Featured Cartoon: "Living Constitution—Teenage Brain/Strict Constructionist Brain"
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An editorial cartoonist draws cartoon images that comment on a current political or social issue. Editorial cartoons can help their readers to better understand, visually, what is going on in the world. Many editorial cartoonists use their cartoons to present particular political points of view, both liberal and conservative, while others tend to illuminate current events without taking a specific political side on the issue.
Understanding the techniques cartoonists employ may help the reader better comprehend the cartoons and more readily place them in the context of current affairs. Common elements of editorial cartoons include:
Symbolism: Creating a visual image to depict an abstract concept;
Exaggeration/Caricature: Exaggerating striking features of an image of a person or thing to provide an easily identifiable presentation of the original;
Analogy: Comparing two unlike things or events, like a historical event and a fictional event, to express an idea; and
Irony: Pointing out a contradiction between the appearance and reality of something, often to point out the absurdities in situations.
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