Reading Political Cartoons

1. Reading Political Cartoons TAH October 2010

2. “Students of history should be given opportunities to read and analyze primary sources, to wrestle with their meanings, and to attempt to interpret them and place them in context.” -From “Using Primary Sources in the Study of History” History Social –Science Framework for California Public Schools, Appendix F

3. Why Political Cartoons? Political cartoons are vivid primary sources that offer: Insights into the public mood Underlying cultural assumptions of an age Attitudes toward key events or trends of the times.

4. Political Cartoons: The need for explicit teaching Studies reveal that substantial percentages of adults fail to understand the political cartoons in their daily newspaper Cartoons from the 1700s and 1800s often employ archaic language, elaborate dialogue, and obscure visual references It takes a good deal of knowledge of the precise historical context to grasp such cartoons.

5. Political Cartoons: The need for explicit teaching In addition to developing schema by building historical context, you need to explicitly teach the persuasive elements used in political cartoons

6. The persuasive elements employed in Political Cartoons Symbolism Objects or Symbols that stand for larger concepts or ideas

7. The persuasive elements employed in Political Cartoons Exaggeration Sometimes cartoonists overdo, or exaggerate, the physical characteristics of people or things in order to make a point.

8. The persuasive elements employed in Political Cartoons Labeling Cartoonists often label objects or people to make it clear exactly what they stand for.

9. The persuasive elements employed in Political Cartoons Analogy By comparing complex issues or situations, cartoonists can help their readers see them in a different light.

10. The persuasive elements employed in Political Cartoons Irony Irony is the difference between the ways things are and the way things should be, or the way things are expected to be. Cartoonists often use irony to express their opinion on an issue.

11. Steps in Analyzing a Political Cartoon Identify the characters, symbols and objects in the cartoon Describe the actions taking place in the cartoon Identify the event or issue that inspired the cartoon Explain the message of the cartoon