Cumulative Exam — Cumulative exam

Question 55 • Common Core ELA 11 - ELA3011 B-IC

Which incident taken from O’Connor’s “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” is the best example of irony?

Answer

Lucynell Crater falls asleep in the diner before she has a chance to eat her food, and she is left there by her husband.

Mrs. Crater gives her car to Mr. Shiftlet in hopes that he will marry her one and only daughter.

Mrs. Crater thinks she is gaining a son-in-law, when in fact Mr. Shiftlet takes her car, her money, and abandons her daughter at a diner.

Mr. Shiftlet appears at the plantation house and explains that even the best doctors cannot know what is in his heart.

Explanation

Irony occurs when what happens is sharply different from what someone expects. Mrs. Crater believes she is gaining a son-in-law, but Mr. Shiftlet deceives her: he takes her car and money and abandons Lucynell. That reversal of Mrs. Crater’s expectation makes choice C the best example of irony.

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Cumulative Exam