Political cartoons with ethos logos and pathos

Text Analysis Project Overview

So far in this class you’ve told your story through a narrative and you’ve told the story of a person, group, or organization through a feature article. Next, you’re going to tell the story of a text, specifically, a political cartoon.

This assignment asks you to be a detective--to investigate thee all of the conditions and considerations that went into the creation of a text we might take for granted. You will learn to recognize and discuss the ways that particular textual elements work within a text, paying particular attention to rhetorical and genre conventions. You will use outside sources as well as your own critical thinking skills.

Writing goals for this assignment include:

· Forming a clear thesis

· Identifying rhetorical issues such as purpose, audience, and context

· Identifying rhetorical appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos

· Performing research and analysis on your observations

· Integrating references to sources into your own writing

Primary Source

Your primary source will be a political cartoon that you will analyze. I have provided six cartoons at the end of this document. You may choose one of these cartoons or you may choose your own. If you choose your own, you must have it approved by me at our conference on Thursday, October 9. You must cite your primary source in your Works Cited page.

Secondary Sources

To write effectively about the author, audience, and context of your cartoon, you will need to do some outside research. You will need at least two sources in addition to your chosen text. One big goal for this paper is to acquaint yourself with scholarly sources by using the library databases, so you may not use Wikipedia as a source. Focus instead on articles found through databases such as EBSCOhost, LexisNexis, etc. (or even books!).

Organization

For this paper you will create three main sections addressing logos, pathos, and ethos, plus an introduction with a thesis statement and a conclusion.

· Introduction: Your introduction should give readers all the basic who, what, where, when, why, and how information so they are fully equipped to begin thinking more deeply about the text. End this section with a clear thesis statment. If you have trouble with a thesis statement, try answering a question such as: What does the writer want the audience for this text to be able to do, think, feel, or decide after looking at this cartoon? Why? (Hint at the reasons you will develop in the rest of the paper.)

· The Author/Ethos: Discuss the creator of your text by addressing where, when, how, and why they created the text. Try answering the question: Why did this author create this text for these readers at this time? What does the text tell you about the author? What research do you need to do (or cite) to answer the question fully? As you answer the question, are you being consistent with the thesis you established in the introduction?

· The Audience/Pathos: Where and when did the text originally appear? Discuss who consumed the text when it was new and/or at the height of its popularity. What types of people (age, income, class, etc.) were drawn to your text? How can you tell? What evidence can you provide? Were there any important historical events that coincided with the appearance of your text that may have affected this audience? What does the text imply about the readers’ knowledge or feelings about the subject? what sort of relationship does the author establish with the audience?

· The Text/Logos: Discuss what you find in the text itself. Look closely and critically. You may want to describe some aspects of it. Is the text effective? Why or why not? How does style, arrangement, rhetorical appeals, visual design, color, text and text placement, etc. contribute to or hinder the text’s effectiveness? How does the text engage or persuade readers? How does it establish credibility, overcome resistance or doubt?

· Conclusion: As you bring your analysis to a conclusion, you have several strategies to consider. Hear are a few; see if you want to adapt any one of them, or if you can think of another approach: 1. Elaborate on the implications of your thesis statement. 2. Make clear what you want the readers to think. 3. Make a strong ethical or emotional appeal in a memorable way. 4. Evaluate the text’s effectiveness for its audience. 5. Evaluate the text’s effectiveness for yourself.

Examples

We’ll be looking at some examples together in class. You can also look at student samples in Work in Progress. You will need to assess how well the student samples are accomplishing the goals of this project.

Your Text Analysis should be:

· 4 to 5 pages (around 1,200-1,500 words)

· Double-spaced

· Times New Roman font

· 1-inch margins

· Formatted to included a heading with your name and page numbers

Assessment

These are the things I will be looking for when assessing your text analysis:

Professional

Discussion

Focus

for Revision

Not Done

Title

The title is engaging, appropriate, and forecasts the content of the essay.

The Introduction

The introduction grabs the reader’s interest, provides enough context to tell the reader what he or she will be reading about, encourages the reader to continue reading, and ends with a strong thesis statement.

The Research

The essay contains interesting, relevant information about the context. All research is integrated appropriately into the text using MLA standards for in-text citation.

The Analysis

The essay uses rhetorical vocabulary to provide in-depth analysis about how and why the cartoon works. It includes well-developed examples, details, and facts based on a close reading of the cartoon and its context.

The Conclusion

The conclusion sums up insights, you have gained as a result of your research and analysis. Those insights might pertain to political cartoons, rhetoric, or visual rhetoric, but may include others.

Arrangement

The essay is organized based on points about specific strategies and their effects. Sub-headings are acceptable.

Voice

The tone of the essay strikes a balance between demonstrating your personality, avoiding stuffy language, and conveying professionalism.

Style, Surface Features, and Proofreading

The essay includes no errors in grammar or punctuation.

Works Cited

The essay includes a works cited page that is properly formatted using MLA guidelines.

Length

The essay is four to five pages in length (i.e. 1,200 to 1,500 words).

Cartoons

You may choose from the following 6 cartoons, or you may choose your own. Please be ready to tell me which cartoon you will use at conferences on Thursday, October 9.

If you choose your own, you must have it approved by me at conferences on Thursday, October 9.

All cartoons are from http://robrogers.com/ for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

1. KILLED AMERICANS
September 4, 2014
Killed Americans
2. NFL RESPECT
October 5, 2014
NFL Respect

3. APES IN CHARGE
May 9, 2014
Apes In Charge

4. WEST VIRGINIA
January 19, 2014
West Virginia

5. JUNKIES
February 11, 2014
Junkies

6. CAPTAIN AMERICA
July 18, 2014
Captain America