This cartoon is titled, “Skyrocket” and was created by Olle Johansson. The cartoon shows a man in a car and next to him is the gas pump flying up in the air as if it were a rocket. It seems that the word “skyrocket” is being used to show that the gas prices are “skyrocketing” meaning that the prices for gas are being raised at a very quick pace. The cartoon shows the gas pump as some sort of rocket which is emphasizing the cartoonist’s point that the gas prices are rising at a quick rate. The man in the car seems to be an average guy watching the gas prices skyrocket and the expression on his face is an expression of disbelief. This symbolizes the public’s disbelief that the gas prices are actually increasing instead of decreasing, which is what most of the public believed would happen. It seems the cartoonist is trying to portray the unhappiness that the public is feeling based on the high gas prices, but he is trying to get the message out there by being humorous. This relates to a current political event because the Republican candidates trying to become the GOP nominee to run against Obama in this year’s presidential election are trying to win the votes of the average people. Gas prices and where the country gets its resources from is a big issue that the Republicans are trying to show that they have a better plan than Obama’s plan. The Republican candidates should try and figure out a plan to lower gas prices. This relates to class because throughout the year, we have been discussing the entire process that each candidate is going through as well as discussing possible secrets from their past that could ruin their chances. Although he is no longer in the race, if Herman Cain had a great idea for lowering gas prices he was unable to tell the public because of his many sexual relationships that he had with multiple women. This scandal led to his decision to stop campaigning and take his name off of the ballots. Satire is very relevant in this cartoon because the cartoonist is making fun of the gas prices by turning the gas pump into a rocket. Looking at this cartoon is pretty funny because the audience knows it is true. Typically, the things that are true are easier to make fun of because everyone will have to laugh because if they do not laugh, they would probably cry because it is sad that it is true.
The Road We've Traveled
This cartoon is called, “The Road We’ve Traveled,” created by Michael Ramirez. In the cartoon, there is a big, black hole with the word “debt” in the center. At the bottom right of the cartoon is a road with a car crashing through the safety bars into the big hole. In front of the safety bars are two signs. One of the signs has an arrow on it pointing to the right with the word “only” below it and the other sign is an arrow pointing left that is being crossed out by those “no smoking” red circles. The car that went into the debt hole has a bumper sticker with “USA” writing on it and an American flag hat going down with the car. “The Road We’ve Traveled” is significant as the title of this piece because the cartoon is saying that America has traveled into the big, dark hole of debt and it may take a while for America to get out of that hole. It seems that the cartoonist believes that America has driven into debt because the American people do not know how to follow directions. This is evident through the highway signs saying that the car is only allowed to go right and is not allowed to turn left. It seems that the cartoonist is criticizing America as well by making it look like Americans are oblivious to important situations directly in front of their faces because even though there were signs telling the car not to go that way, the car still went and kept going even though the safety fence/bars should have told them to stop going the way they were going. America does not listen to others and only does what America wants to do. This cartoon relates to current political event because America is in debt and it seems impossible to get out of it. This relates to class because the Republican candidates running to become the nominee to run against Obama in November have been mentioning their plans to get this country out of debt and to fix the economy. This also somewhat relates to class in the way that the Philadelphia School District is already in debt that they have had to cut certain aspects of school life including certain sports programs and janitorial staff. It is said that the school district of Philadelphia is already $400 million in debt for next school year. It is outrageous that the country does not have the money needed to fix the economy and something needs to be done.
No comments:
Post a Comment