Cartoon Editorials

Sometimes called Political Cartoons

Drivers then and now

What are they?

• Graphic expressions of their creator’s ideas and opinions.

• They sometimes reflect the publication’s viewpoint.publication’s viewpoint.

What do we need to

know about them?

• Editorial cartoons are based on current events.

• Have an educational purpose. • Intended to make readers think • Intended to make readers think

about current political issues.

Where we see them

• Editorial cartoons must use a visual and verbal vocabulary that is familiar to readers.

• Editorial cartoons are published in • Editorial cartoons are published in a mass medium, such as a newspaper, news magazine, or the Web.

Impact?

• For printed cartoons, their size at the time of publication and their placement (on the front page, editorial page, or as the editorial page, or as the centerfold) affects their impact on readers. The addition of color may also change how readers respond to them.

Aren’t they Comic

Strips?

• Editorial cartoons differ from comic strips. Editorial cartoons appear on the newspaper’s editorial or front page, not on the comics front page, not on the comics page.

• They do not feature continuing characters in the way that comic strips do.

What tools does

the editorial

cartoonist use to

communicate ideas

cartoonist use to

communicate ideas

and opinions with

readers?

Symbols

• Pictures that represent something else by tradition.

• EXAMPLE: A dove is a symbol for peace.peace.

Caricatures

• Drawings of public figures in which certain physical features are exaggerated.

Stereotypes

• Formulaic images used to represent particular groups.

• EXAMPLE: A stereotypical cartoon mother might have cartoon mother might have messy hair, wear an apron, and hold a screaming baby in her arms.

Analogies

• Comparisons that suggest that one thing is similar to something else.

• EXAMPLE: The title of a popular • EXAMPLE: The title of a popular song or film might be used by a cartoonist to comment on a current political event.

Humour

• Is the power to evoke laughter or to express what is amusing, comical or absurd.

How can an

editorial cartoon

be evaluated?

• A good editorial cartoon combines a clear drawing and good writing.

• Expresses a recognizable point-of-view or opinion. view or opinion.

• Both the words and the pictures must be read together in order to understand the cartoonist’s message.

• Not all editorial cartoons are meant to be funny. Some of the most effective editorial cartoons are not humorous at all.

• Humour is only one tool available to editorial cartoonists.