Gloria & Audrey Harchar

You know those cartoons in which the character has to make a really difficult decision? Where on one shoulder sits an Angel who is working hard to convince the character to do the right thing, and on the other shoulder sits the Devil, who is working just as hard to persuade the character to go against what the character knows is right? This is called an ethical dilemma.

Ethical Dilemma: A situation in which a choice must be made between acting on one’s morals and another motivator (like money, fame, etc.).

Do what’s right = Negative outcome, or you won’t get what you really want like you would if you did the wrong thing.

Do what’s wrong = some sort of payoff, or reward which is positive. But is it worth going against your moral fiber, living with the consequences?

Ethical dilemmas are good to use for internal/external conflicts, especially when it’s hard for the reader to decide what is best for the protagonist to do. When writing, you can’t make it easy for your characters; you can’t give an obvious correct choice. Like in one of the Spider Man movies he had to choose between saving his girlfriend, or saving a tram full of people. Of course, he managed to save both–but what if he wasn’t able to? Whatever he chose, the consequences sucked.

Today we’re going to talk about analyzing written media, and we’re going to talk about editorial cartoons.

• Editorial cartoons (aka political) cartoons are a form of print media that uses symbols to convey their message.
• Editorial cartoons are one of the most popular forms of cartoons.

1. Pictures with messages
2. Intended to persuade
3. found in newspapers, magazines and more
4. often regarding politics or current events

Editorial Cartoons–Analysis

Sounds so formal, no? But really there isn’t all that much to it because–

• Without realizing it, you have been analyzing written and visual media for a long time. We are just going to hone up on this and point out the processes involved in your analysis.
• What are the key points to consider when evaluating media?
• Look closely at the images
• Listen closely to the words and how the words sound
• Pay close attention to the methods the media uses to convince their audience to embrace a belief/product
• Analyze the media’s credibility–can you or should you trust this source?
• Be aware of the point of view on the subject. Are they con (against) or pro (for) for the subject discussed? Is the media taking a liberal side or a conservative side?
• Does the artist have something to gain? What’s in it for them if they get people to believe in what’s reflected in their cartoon?

When Analyzing a Cartoon Consider the Following–

• Symbolism: What are the people representing? What are the buildings representing?
• Exaggeration: That might be physical exaggeration like characteristics on a cartoon’s face or elongated arms, or a huge nose, etc. Or it might be exaggeration of a situation–like everybody in town started doing something.
• Labeling: A person wearing a sign. A building being named one thing. Or it can be a metaphorical labeling where Saddam is a turkey and Bush is a pilgrim.
• Analogies: Be aware. Is a certain relationship being compared to other relationships/people? In other words, what comparisons are being drawn by the cartoonist.
• Irony: When the audience knows something that the characters don’t. How does that impact the message?

A Few Last Things To Consider:

• Characterization: Are they portrayed as important, that is, major characters? Or minor characters?
• Non-verbal gestures: Are the drawn characters doing something that portrays the illustrator’s opinion?
• Actions performed/props. Sometimes the character will be wearing something or holding something that carries a lot of weight in terms of the message.
• Characters’ positions–how close they are standing/sitting to each other. Does this give a hint as to what their relationship is or what is going on?
• Caption–something written along the bottom or top of the cartoon that may give another layer of meaning to the message.
• Speech bubbles–what are they saying to each other.

Watching for all of these things you are better prepared to approach these issues. If you aren’t fully aware of what the illustrator is trying to portray, things might still seep into your subconscious and sway you when you don’t want to be swayed. You need to actively read, analyze, be aware, be critiquing and engage in these cartoons.