How to Read a Political Cartoon

AP Psychology	Current Events	Resource Room (SETSS)
Period 1	Periods 3 & 5	Period 8
Mr. Ott	Mr. Ott	Mr. Ott

Aim: What is the skill & strategy on how to read a political cartoon?

Do Now: SEL

Lesson Overview:

Item	Approx Time
Do Now	15 Min
Activity	60 Min
Discussion	30 Min

Classwork

Lesson Activity:

Symbolism

Look for widely recognized symbols. Some metaphors are commonly used by political cartoonists. For example:

Country	Symbol	Example
Great Britain/United Kingdom/England	John Bull
	Britainia
	Union Jack Flag
	Lion
China	Dragon
	Chinese Man (Fu Man Chu)
Russia	Bear (Polar or Brown)
	Imperial Czar
Soviet Union	Hammer & Sickle (Communism)
	Communist Flag
USA	Uncle Sam
	Eagle
	Statue of Liberty
	American Flag (Stars & Bars)
France	Sans Coullete
	TriColor Flag
	Eiffel Tower
Japan	Rising Sun Flag
	Mount Fuji
	Torii Gate
	Top Knot/Samurai / Hair Styles	File:Topknot.jpg
Germany (Imperial or Republic)	Kaiser Helmut
Africa	Giraffe

Political Cartoon Analysis - A Step-by-Step Guide

1. Let your eyes "float" over the cartoon. Artists know what will capture the mind's attention first. Allow your mind and your eyes to naturally find the portion of the cartoon that most stands out. Most often, this will be a caricature, which is an exaggeration or distortion of a person or object with the goal of providing a comic effect.

2. Follow the cartoon's natural flow by discovering the interaction with the primary focus (found in step 1). Ask yourself "What is the Action?" If it's a person, whom are they talking to? Where are they standing? If it's an object, what is being done to the object? What is it doing there? Most often, you can look around the immediate vicinity of the primary focus to find what is being described. This is usually an allusion, or an indirect reference to a past or current event that isn't explicitly made clear within the cartoon.

• Following our example above, the it looks like the object is going to roll over something, and might be poised to attack. What would it be attacking?

3. Determine the audience. What section of the population is the publication geared towards, and in what country and locality? A political cartoon will be created with consideration to the experiences and assumptions of the intended audience. For example, a political cartoon in a publication distributed in a strictly conservative town will convey its message in a different way than it would if the audience was a particularly liberal group.

4. Understand the context of the cartoon. More often than not, the political cartoon will be published in context, meaning that it is associated with the main news story of the day. If you are viewing a political cartoon outside of its original publishing source, you will want to be well-read about current and historical events.

5. Look for widely recognized symbols. Some metaphors are commonly used by political cartoonists. See Symbolism Below

6. Look at minor details in the cartoon that will contribute to the humor or the point of the cartoon. Often, words or pictorial symbols will be used to convey minor themes or ideas, but they are found in the background or on the sides of the cartoon

• As in most cases, two heads are better than one. Analyzing political cartoons is a frequent activity in history and social science classes from grade school through university levels. Try talking it out with a friend or classmate since you both probably see different aspects of the cartoon. When all else fails, ask a teacher.
• Many political cartoons appear on the opinion/editorial (op/ed) page of a newspaper. Look around the cartoon at editorials and opinion articles that might provide more context for the cartoon.

• You might also try looking on the front page of the newspaper (or web site) to find the most recent news articles for which the cartoon is made.

• Most older political cartoons are drawn in black-and-white and will not be in color on the Regents exam, so don't expect to see lots of color. Your analysis should be easy to make without it.
• Political cartoons are many times meant to be funny and more often than not, forget about political correctness.They are what is called "satires". If you feel like you might be offended by a political cartoon, don't look at them. Here is a link to a Wikipedia article on what had happened to some political cartoonists & others for printing cartoons people were offended by. Charlie Hebdo Shooting - France (2015)
• Reading political cartoons are sometimes difficult, don't get discouraged, it takes practice. As you accumulate knowledge regarding historic events you will get better at reading a political cartoon.

Special Education Modifications

• Teaching Model: Co-Teaching
• Special Education Teacher will work with All students General Ed and Special Ed.
  • Special Ed Students:
    • Teacher will read-aloud to students when necessary.
    • Teachers will break down assignments into smaller tasks.
    • Teachers will work with students on vocabulary acquisition by breaking down words into prefixes/suffixes and etymology.
    • Teachers will group students according to learning style inventory as a homogeneous group.
    • Teachers will keep students on-task by managing distractions and on-task behavior.
    • Teachers will modify note-taking by modeling notes from PowerPoint to chalkboard/whiteboard.
    • Teachers will differentiate lessons by using; verbal cues for auditory learners, graphic organizers for visual learners, and hands-on cues for tactile learners.