Chapter 4. Thinking Critically: Analysis of a Political Cartoon (Chapter 4)

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Thinking Critically: Analysis of a Political Cartoon

Sylvan Barnet, Hugo Bedau, John O’Hara

Activity Objective: Look at the cartoon. For each Type of Analysis, provide your own answer based on the cartoon.

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Look at the cartoon below. For the given Type of Analysis, provide your own answer based on the cartoon.

Questions to Ask: Who is the artist? Where and when was the cartoon published?

Sample Answer: “This cartoon by Walt Handelsman was originally published in Newsday on September 12, 2009. Handelsman, a Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist, drew this cartoon in response to recent breaches of political decorum.”

Question Your Answer:

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Look at the cartoon below. For the given Type of Analysis, provide your own answer based on the cartoon.

Questions to Ask: What does the cartoon look like?

Sample Answer: “It depicts a group of Washington, D.C., tourists being driven past what the guide calls ‘The Museum of Modern American Political Discourse,’ a building in the shape of a giant toilet.”

Question Your Answer:

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Look at the cartoon below. For the given Type of Analysis, provide your own answer based on the cartoon.

Questions to Ask: How does the cartoon make its point? Is it effective?

Sample Answer: “The toilet as a symbol of the level of political discussion dominates the cartoon, effectively driving home the point that Americans are watching our leaders sink to new lows as they debate the future of our nation. By drawing the toilet on a scale similar to that of familiar monuments in Washington, Handelsman may be pointing out that today’s politicians, rather than being remembered for great achievements like those of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, will instead be remembered for their rudeness and aggression.”

Question Your Answer: