Literary Devices

Mock Epic: a satirical work using the lofty style of the epic in relation to a trivial event or object.
Example: Alexander Pope's "The Rape of the Lock". This deals with the cutting of a lock of hair: a commonplace and indeed inconsequential event. The poem is a mock epic because it compares a petty squabble to the epic world of the gods. This poem mocks the traditions of classic epics, parodies them with examples such as the rape of Helen of Troy becoming the theft of a lock of hair, gods are reduced to nothing but sylphs, and Achilles' shield is compared to a petticoat.

Rhetorical Irony: this type of irony is essentially the same as verbal irony: an irony so straitforward and obvious that it need not be pointed out. It means that the speaker says something contrary to the beliefs of him/herself or the beliefs of the author. Simply: sarcasm.
Example: the opening sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is an excelent example of rhetorical irony. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." This supposed 'universally acknowledged truth' is actually a made up fiction by single women (and their families) whose goal is to possess a man such as the one described. These women could care less whether the man himself actually wants a marriage.