Follow this LINK to go to the website we looked at in class today. (I figured out how to make websites bigger when I want to show you details in the future!) You can practice with some of the other examples by clicking the 'Test Yourself' Link. Bring in at least one cartoon next week and we'll look at them together (we'll pair up in groups). Your presentations will begin in two weeks.
Don't bring your favorite - you don't want to use it up before your project!
Remember when you tell what your Political Cartoon is about and describe what it means I'm only holding you accountable for these techniques:
- Symbolism
- Labeling
- Exaggeration
If you want to on your own you can go further and talk about Analogies and Irony, but it isn't required. As a quick review of these techniques take a look at the following cartoon (Please know that I'm new at this, too. I'm learning right along with you - and you may have better interpretations than me!):
Labeling: (this is the easy one!)
The ship is 'Big Government', the cargo of the ship has many labels - these all were associated with causes for the current recession, the children have yokes around their necks so that you know who they are 'Future Taxpayers'.
Exaggeration:
The ship is not really out of proportion to the size of the children - ships are large, but when you juxtapose the two together it makes the size of the ship seem larger (or the children seem smaller). Can you see that? Is it really possible for children to pull a ship?
Symbolism: (this is the the hardest one that I am asking you to work with)
The ship labeled 'Big Government' combined with all of the cargo and did you notice President Obama hanging over the bow, yelling? Together these symbolize Obama's fiscal policy (his government spending). Things like TARP and stimulus money and bailouts that he's trying to use to get the economy moving.
The children are wearing yokes. Yokes are used on work animals like horses or oxen to pull things. The yokes symbolize the tax burden that Obama's fiscal policies are placing on future generations. (That's you guys in case you were wondering!)
My final Analysis: President Obama's fiscal policies to get us out of the recession have increased the size of government and placed an impossible tax burden on future generations. This is what the cartoonist is saying. Once you understand him or her you can then agree or disagree!
(If you want to talk a bit about irony - notice that the ship is not in an ocean - it's in a desert!)
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