Lesson 14 — Activity 1: Editorial Cartoons

We might often think of the media as verbal communication — written or spoken communication — but media includes visual communication as well.

The cliché, "A picture is worth a thousand words," summarizes how powerful visual communication can be for viewers. Learning more about the techniques advertisers use can help us understand how advertising companies express ideas through the visual media.

Image courtesy of wwwpixabay.com

One specialized type of visual communication common in newspapers and magazines is the editorial cartoon. We are all familiar with cartoons or comic strips found in the middle of the newspaper. An editorial cartoon — sometimes called a political cartoon — is a bit different than a comic strip in that there is usually only one illustration, and the characters change from day to day depending on current events within the news.

Editorials are articles that express opinions or points of view. Editorial cartoons do the same thing but use illustrations to express a point of view. Editorial cartoonists use a variety of techniques to express opinions about current events (often related to politics).

We can discover the idea a cartoonist is trying to express by looking at some of the elements of the cartoon:

Who or what do we recognize in the cartoon? What do we know about that person or place that is currently in the news?

Are there any symbols used in the cartoon?

What features of the illustration are especially exaggerated by the artist?

Are there any words or labels in the illustration to give us hints about the cartoonist's point of view?

Can we see examples of irony in the cartoon?

Is there a comparison being made between two different ideas?

If we can answer some of these questions about the cartoon, we will have a good idea what the cartoonist's point of view is with regard to the issue. Then, we can ask ourselves whether the cartoonist's communication is persuasive or not: do we agree or disagree with the idea being illustrated?

Digging Deeper!

Click on the Play button below to watch a short video on how to analyze a political cartoon.