“don't sing benna in Sunday school” - (“Girl”)
When the speaker informs the girl: “don’t sing benna in Sunday school” the girl responds: “but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school.” The speaker’s advice is ironic because it is forbidding the girl from something that she does not do. The speaker’s ironic prohibition accentuates the punitive standards that girls withstand while growing up.
“always squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh” - (“Girl”)
The speaker disregards the likelihood of the baker not permitting the girl “ feel the bread.” When the girl articulates her apprehension about squeezing the bread, the speaker responds: “you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?” The speaker’s rejoinder motivates the girl to behave like a slut so that the baker would sanction her to touch bread. The rejoinder is ironic considering that the speaker conditions the girl to avoid being a ‘slut.’
The Irony of the Speaker’s Dream (“In the Night”)
The speaker states, “ In my dream I can hear a baby being born...It’s bleating, the little baby. The baby and I are now walking to a pasture. The baby is eating green grass with its soft and pink lips.” The baby’s bleating is ironic; babies cry, they do not bleat. Also, the baby’s act of consuming grass is ironic because it would deduce that the baby is not human due to the animal-like conducts.
