Political Cartoon

 

This is the political cartoon that Kai and I drew, and it is based on the “cures” that Donald Trump found for COVID-19.  The two sides that this cartoon conveys are:

  1. Trump continues to provide protection and safety to the people of the USA, and he also keeps reassuring the residents of the USA in order to prevent panic
  2. Trump takes advantage of the blind trust that the residents of the USA have in him, therefore conveying false information to them in order to get more power and money

What have I learned about creating meaning through the interaction of visual and lexical elements?

From this task that we did, I learnt that we can create a lot of meaning by paying close attention to both the small details of a cartoon and the wider picture. It is not necessary for a political cartoon to have words in order to convey meaning since the alignment of the subjects in the cartoon, the colours used in the cartoon, the art style used in the cartoon, and the other details of the cartoon will be enough to convey a universal theme.

How are ideas communicated through the interaction of visual and lexical elements?

Ideas can be communicated through the alignment of the subjects in the political cartoon, or the colour used in the political cartoon, hence it is not necessary for it to have many lexical elements. However, cartoonist often uses labelling (when objects in the cartoon are labelled) to make it clear to the viewer what these objects stand for. Symbolism is also often used in political cartoons and these symbols usually stand for larger concepts and ideas. Through these elements – along with irony, exaggeration, and analogy – cartoonists convey their ideas and opinions in their political cartoon.

What are the similarities and differences between an opinion article and a political cartoon?

In both an opinion article and a political cartoon, the author/cartoonist shares their opinions on a controversial political issue, they both also convey both sides of the political issue and through their work, persuade the audience towards the author/cartoonist’s point of view. However, opinion articles are serious and straight to the point, but on the other hand, political cartoons often include humour in them through the form of irony or exaggeration. Political cartoons are also not straight to the point, unlike opinion articles, political cartoons need to be thoroughly analysed in order to fully understand what point of view the artist is trying to convey.

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