Reference no: EM132378567 , Length: word count:1200

Essay - Rhetorical Analysis of a Political Cartoon

Choose a political cartoon from one of the links on the class homepage or from a newspaper or website that you have discovered on your own.

Your introduction should do three things:

• Briefly explain the issue or topic your political cartoon addresses.
• Briefly describe the political cartoon and summarize its main point or claim.
• Briefly introduce the artist. What kinds of cartoons do they typically produce? What is the artist's background and experience?

Your body should analyze the following elements. Each element may be considered in one or more paragraphs as necessary and logical:

• Context and Audience: In what country and in what historical moment was the cartoon produced? In what type of source did it first appear? Journal? Newspaper? Website? Is this source left or right-leaning or somewhere in between?
• Words and Images: What choices of imagery and content does the artist make? Describe colors and shapes. Are the drawings realistic? Are they caricatures? Are words used as well? What is the relationship between words and images? Is the cartoon composed as a single frame or a series of sequential frames? If a sequence, how does it evolve?
• Character and Setting: What components are featured in the cartoon? Objects? Places? People? What are the ethnicity, age, socioeconomic class, and gender of these characters? Do they represent actual people or are they fictional?
• Argument and Tone: What is the cartoon's message about the topic or issue? Is irony used? (In other words, does the cartoon make a ridiculous argument that the artist actually wants the audience to disagree with?) Is the cartoon's tone serious or comedic or both?

Your conclusion should consider the cartoon's rhetorical situation in more depth. Is the cartoon persuasive to its audience (including you)? Why or why not?

Quote or paraphrase (with proper in-text citation) at least one newspaper article to support your analysis. List this article and your political cartoon at the end of your essay under the heading "Works Cited" in correct MLA format. Include a copy of your cartoon within or at the end of your essay.

Creatively title your essay to suggest your view of the political cartoon.