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March 13, 2018 1:37PM

WEEK 139 ANALYSIS: THE CABBAGE’S “TRAVELER EXPRESSES PRIDE AFTER REALIZING HE WAS
NOT BORN IN A SECOND OR THIRD WORLD COUNTRY”

OVERVIEW:

The Cabbage is a newly launched news company

that publishes dozens of articles each week like its
sister company, The Onion. Therefore upon first
glance, its article format resembles that of The
Onion with a navigation bar leading to its
counterpart websites, a selection of topics, and
the article itself. This format is not by accident, it is
a means to have its monthly readers recognize
immediately the type of news it reports: satires. If
the layout is divergent from The Onion’s, readers
would be required to read the article to know that
The Cabbage is a source for political, social, and
cultural satires. However, if the readers do not
recognize the format, there are other clues that
can lead them to conclude that the articles are
meant to be satirical. According to Brianne Clark
in her ​presentation about satires, some of the
elements of satire include the occasional
implementation of hyperbole, incongruity, and
sarcasm. In this article concerning cultural
discrimination, The Cabbage uses the previous satirical conventions to appeal to those not from a first world country
who understands or have experienced prejudice directed to their culture by exposing the vices and absurdity that exist
in people and society. The appeal is a casual and sarcastic one for the purpose of eliciting humor and addressing the
issue without appearing exceedingly critical or troubled.
ANALYSIS:

This week, the analysis will be on The Cabbage’s “Traveler Expresses Pride After Realizing He Was Not Born In A
Second Or Third World Country”. This article uses devices commonly found in satirical proses, as mentioned above, to
bring about the inescapable prejudice that exists when a person grows intolerant of foreigners, whether they realize it
or not. The sarcasm helps give insight on the issue by creating a parody of the truth and stretching it to the point where
it becomes comedic. Upon deeper examination, the title itself serves to provide a foundation for the rest of the article.
The apparent hyperbole present suggests that the article is not to be taken seriously, but as a small remedy for those
in search of like-mindedness in regards to the topic of prejudice. Also, the title foreshadows the social and cultural
implications of the article based on the traveler’s bias against second and third world countries. With that said, the
purpose of the title is to direct readers to search for the underlying message concerning racial and cultural
discrimination.

After the title, there is an image of a man on a plane looking back and smiling casually. Its nonchalant vibe sets the
article's default mood and tells readers that nothing overly extreme is coming. However, readers are mistaken when
they begin reading. In the first passage, the traveler, John Smith, is recorded to have said, “‘It’s such a wonderful
feeling realizing that I am not a savage’”. The unexpectedness of the comment used in combination of disciplined
commentary makes the article appear methodical yet humorous. The fragment “It’s such a wonderful feeling”
combined with “I am not a savage” is an exaggeration in attempts to lead the article into an informal manifesto
regarding the ‘othering’ of a certain group of people one does not want to be associated with. The immediate turn of
events is used to call attention to the bizarre and foolish viewpoints of the xenophobic. In chapter six of Carl
Thompson’s ​Travel Writing: The New Critical Idiom​, Thompson addresses ‘othering’ as “the processes and strategies
by which one culture depicts another culture as not only different but also inferior to itself.” This idea matches the
article’s depiction of Smith’s radical behavior, suggesting that that article is attempting to expose the issue of
discrimination. Also, the sarcastic tone in which the article is operating under allows it to present the issue as if the
issue is nonexistent. By purposely acting indifferent toward misanthropy, The Cabbage is successfully able to have
readers notice the incongruity of ignorant bias. At the same time, this signals readers to consider becoming more
open-minded to avoid resembling Smith.

