Question: the donner party struggles to survive while the reader knows that more than half will not make it through the ordeal. this is a form of a) verbal irony b) allusion c) metaphor d) dramatic irony

The correct answer is D, dramatic irony.

Dramatic irony occurs when the audience or reader has information the characters themselves do not. In this case, the reader is aware that much of the Donner Party will not survive, even as they fight to do so. This tension is dramatic irony.