With our exploration of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” video, we used rhetorical analysis tools to evaluate an alternative type of “text.” Perhaps the most common “text” I would like to evaluate this year, other than the traditional prose text, will be the image, illustration, photograph, etc. We must become proficient at “image analysis.” On the first day of class, we saw how detailed a single image can be. Now, I would us like to look at another image, perhaps one more common in our every-day lives. We will not only analyze the content of the image, as we did on the first day of class, but we will also analyze the image’s rhetorical intent. What argument does the speaker make and how does he/she make it?
We will do this several times before the end of the year. We will conduct rhetorical analyses of various visual texts, like paintings, advertisements, and photographs. This week, I would like to look at political cartoons.
Conducting a simple internet search, you should find a contemporary – preferably within the last month – political cartoon. Using roughly 350-400 words, conduct a rhetorical analysis of this cartoon. You do not need to reference the rhetorical triangle, SOAPStone, or SOLIDDDD explicitly, but you should always be conscious of how the content and style contributes to the rhetoric. You should include the actual cartoon in your online journal entry, with some type of citation indicating the source. Do not simply include a link. I hope that we will all be able to see each others' cartoons. I have included a Barry Blitt cartoon from Sunday's New York Times. Use this format as a model for your post. Add the image to the upper left-hand corner of your post. You can explain the source in your response.
NOTE: Do not choose a political cartoon, unless you can identify its source. Ideally, you will choose a cartoon that has appeared in some reputable periodical, or some other nationally identifiable source. I would rather you not find cartoons drawn by hack illustrators looking to publish their art. I understand the paradox of searching for “reputable” sources; political cartoons are controversial in nature. Please just do your best to find one that will not be blatantly offensive to anyone in our class.
We will do this several times before the end of the year. We will conduct rhetorical analyses of various visual texts, like paintings, advertisements, and photographs. This week, I would like to look at political cartoons.
Conducting a simple internet search, you should find a contemporary – preferably within the last month – political cartoon. Using roughly 350-400 words, conduct a rhetorical analysis of this cartoon. You do not need to reference the rhetorical triangle, SOAPStone, or SOLIDDDD explicitly, but you should always be conscious of how the content and style contributes to the rhetoric. You should include the actual cartoon in your online journal entry, with some type of citation indicating the source. Do not simply include a link. I hope that we will all be able to see each others' cartoons. I have included a Barry Blitt cartoon from Sunday's New York Times. Use this format as a model for your post. Add the image to the upper left-hand corner of your post. You can explain the source in your response.
NOTE: Do not choose a political cartoon, unless you can identify its source. Ideally, you will choose a cartoon that has appeared in some reputable periodical, or some other nationally identifiable source. I would rather you not find cartoons drawn by hack illustrators looking to publish their art. I understand the paradox of searching for “reputable” sources; political cartoons are controversial in nature. Please just do your best to find one that will not be blatantly offensive to anyone in our class.
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