Most people think of a cake as a yummy treat at any special occasion, but there is so

much more to cakes than just their deliciousness such as their distinctiveness and their physical
and symbolic place in the world. The cake that we will look at is a retirement cake for a teacher
by the name Annette and this is hinted by the classroom supplies decorations and Annette’s
name on the cake. The base of the whole cake is plain white fondant and the supplies décor are
bright and colorful. It is a two tier round cake with plain white surfaces. (“Happy Retirement
Annette”) One element I would like to go over include the choice of decorations displayed on the
cake and the emotions it evokes. The second part will include insight of the cake as a whole and
its role in this professional setting. Next there is the specific letters on the cake which can be
reason that hints us to what level of education this retiring teacher was teaching. Also, we will
look into the fallacy in the cake which can be a weakness in its presentation. Based on the above,
we will see that the cake is in celebration a rather bittersweet event as Annette is wished well as
she retires, but maybe there are people who may not necessarily share those thoughts or wish her
the best future thereafter.

The classroom supplies on the cake are symbolic through its colorful, bright, and fun
features; all which can indicate a warm, welcoming environment and evoke emotions of
happiness and security. A classroom (signified) should have supplies (signifier) and feel like a
safe space for all students and teacher. The cake with its colors and its chalkboard with the
written message “Happy Retirement Annette” (signifier) for the most part can be assumed that
the audience are other teachers and school staff who feel sad to see Annette go, but at the same
time they may feel happy to have worked with her and are happy that she is going into retirement
(signified). Annette might have been a person that the school like working with. The message
seems transparent and straightforward. It is a norm for cakes to be presented as a gift for any
special occasion and without it the feelings that were evoked by it may not have been there if the
cake was not presented to Annette by both Annette and the audience. The authors of “The World
is a Text,” Jonathan Silverman and Dean Rader, claim “The important thing to realize, however,
is that our culture has come to a common understanding that a number of random signs and
symbols—a cross, a red octagon, a round green light, a stick figure with the outline of a skirt—
stand in for or symbolize specific concepts” which supports the above statements (page 13). The
cake definitely presents pathos through the color scheme and its choice of decoration.

The cake as a whole being present is a bit debatable in a professional setting, but at the
same time I sense that if Annette maintained a professional and good relationship with her co-
workers this is the reason the cake was made for her in the first place. When professional
relationships are well kept especially for a long term it may seem appropriate to get a cake or gift
for the person who is leaving. This would go to maybe show that Annette preserved her job and
her professional relationships which can be reason enough to support that Annette was ethical in
her teaching profession throughout the years. Silverman and Rader state “We “read between the
lines.” To read between the lines, both in literature and a conversation, means that we read not
only what is there but also what’s not there” (page 17). Who ever got the cake to celebrate
Annette’s retirement we should question why they got the cake? Was Annette someone
particularly special for them to go out of their way to get the cake? The speaker in my opinion is
addressing ethical values in a professional setting. It is important that people can work together
in a healthy work environment by following rules and guidelines to maintain the workplace a
welcoming place for all that work there. It is ethics that keeps society in order. It is a know fact
that ethics helps our society keep order and a gift such as a cake can remind us of that.

The letters “A”, “B”, and “C” on a teacher’s retirement cake hint us that Annette was
teaching at the elementary school level. At the elementary level is when children are learning the
basics for their later studies. We can assume that Annette’s students are young children. The
cake is a representation of a teacher teaching at an elementary school level. According to author
of “Critical Theory Today,” Lois Tyson, “Despite the very different ritual forms in which
different cultures express important aspects of community life, it seems that all human cultures
have some codified process of, for example, mate selection, kinship ties, and initiation into
adulthood (page 203).” The logic is that the decorations of the cake are key in identifying what is
exactly the job Annette is retiring from. And the cake has the elements of a school setting, more
specifically and elementary school setting. Annette’s role as a teacher is key in society and the
cake serves as a reminder that teachers shape the people of tomorrow and that Annette is an
important person because of her influence.

As far as the fallacy presented on this cake, I think it is the appeal to the bandwagon
fallacy. According to Ali Almossawi, author of, “An Illustrated Books About Arguments,” this
fallacy is “known as the appeal to the people, such an argument uses the fact that a sizable
number of people, or perhaps even a majority, believe in something as evidence that it must
therefore be true” (page 40). Going back to the emotions that the cake evoked maybe not
everyone was sad by Annette’s departure from work and going into retirement. Some people
might be happy to see Annette go because maybe they did not get along. Not everyone might
agree that Annette is an ideal employee or co-worker. Just because there are people genuinely
wishing Annette well on her retirement does not mean that she got along with everyone or maybe
some people were not invited. The major might only have good things to say about Annette but
someone else or group of others might not think so highly of Annette and they are celebrating
that fact that Annette is leaving instead for other reasons.

I agree that there is more to a cake than its layers, tiers, and delicious frosting or fondant.
Silverman and Rader made a good point earlier that reading between the lines to find out more is
just as important to consider when looking at a cake. Cakes, in North America for example, are
expected at any special, good occasion. We can learn so much about the speaker, the audience
being targeted, and the recipient of the cake. Cake is a big influence today with just its presence
in a room. Cakes can be used to communicate a deeper message or there could be more than one
significance to a cake. Just because cakes are present during times of good and happy events
what is stopping anyone, maybe from a different culture, from bring a cake to a funeral. It is very
important to know that effects cake and its presentation are like beforehand because it can be
misinterpreted and can hurt feelings or send out the wrong message. Cakes can make or break
any event.