Political CartoonsPolitical Cartoons
What Are Political Cartoons?
• Conveys an opinion about society
• Express someone’s point of view on political, economic, or social issues
• Make use of humor, symbols, historical events, and stereotypes
Common Elements of Political Cartoons
• Caricatures: overemphasis of a person’s features
Common Elements of Political Cartoons
• Captions– Words written in or around the political
cartoon– Can help the reader understand the message,
even if the symbols aren’t familiar.
• Symbols – Images that stand for objects, places, groups
of people, beliefs, character traits, or ideas
Common Symbols…
Scales = Justice
Uncle Sam = United States
Dove or Olive
Branch = Peace
Dollar sign or money
bags = Wealth
Torch = Freedom
Skull or Skull and Crossbones
= Death
Donkey = Democrat
Elephant = Republican
Analyzing Political Cartoons
• Read the title if there is one
• Look for captions and read the captions
• Look for symbols
• Identify people and actions
• Look at the parts first then piece together the meaning
Image 1
Symbol: Democrat
Symbol: Republican
Captions
Subject/Topic
Image 2
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Image 4
Image 5
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Image 7
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