“The Onion has it all”

1. Satire and “The Onion has it all”

2. Introduction • Very successful website, newspaper • Quintessential satire resource • Focuses on world events as well as imaginary • Questions everything • Familiar News Format

3. History • History • Founded in 1988 • Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson • Creation of website in 1996 • Wm. Nels Johnson • Alternate History • Began in mid 18th century • Herman Ulysses Zweibel • “Tu Stultus Es”

4. Parody

5. Invective “You Know What’s Stupid? Everything I Don’t Understand” by Steven Bowman • Target: those who fear change, difference, or the unknown • Tone: Harsh “It's gotten to the point where I can't walk down the street without having some flier thrust into my face, advertising some dumb concert or… any number of other events that no sane person with a crippling fear of the unknown and a wildly underdeveloped imagination would ever want to go to. … I imagine the scores of people who attend them must be total idiots.” - Bowman

6. Reductio Ad Absurdum I Can't I Imagine Why Anybody Would Want To Stop Crying BY EMMET HENSON2-MONTH-OLDAPRIL 9, 2008 | ISSUE 44•15 Satiric Target: Crying babies Satiric technique: Reductio Ad Absurdum, with contrast and irony Tone: Very gentle, light

7. Reductio Ad Absurdum I Can't I Imagine Why Anybody Would Want To Stop Crying • “screaming like a maniac until your voice cracks with the strain... is what life’s all about.” • “ingestion and evacuation”, “ bizarre series of coded grunts”, “undifferentiated distress signal”, “nigh-unendurable intensity”, and “earsplitting shrillness.” • “purist” and “Comprehending spatial relations,” • “God, I hope I never become like them.”

8. Reductio Ad Absurdum I Can't I Imagine Why Anybody Would Want To Stop Crying

9. Incongruity These Tropical-Colored Braces Are Going To Get You So Much Ass BY DR. JOE GRIMALDIORTHODONTISTMARCH 26, 2008 | ISSUE 44•13 Target: Society’s overzealous attempt to bolster kids’ self-esteem. Satiric Technique: Incongruity, with understatement and exaggeration. Tone: Less gentle than most “Onion” opinion pieces, but not really harsh. More thought-provoking.

10. Incongruity These Tropical-Colored Braces Are Going To Get You So Much Ass • “poontang”, “pussy-magnet retainer”, “eyeball-deep in tail”, “swimming in pussy”, and “all-night-sex-fests”. • “get ready for some hot, all-night-long action”, because he’ll “get [his] noodle wet”, get “extreme amounts of ass”, and “have to beat them off with a stick. your stick” • “flossing after every meal and the occasional mouth sore” • “you remember to brush after every meal and avoid peanut butter and really hard pretzels.” • “tomorrow morning you are going to wake up and your teeth are going to be in so much pain that you'll have to drink your meals for at least three days. But is that really going to matter if you're lying next to one, two, or even 12 gorgeous women? Hell, with the extreme amounts of ass you'll be getting in the next seven years, what's the point of even keeping track?”

11. Contrast

12. Paradox In The Know: How Can We Make The War In Iraq More Eco-Friendly?

13. Epigram

14. Caricature

15. Caricature

16. Caricature

17. Disparaging Comparison

18. Disparaging Comparison

19. Pastiche GEICO Saves 15 Percent Or More By Discontinuing Advertising News in BriefJanuary 26, 2005 | Issue 41•04 Target: GEICO and their popular, yet polarizing commercials Satiric Technique: Pastiche, with dramatic irony Tone: Very mild

20. Pastiche GEICO Saves 15 Percent Or More By Discontinuing Advertising Norm: • The essay is conveying the opinion that the GEICO marketing campaign has made consumers highly aware of the company, but the name recognition comes at the price of being tagged in a negative light due to the repetitive and sometimes annoying nature of their commercials.

21. Understatement There Is So Much Controversy These Days Adrienne Butler September 30, 1997 | Issue 32•09 Target: The media and its ability to make trivial topics seem sensationally controversial Satiric Technique: Understatement Tone: Very mild

22. Understatement There Is So Much Controversy These Days Norm: • Many people believe that America sees itself as a place with a high moral fiber. The media preys on its viewers with this notion and conjures up ethical controversies that may seem trivial when looked at objectively.

23. Exaggeration Mathematics to Retire Favre’s Number News in BriefMARCH 27, 2008 | Issue 44•13 Target: Brett Favre and people who honor him too highly Satiric Technique: Exagerration, with parody Tone: Light in its mockery of the praise Brett Favre receives. It doesn’t attack his character and mention the bad things he has done in his life

24. Exaggeration Mathematics to Retire Favre’s Number Norm: • The essay is arguing the position that Brett Favre is honored by the media and many fans in an excessive manner • Several people argue that he is a white athlete that the biased white media openly and embarrassingly fawns over because of his “work ethic” and “love for the game” when it’s really because he is white and relatable to most media members and Americans that watch football.

25. Verbal Irony Statshot December 13, 2006 | Issue 42•50 Satiric Target: Marketing Slogans Satiric technique: Verbal irony, and parody Tone: Gentle

26. Dramatic Irony FDA Approves Sale Of Prescription Placebo September 17, 2003 | Issue 39•36 Satiric Target: Prescription drug industry FDA Satiric technique: Dramatic irony Tone: Gentile "For years, scientists have been aware of the effectiveness of placebo in treating a surprisingly wide range of conditions," “Studies show placebo to be effective in the treatment of many ailments and disorders, ranging from lower-back pain to erectile dysfunction to nausea." "It was time to provide doctors with this often highly effective option."

27. Situational Irony China Celebrates Its Status As World’s Number One Air Polluter Satiric Target: China Satiric technique: Situational irony Tone: Moderate China Celebrates

28. “the Onion has it all”