Assignment Task:
Political Cartoon Assignment
Find four editorial/political cartoons from the late 19th century about the perils or challenges of the era - cartoons that target what is making life difficult for many Americans. Your four cartoons should revolve around a specific theme, such as immigration, race, poverty, government, etc. Submit a document with each of your four cartoons depicted and cited (one cartoon per page). Place your citation just below the image. Below the image, list the persuasive techniques you believe the artist used in the cartoon and describe where you see those techniques (see below). Your analysis should have 2-3 robust paragraphs for each cartoon, or more, in which you answer the questions listed at the end of the Guide to Analyzing Political Cartoons. (You do not need to specifically answer each question in the guide, they are simply meant to help you think about your approach to these cartoons)
A political cartoon is a sketch that makes a point about a political issue or event. You can find them in any daily newspaper, but they won't be in the comics section. Instead, look on the editorial pages - they are adjacent to the editorial columns, and across from the opinion essays. You can also find them in newsmagazines and on political Web sites. Political cartoons can be very amusing, especially if you understand the issue that they're commenting on. Their main purpose, though, is not to make you chuckle but, in the end, to persuade you. A good political cartoon makes you reflect on current events, and it also tries to sway your opinion - frequently toward the cartoonist's point of view. The most effective political cartoonist can change your mind on an issue without you even realizing how it was done. For this assignment you can simply Google the phrase "19th century political cartoons," then click on images. You can find additional cartoons by adding various keywords like Chinese Immigration, Boss Tweed, poverty, disease, race, etc. Just play around with various keywords from our module to help you narrow the search.
** Be Sure that your cartoon is from the late 19th/early 20th century.
** You should cite each cartoon on your assignment or provide a link to the website where you found it.