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Recently, there has been much backlash after Hostess, the company that makes twinkies, has discontinued them. To many Americans, Twinkies have been a staple throughout their entire life, and the thought of their childhood favorite no longer being available is, well, unthinkable. In this cartoon, artist Nick Anderson argues that there are way bigger problems than the death of the Twinkie, and that people should stop focusing their energy on trivial causes.
Parallelism helps Anderson to create his argument because it shows the difference between support of the two causes in this picture. On the left, there are two lone people holding a small “Save the Earth” sign. To the right of them, there is a mob with a huge banner reading: “Save the Twinkie.” The difference in support for the two causes are highlighted by the layout of this picture and the parallelism between the signs which differ only by one word. This helps to show the reader how ridiculous the amount of support for the Twinkie is compared with the cause that is beneficial to society.
Parallelism helps to bring forth the argument in a very prominent way, but the background colors and setting are more subtle devices that Anderson uses. In the cartoon, the setting is nowhere distinguishable. The ground is grey, and the sky in the background, is a blue-pink haze. This creates the feeling that the woman’s “Save the Earth” sign is targeting pollution. The simplicity of the background also works to draw the reader in to the central argument made without distractions. Thus, the argument is subtly clarified and the focus is drawn to the main image in the picture.
Anderson is able to make the argument that the hysteria surrounding the Twinkie dissemination is ridiculous through parallelism and a minimalist background. Thus, the reader is left feeling almost ashamed to be a part of a society that holds Twinkies in higher importance than the planet they live on.
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