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Learning Objectives 

Students will: 

• Analyze visual and language clues to determine the meaning of contemporary and historical political cartoons.
• Research and gather information to plan a visual story. 
• Create a political cartoon based on a current event.

Standards Alignment

National Core Arts StandardsNational Core Arts Standards

Common Core State StandardsCommon Core State Standards

Recommended Student Materials

Editable Documents: Before sharing these resources with students, you must first save them to your Google account by opening them, and selecting “Make a copy” from the File menu. Check out Sharing Tips or Instructional Benefits when implementing Google Docs and Google Slides with students.

Websites

Teacher Background

Teachers share articles or a list of media resources that are appropriate for their class in order to read current events. Teachers will need to find a variety of political cartoons, preferably displaying opposing sides of an issue. Carefully review each cartoon prior to sharing them with students. Optional articles to discuss include: , , and .

Student Prerequisites 

Students should have familiarity with current events and strategies for analyzing and interpreting events.

Accessibility Notes

Modify handouts, text, and utilize assistive technologies as needed. Allow extra time for task completion.

Engage

1. Display a variety of cartoons about a current event that the students are familiar with as an introduction. Be sure that the cartoons represent opposing positions about the same topic. Explain to the students that political cartoons are biased because they represent the artist’s point of view, as does an editorial. They are intended to be controversial and characterized in nature. Their meaning is conveyed by both visual and verbal clues.

2. Read the following quote to the class: “A cartoonist is a writer and artist, philosopher, and punster, cynic and community conscience. He seldom tells a joke and often tells the truth, which is funnier. In addition, the cartoonist is more than an asocial critic who tries to amuse, infuriate, or educate. He is also, unconsciously, a reporter and historian. Cartoons of the past leave records of their times that reveal how people lived, what they thought, how they dressed and acted, what their amusements and prejudices were, and what the issues of the day were.” (Ruff and Nelson, p. 75.)

3. Tell students that they are going to analyze political cartoons and create one of their own based on a current event. Have students create a variety of political cartoons displaying contrasting viewpoints. Share the following websites with students: , , , , and . 

Build

1. Distribute and review the resource, . Discuss with students some of the elements present in the cartoons: caption, caricature, symbolism, the proportional size of objects and people, and personification. Help students identify the personalities in the cartoons you have displayed and ask them what issue or event they think the cartoon is about. Ask the students what details they used to make an inference.

2. Divide students into small groups. Distribute a political cartoon to each group and ask them to identify the elements and context of the cartoon. Students can utilize the following, Read, Write, Think resource to assist with the research and planning of their drawing: . Teachers should encourage the class to brainstorm ideas to evoke different responses. Divergent answers should be accepted. Interpretation must be open-ended.

3. Have each group summarize their political cartoon analysis. The rest of the class should have an opportunity to weigh in about whether or not they agree with the group’s analysis of the cartoon.

Apply

1. Introduce print and web new resources with students to identify political topics. , , are examples of media organizations that share current events. 

2. Have students create their own political cartoon depicting their opinion about a current issue. Review the resource with students and discuss examples of each criterion. Allow time for students to create their political cartoon.  

Reflect

1. Have students share their political cartoon with the class, briefly describing the issue involved and key elements used during the cartoon-making process.

2. Assess the students’ knowledge of drawing political cartoons with the .

Extend

1. Have students read by , one cartoonist’s take on the role played by political cartoons. Ask students: Why would Lucy, the character from Peanuts, have made a good cartoonist according to Block? What does Block mean when he says that the political cartoon is a means for “puncturing pomposity?” How do political cartoonists help “the good guys?” How do political cartoonists’ relationships with their newspapers differ? What does Block say about the “fairness” of political cartoons? What different opinions about this are held?

2. Analyze the differences between cartoons and comics. Have students explore contemporary webcomics: , , , , and .