Political Cartoons

A Political Cartoon is… an editorial using pictures rather than words to express the author’s opinions usually related to a current event or issue a way of expressing one’s feelings about politics or government policies using humor and art

Steps for interpreting a political cartoon: 1. Look for any symbols that hold a specific meaning or stand for something else (ex.: donkeys=democrats and elephants = republicans in the U.S.) 2. Try to figure out what current or historical issue the cartoon relates to based on the picture shown 3. Decide upon the author/artist’s intended meaning.

The first printed political cartoon Picture by Ben Franklin Snake is a symbol… Refers to the colonies needing to unite in order to be powerful

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Your next task… TODAY, let’s practice. Choose a current world issue/event and create your own cartoon that depicts it. Remember that it must show symbolism, point of view, and I must be able to clearly tell which event it relates to! Your political cartoon must be hand-drawn. Make a rough draft on notebook paper. See me for white paper when you are ready to make your final. Use black pen or black color pencil. Complete for homework – due tomorrow!

Due Next Class… Political Cartoon complete… Bring in political cartoon examples from newspapers or magazines or internet news sites for a positive