Political+Cartoons

﻿ Modern American political cartoons have been around since the nineteenth century. The increase in newspaper and magazine circulation in the 1800's provided a rich environment for the rise and use of political cartoons. Thomas Nast and Joseph Keppler penned many popular cartoons advocating social reform. People with minimal reading abilities could understand and relate to a format that communicated powerful ideas in a humorous, enlightened manner. Symbols, caricature, drawings, and exaggerations drawn by the cartoonist, point out the themes and problems of that historical era. Political cartoons play an important part in telling the history of a era.

Political cartoons serve to make people think about political and government issues by:
 * providing readers with additional viewpoints
 * assuming the reader has enough background knowledge about the issues to understand the message
 * emphasizing one side of an issue or concern
 * utilizing humor
 * relying on drawings to make a point

Cartoonists use the following persuasive techniques to create humor:

**symbolism** - using an object to stand for an idea.
 * caricature** - exaggerating a physical feature or habit: big nose, bushy eyebrows, large ears, baldness.
 * captioning and labels** - used for clarity and emphasis.
 * analogy** - a comparison between two unlike things that share some characteristics.
 * irony** - the difference between the way things are and the way things should be or the way things are expected to be.
 * juxtaposition** - positioning people or objects near each other, side-by-side.
 * exaggeration** - overstating or magnifying a problem.

Symbols used in Political Cartoons

**peace** - dove, olive branch, victory sign.
 * United States** - Uncle Sam, flag, stars and stripes, shield.
 * Democrats -** donkey.
 * Republicans** - elephant.
 * death** - vulture, skeleton with shroud, skull and crossbones, grim reaper.
 * love -** heart, Cupid, Venus.
 * money** - dollar bill or dollar sign.
 * heroes or good guys** - wear white.
 * villains or bad guys -** wear black.

Steps in Analyzing a Political Cartoon
 * 1) Identify the characters, symbols and objects in the cartoon.
 * 2) Look for clues and details that would given further meaning.
 * 3) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Identify the main idea of the cartoon by reading the captions and putting the message into their own words.
 * 4) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Identify any bias the cartoonist might have.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Suggested Questions: <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[] <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Rachel Walker <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">October 7th <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[] Martha Powell <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[] Martha Powell @http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/91816/ Eric P. 10/19
 * 1) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What is the event or issue that inspired the cartoons?
 * 2) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What background knowledge do you need to understand the message?
 * 3) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Are there any real people in the cartoon?
 * 4) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Did the artist use caricatures?
 * 5) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Are these symbols in the cartoons?
 * 6) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What is the cartoonist's opinion about the topic portrayed?
 * 7) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Does the caption help you understand the message?
 * 8) <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Do you agree or disagree with the cartoonists option? Why?