Question

What is the difference between irony and satire, and parody and sarcasm?

Answer 1

Hint: There are several similarities between each of the given terms irony, satire, parody and sarcasm. To understand the difference between them we just need to remember their basic definitions. As individual terms used in language each of them can be defined in brief like this; irony – generally used to portray humor or dark humor by use of double meanings, satire – using irony to expose someone’s foolishness, parody – bringing humor by recreating or fabricating existing work, sarcasm – mocking or expressing contempt through irony.

Complete answer:
Let us explain each of the given terms in detail to understand the real difference between them.
Irony – It is something that can come into play within satires. It is the term that is normally used to create humor or dark humor, it is where we can say one thing but it might actually mean the opposite. They are portrayed in a tone of mockery.

Satire: They make use of many factors like irony, or humor that can expose the foolishness in another. So they can utilize exaggeration and humor to criticize the wrongs done by another without directly hurting another. Normally they are used in political humor.

Parody: We can call it a type of satire but one that may not intend anything in particular. Mostly just used as a joke. Translating original work into a form of fabricated joke.

Sarcasm: Casually mocking something said by someone while pretending to be kind. It is again an ironic remark because emphasis is given to opposite meanings. This generally creates double meanings and leaves a person guessing if they meant what they said.

Note: Even though we have now understood what ‘irony’ means, we must remember that there are different kinds of irony that can be used in sentences. The types are situational, verbal and dramatic ironies.
- Situational irony; it is when in reality something unexpected happens. To be more specific we can say that situational irony is the factor of difference that can be seen when something happens and something else was expected to happen. It happens completely unintentionally. An example is if a fire station that protects everyone from fires, starts burning.
- Verbal irony; it is normally when you say one thing but mean something else. This normally happens intentionally when people are conversing. An example is if someone who loves sweets has diabetes is offered sweets they might say in a funny tone “no thanks, I have sugar.”
- Dramatic irony; it is generally found within dramas. It is because sometimes the audience are let in on some part of the story that the character is unaware of, so it is a version of dramatic irony.