Moving further along the article, there are frequent occurrences of the words “stated”, “inquired”, and “according”.
These words are used in articles from The Onion to mimic that of a formal news article and are included in The
Cabbage’s article as a way to conceal its nonsensical content upon first sight. This allows The Cabbage to evoke
humor and entertain readers by treating unusual or unorthodox events as typical and thus letting readers recognize the
article as a satire as opposed to an accurate news report, which would be disastrous. This convention can be seen in
The Onion’s ​“Each Member Of Family On Edge As Vacation Has Gone By Without One Blowout Fight”​, where
“according to reports” and “stated” are prominent when describing the family’s on edge vacation. The seriousness of
the commentary’s tone mixed with the unconventional ideas made the article appear as if the writer played a Mad Libs
story with a friend and said, “I like this”. Likewise, The Cabbage uses the above convention to parallel the style of a
typical Onion article to showcase its ability to follow satirical practices effectively as well as to appeal to the readers’
pathos by its amusing content. Here is an example: “he enjoys striking up conversations with locals and telling them
about how petty their country is“. Breaking the sentence into pieces, the first part before the conjunction and the part
after, the first part sounds normal but the second part is atypical and most of all, unexpected. The ludicrous
combination of ideas induces readers to think about its connotation. However, since the article has established itself as
a social/cultural satire, readers will be incentivized to migrate their thoughts toward cultural and racial problems and
what the article is attempting to illustrate. By insinuating opposing ideas into one sentence, The Cabbage is able to
effectively convey and make notice of the message concerning prejudice administered by those who consider
themselves to be superior and also gain credibility in being knowledgeable on the issue.
Lastly, both in this analysis and in the article, The Cabbage stated, “We thank John Smith for being so impartial”.
Without further ado, this is a final reminder for readers to consider the folly of Smith’s words by making an ironic
statement contradicting all that has happened in the interview. The purpose of this is to nudge readers to consider the
vice of being close-minded and how it is an undesirable trait. Throughout, the use of exaggeration, incongruity, and
sarcasm enables The Cabbage to comically stress to readers the indecency of ‘othering’ foreigners because of their
cultural and/or racial differences.

References

1. Clark, Brianne. “Elements of Satire.” 10 Mar. 2018, Smsd, ​www4.smsd.org/brianneclark/docs/Doc-159720.pptx​.

a. Brianne Clark is a high school teacher at Horizons High School. Her presentation on the elements of
satire showcases the many conventions such as hyperbole, reversal, incongruity, and irony. Because I
needed extra information on what a satire really is, I searched and stumbled upon her PowerPoint
presentation that explains satire nicely. Hence, I used this source to provide accurate information on
satires.

2. “Representing The Other.” Travel Writing, by Carl Thompson, Routledge, Taylor & Francis, 2011, pp. 130–167.

a. Carl Thompson is a Reader in English Literature and Travel Culture at Nottingham Trent University. In
chapter six of his book, he talks about representing the other, with ‘other’ corresponding to a culture other
than one’s own. He addresses the tendency of travelers to compare oneself with the ‘other’ for the
purpose of finding the faults in the other culture and in consequence making oneself feel superior. I’m
inspired to use this source because prejudice against the foreign is noticeable in this society and I wanted
to bring upon the issue. I used this source as evidence to explain that John Smith is ‘othering’ the cultures
he has interacted with.

3. Onion, The. “Each Member Of Family On Edge As Vacation Has Gone By Without One Blowout Fight.” Local,
Local.theonion.com,19 Aug. 2016,​local.theonion.com/each-member-of-family-on-edge-as-vacation-has-
gone-by-w-1819579179​.

a. The Onion is a news satire organization that publishes content on international, national, and local news.
This article is an ironic satire about a family uneased by the lack of meltdowns. The purpose of this is to
expose the conflicts that happen during family vacations when members disagree with each other. I’m
inspired to use this source because the writing style is exactly what I’m looking for as a model for my
project. Therefore, I used this article to talk about the conventions I’ve adapted from and to simply show
that I’ve attempted to mimic its style.

4. Onion, The. “Trump Dismisses Accusers As Women.” Politics, Politics.theonion.com, 12 Dec. 2017,
politics.theonion.com/trump-dismisses-accusers-as-women-1821226091​.

a. As mentioned above, The Onion is a news satire organization that publishes content on international,
national, and local news. This article exaggerates Donald Trump’s radical behavior against women
through the satiric medium. The article acts as if the problem is not a problem, therefore it would serve as
a good model for my project. I did not use this source in my essay, but I’ve included it here to record the
models that have inspired by project.

Ⓒ 2018 Lampoon Theorists