What evidence can you give that shows the cartoonist supports one side or the other?
The evidence in the cartoonist favoring the Democratic side is in the way that he uses exaggeration and labeling. The cartoonist exaggerates not only the fact that he used the elephant to represent a person, but also the anatomy features of the elephant. The eyes are completely gone, which shows us it is incapable to see what’s going on. The face and mouth are sagging along with drool coming out of its mouth to again signify the elephant is speechless. To top it off, the cartoonist has the brain of the elephant leaving its head as off duty while the government was shutdown signifying to readers that the Republicans must not be doing any thinking or any work during this time.
The labeling is in the form of the sign hanging from the elephant’s trunk. It states, “CLOSED until further notice.” This is labeling the elephant and the Republican Party as those who won’t be doing any work to help with finding solutions to reopen the government.
What “reality” is constructed/framed about your issue?
The reality framed depicted here is that the Republican Party does not have their brains intact to help during the government shutdown, as explained above.
What “reality” is constructed/framed about your issue?
The reality framed depicted here is that the Republican Party does not have their brains intact to help during the government shutdown, as explained above.
analysis:
The primary emotion this cartoon is depicting is one that elicits disgust with the Republican Party for not doing their job while the government is closed. The irony of this cartoon, however, is that while the cartoon depicts the Republicans as not doing anything during the shutdown, they are in fact working to find common ground during the shutdown by revising and sending the bill back to the Senate to find a mutual agreement (Time Inc., 2013). It is an obvious bias for the Democrat Party like explained earlier with the cartoonist’s usage of exaggeration and labeling.