short, but I think that they helped me find the answer.  Despite being less points, the dramatic irony weighs much more strongly on the overall poem than the situational.  Imagine that the rocks on the right are the situational and the rock on the left is dramatic.  Since the dramatic irony is in every stanza, I think it is the actual prominent form of irony.  The letters are not to show that the mother and son have a strong bond in hardship, but rather the joyous message of the letters are supposed to show just how hard the situation is.  (pun intended.)

Brave New World - Nineteen

"'I claim them all,' said the Savage at last."
"Mustapha Mond shrugged his shoulders.  'You're welcome,' he said" (pg 240).

This situational irony in Mustapha's comment seems to be Huxley's way of showing us the stark difference between what the Savage and Mustapha see in an ideal society.  Mustapha is all about stability and control, while the Savage wants a world of misfortune.  The debates these two (with the occasional comic relief of the aptly named Controller) had were only leading up to this irony which shows us why the Savage should be joyful that he is leaving the Hatchery.  Honestly, this whole chapter was ironic that the Savage was so emotionally attached to a world he hated even though he had the chance to escape.  Every time John had said something, Mustapha or the Controller would have some sort of clever, egotistical comeback as to why John was wrong, which is why this comment was ironic.

I think that Huxley decided to end the chapter with this ironic situation to lead into the final chapter of his book because it was really a strong statement which definitely made me reflect on some of the hypocritical statements said in the chapter.  It made me realize that John was pretty much fighting for where he was going, while Mustapha was fighting what seems to be a perfect society.  It also helped to show why exactly the characters were "worshiping" Ford over God.  Mustapha's world seems to be one that could be changed only when cataclysmic (such as the Nine Year's War), while John's ideal world would always be changing and adapting so that a cataclysmic event would not cause any huge discrepancies.

Honestly, this chapter probably made me think the most afterwards because of the irony in Mustapha's last comment.