poetic device: Irony

Irony is when what you expect to happen doesn’t occur, but instead results in the opposite action or effect. For example, if someone were run over by an ambulance, or if you went to “Camp Sunshine” and it rained the whole week.

All of these poems have at least one example of irony each, usually at the end of the poem. See if you can figure out what is ironic in each of these poems.

New Computer by Kenn Nesbitt
New Computer
I Sat Down on a Seesaw by Kenn Nesbitt
I Sat Down On a Seesaw
Antigravity Machine
Antigravity Machine
Toby the Snowboarding Doberman
Broccoli for Breakfast by Kenn Nesbitt
Broccoli for Breakfast
Nimrod Nero, Superhero
There’s a Witch Outside My Window
Can't Sleep by Kenn Nesbitt
Can’t Sleep
I've Got a Secret by Kenn Nesbitt
I’ve Got a Secret
I Built a Castle on the Beach
I Made Myself a Sandwich
I Named My Dogs the Strangest Names by Kenn Nesbitt
I Named My Dogs the Strangest Names
Mall Crawl
What I Told Mrs. Morris when She Asked How I Was Feeling Today by Kenn Nesbitt
What I Told Mrs. Morris When She Asked How I Was Feeling Today
Gordon’s Garden
I Bought a Balloon
Wally Wards the Sword Swallower by Kenn Nesbitt
Wally Wards the Sword Swallower
My Brother Wants to Be a Chef by Kenn Nesbitt
My Brother Wants to Be a Chef
I Have an Amoeba
Auntie Gravity
Belinda Brooks by Kenn Nesbitt
Belinda Brooks
The Tall Tale of Shorty Small by Kenn Nesbitt
The Tall Tale of Shorty Small
Back-to-School Shopping
The Stockings Were Hung by Linda Knaus and Kenn Nesbitt
The Stockings Were Hung

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