"I Dunno, Give it a Try" (Verbal Irony)
After Principal Vernon tells the detention students to eat their lunches, Andrew and Bender watch in awe as Claire unpacks her sushi. Unfamiliar with what would have been an uncommon cuisine in Illinois in the 1980s, Bender expresses disgust over the raw fish. To get him to stop talking about her lunch, Claire says, "Can I eat?" Bender replies: "I dunno, give it a try." In this instance of verbal irony, Bender pretends to take Claire's question literally, as though he doesn't know whether she will be physically capable of eating her bizarre lunch.
Students Running Through Halls (Dramatic Irony)
Once they get bored with staying in the library detention room, the students follow Bender out to the hallway so he can get a bag of pot from his locker. On their way back to the library, the students hear Vernon walking the same halls. In an instance of dramatic irony, the viewer shares the students' anxiety as they run around the school looking for an alternative route back to the detention room; meanwhile, Vernon wanders the halls, oblivious to the fact he almost runs into the students several times.
Toilet-Seat Protector (Dramatic Irony)
As Bender hides under Claire's desk, Vernon demands to know what was the source of the "ruckus" he heard. After the students refuse to tell him about Bender falling through the ceiling, Vernon announces, "I will not be made a fool of." He then turns to leave the room, unwittingly revealing to the students that there is a toilet-seat protector hanging from the back of his trousers. In this instance of dramatic irony, Vernon is oblivious to the fact he immediately makes a fool of himself before his students.
Brian is Failing Shop (Situational Irony)
In the film's climactic scene, Brian reveals he was given detention because a flare gun went off in his locker. He explains that he had the gun because he was considering suicide after he received a failing grade in shop class. Normally a high-achieving student, Brian believed shop would be an easy A because it is full of dumb students. However, he failed an assignment because his intelligence in subjects like math and physics didn't translate to something as seemingly straightforward as making a functional ceramic lamp. In this instance of situational irony, the class Brian thought would be easy turned out to be his most difficult subject.
