Editorial Cartoons

1. Editorial Cartoons Practice for your own interpretations.

2. Cagle, Daryl. “Synchronized Campaign Swimming.” The Cagle Post. Cagle Cartoons, Inc. 12 August 2012. Web. 12 August 2012.

3. Weyant, Chris.The Hill. Capital Hill Publishing Corp. 12 August 2012. Web. 12 August 2012.

4. Danziger, Jeff.”The Future.” Danziger Cartoons. New York Times Syndicate. 21 July 2012. Web. 12 August 2012.

5. Editorial Cartoon Analysis 1. What is the event or issue that inspired the cartoon? 2. Are there any real people or places in the cartoon? If not, what images are portrayed in the cartoon? 3. Identify the specific artistic techniques used in the cartoon (i.e. symbolism, analogy, exaggeration, labeling and irony). What is the artist trying to show the reader by using these techniques? 4. What is the cartoonist’s point of view about the topic portrayed in the cartoon? Give examples to support your interpretation. 5. Is this cartoon persuasive? Explain why or why not. 6. What other techniques could the artist have used to make this cartoon more persuasive?

6. Editorial Cartoon Analysis 1. What is the event or issue that inspired the cartoon? 2. Are there any real people or places in the cartoon? If not, what images are portrayed in the cartoon? 3. Identify the specific artistic techniques used in the cartoon (i.e. symbolism, analogy, exaggeration, labeling and irony). What is the artist trying to show the reader by using these techniques? 4. What is the cartoonist’s point of view about the topic portrayed in the cartoon? Give examples to support your interpretation. 5. Is this cartoon persuasive? Explain why or why not. 6. What other techniques could the artist have used to make this cartoon more persuasive?

7. Donkey and Elephant • "On January 19, 1870, a political cartoon by Thomas Nast appearing in Harper's Weekly titled "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" for the first time symbolized the Democratic Party as a donkey. Since then, the donkey has been widely used as a symbol of the Party.""The official symbol of the Republican Party is the elephant. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast, published in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874, is considered the first important use of the symbol [1]. In the early 20th century, the traditional symbol of the Republican Party in Midwestern states such as Indiana and Ohio was the eagle, as opposed to the Democratic rooster. This symbol still appears on Indiana ballots."

9. Explanation Cartoonist Nash created the drawing above on this date in 1870 depicting the “Copperhead” Democrats, or southern Democrats as the donkey kicking the dead lion, Stanton (President Lincoln’s Secretary of War). The eagle on top depicts the Federal dominion over the South….it was still Reconstruction.  But, Nast was not the first to use the donkey to symbolize the Democratic Party.  It’s origins actually go back to the time of President Andrew Jackson, whose detractors referred to him as “jackass” for his sloganeering and populist platform.

11. Explanation The New York Herald newspaper vigorously opposed a third term for President Grant, so Nast created a cartoon with a Donkey in a lion’s skin (labeled Caesarism) chasing away other small animals. Those animals were labeled as with other newspaper’s names. Going nuts in the picture is an elephant labeled “Republican Vote” and he’s perched over a deep gorge labeled as “chaos”.  Nast was not happy with what he perceived to be the Republican Party’s fear of charges that Grant was trying to become a tyrant, or another Caesar.