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Recipient sarcasm

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Sarcasm aimed at the recipient of the poem, conveyed through tone or diction

Detailed Definition
Recipient sarcasm occurs when a poem’s speaker addresses someone with exaggerated praise or feigned respect that the reader recognizes as contemptuous, creating dramatic irony through the gap between surface address and underlying scorn.
Example
Example in poetry:
In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the speaker’s self-deprecation is directed at an imagined listener who likely sees him as insignificant; In “My Last Duchess,” the Duke’s praise of his late wife is laced with sarcasm aimed at his listener (the envoy); In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” the addressee “Daddy” is mocked through exaggerated reverence; In Auden’s “The Unknown Citizen,” the bureaucratic report sarcastically addresses society’s expectations.
Additional Notes
Recipient sarcasm targets the listener with feigned praise or concern; relies on shared knowledge between speaker and audience; common in dramatic monologue and satire.
Also Known As
Listener-directed sarcasm Addressee mockery Targeted irony Irony of address
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