An Age of Irony? Whatever. I earnestly read and sincerely appreciated Christy Wampole's essay "How to Live Without Irony" (Sunday Review, Nov. 18). Afterward I set forth to cultivate this unironic and less cynical attitude in my own life. A few hours later, exhausted and humorless, I wondered if perhaps we live in an ironic age because there is such a lot of absurdity to daily living. I wonder, too, if a measure of irony and a little (not too much) cynicism might even be a healthy response to this absurdity. Maybe a better goal would be to moderate irony, but not to banish it. Then again, maybe a few hours was not a long-enough trial. Christy Wampole provides a well-reasoned analysis of why a life lived ironically is a life devoid of value. But in calling ironic living "the ethos of our age," she overestimates its prevalence. The acute self-consciousness that leads to an ironic shell usually dissipates after early adulthood. Even within that age group, many people do not adopt irony as their primary means of relating to the world. The challenge of establishing a career in an unfriendly economy does not afford such a luxury. Christy Wampole has given voice to one of my gravest concerns as a middle-school English teacher. In a city that is defined by irony, how do I teach my students not only to value but also to seek out and celebrate sincerity? My units of study are not ironic. A Holocaust memoir is not funny. Post-colonial literature does not have a snarky punch line. In fact, I purposefully avoid any detailed study of irony in literature because I worry that my students are already bombarded by disingenuousness outside the classroom. I agree with Ms. Wampole that the cause of much of this irony is our collective addiction to technology. Irony is born of our discomfort with genuinely connecting with one another. We now rely on an intermediary in the form of technology to communicate our ideas. But at what cost? We gain speed, instant gratification and ease. But we lose meaning, kindness and depth of feeling: traits that I hope to teach my students to treasure. Traits that I hope they will fight for. Each of us has an obligation to wax nostalgic about the era of our youth and to bemoan the state of young people today. I get it. But Christy Wampole, where do you live that the only people you interact with under 30 are so odiously disengaged and uninterested? Hipsters even! As a 28-year-old Manhattanite, I can attest that most of my friends work really hard, save and plan for the future, and, yes, even care deeply about the world around us. In the days after Hurricane Sandy, almost all my friends - totally nonironically - volunteered to help those in need. I am still deeply moved by the two college students who showed up from Connecticut to help my great-uncle clean out his flooded home in the Rockaways. So please, cut us some slack. The writer's view on how our current culture uses irony is out of date. Being earnest is the new trend. Millennial voter turnout this year set records. The popular thing now is to be "true." Popular bands like Title Fight, Converge and Defeater ooze sincerity in their lyrics. Every song is about heartache, personal improvement or frustration with the world. If anything, the hallmark for our current youth culture is being too serious. There's no place for looking at yourself and laughing.