Analyze Effects of Dramatic Irony Practice Test
•10 QuestionsRead the passage and answer the question.
Maya balanced the paper bag against her hip as she stepped into the dim kitchen. The storm had knocked the power out, and the only light came from the phone flashlight she held between her teeth. She hummed—too loudly for the quiet house—and kicked the door shut with her heel.
Upstairs, her brother Eli’s video game paused mid-battle. He had heard the back door click, and he had also heard the soft scrape in the pantry when he’d gone for cereal five minutes earlier. That scrape wasn’t the house settling. It was a shoe sliding on tile. Eli had whispered into his phone, “Dad, someone’s in the pantry,” and his father had said, “Stay upstairs. I’m calling the police. Don’t let Maya go downstairs.”
But Maya didn’t know any of that. She set the bag on the counter and called, “Eli? I brought chips! And the salsa you like.” She grinned into the darkness, proud of her peace offering.
From the pantry came a slow, careful breath—so quiet Maya mistook it for the wind. She walked closer anyway, tugging at the pantry handle. “You left it open again,” she said, teasing, as if her brother were hiding for a joke.
What effect does the dramatic irony create in this passage?
Read the passage and answer the question.
Maya balanced the paper bag against her hip as she stepped into the dim kitchen. The storm had knocked the power out, and the only light came from the phone flashlight she held between her teeth. She hummed—too loudly for the quiet house—and kicked the door shut with her heel.
Upstairs, her brother Eli’s video game paused mid-battle. He had heard the back door click, and he had also heard the soft scrape in the pantry when he’d gone for cereal five minutes earlier. That scrape wasn’t the house settling. It was a shoe sliding on tile. Eli had whispered into his phone, “Dad, someone’s in the pantry,” and his father had said, “Stay upstairs. I’m calling the police. Don’t let Maya go downstairs.”
But Maya didn’t know any of that. She set the bag on the counter and called, “Eli? I brought chips! And the salsa you like.” She grinned into the darkness, proud of her peace offering.
From the pantry came a slow, careful breath—so quiet Maya mistook it for the wind. She walked closer anyway, tugging at the pantry handle. “You left it open again,” she said, teasing, as if her brother were hiding for a joke.
What effect does the dramatic irony create in this passage?