Assignment Title: “Isn’t it Ironic?” or Not?
Annotation: In this ninth grade literature class, students will watch the “Mother Love” Cingular commercial video after a short discussion on the definition of irony and how it is used. Students will then be asked to rewrite the script in a way that is not ironic. Students will then be asked to justify why they chose to rewrite their scripts in particular ways. We will then look at the lyrics to “Isn’t It Ironic?” by Alanis Morissette and determine why these situations are not ironic and what could possibly be substituted that would make them correct in the song.
Embedded Video: Mother Love Video
Procedures:
- Students will participate in a short open discussion on definition of irony as we have learned from previous assignments and discussion.
- Students will be shown the short video of the “Mother Love” Cingular commercial
- Students will then work in small groups of three or four to rewrite the script with more predictable language
- The small groups will then justify why they chose to rewrite the script the way they did. What led them to use the words they chose? Tone, body language, etc.?
- Students will then be shown the lyrics to Alanis Morissette’s “Isn’t It Ironic?”
- Students will then work in small groups of two or three to determine why the lyrics in Morissette’s song are not ironic and come up with possible substitutes for what would make them correctly ironic.
Primary Learning Outcome: Students will have mastered the correct use of irony and the a bility to construct appropriate commentary based on tone, body language, previous knowledge of a situation, etc.
Assessed GPSs:
- ELA9RL1
- ELA9RC4
Adapted from the Georgia Standards Lesson Plan Format at http://www.georgiastandards.org/
“Ironic” by Alanis Morissette
An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It’s a black fly in your Chardonnay
It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late
And isn’t it ironic… don’t you think It’s like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take
Who would’ve thought… it figuresMr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
“Well isn’t this nice…”
And isn’t it ironic… don’t you think
It’s like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take
Who would’ve thought… it figures
Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything’s okay and everything’s going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything’s gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face
A traffic jam when you’re already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It’s meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn’t it ironic…don’t you think
A little too ironic…and, yeah, I really do think…
It’s like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take
Who would’ve thought… it figures
Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out
