The topic I’m interested in exploring further is the topic of irony vs. sarcasm. I think that this is something that I never really understood myself so it could be a good experience and even fun, to try and distinguish the two. And to further this topic, I would want to also try and answer the question of is irony a kind of ambiguity. Ambiguity is when a word has more than one interpretation or one that has multiple senses that could be applied in the same context. I want to propose that irony and ambiguity are entailed because the way that we use irony is technically by being ambiguous with our words. The only way I can think to get answers to these questions is by looking at definitions, examples, and so on that can tell me what makes these things different from one another. Is it the intention, the context in which it is used, the word choice, or the formation of a phrase in general?
When you look up sarcasm you will find most definitions have the word irony in it. If sarcasm is the use of irony, why are there 2 different distinctions? I will want to dissect irony, sarcasm, and ambiguity and see where all three of these things intertwine.
I think for my research I would want to investigate the details and fine print that exists out there about irony, sarcasm, and ambiguity. If I understand these 3 features thoroughly, the boundaries that exist would definitely become more apparent. I think another interesting feature I can include in this paper is a poll from research that’s already been done and maybe even my own poll on whether people know the difference between irony and sarcasm. The only problems I can see coming up might be finding enough research on it. I know that there are many examples of each of these things but to actually have someone break down what makes something ironic and what makes something sarcastic may be difficult to find. This is a difficult distinction that I’m willing to attempt through my research and this paper.
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