Eastern Illinois University Homepage

Themed Resources

• Library of Congress Online Resources for Educators (pdf)
• Abraham Lincoln
• Art of War:
  WWI and WWII Posters
• Cartoon Analysis
• Childhood Lost:Child Labor During Industrial Revolution
• Coles County: Taught with Primary Sources
• Corp of Discovery:
  Revealing the American West
• Teaching the Holocaust with Primary Sources
• Illinois: Taught with Primary Sources
• Presidential Campaigns: Packaging the Presidents
• Underground Railroad:
  A Path to Freedom
• Verse and Chorus
• WWII
• Top Topics

Special Projects

• Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Tools 
• Classroom Activities
• Constant Motion:
  The Job of Railway Post Office Clerks
• Constitution Day
• Library of Congress Site Update "Cheat Sheet" (pdf)
• Lincoln Assassination CSI Activity
• Patriotic Songs
• • September 11
  • Teaching with Lincoln
  • Veterans Day

Professional Development

• Update-Summer Institute
• TPS EIU Jump-Start
• TPS in Action
  (onsite workshop series)
• Customized Teaching with Primary Sources Institutes

Additional LInks

• EIUTPS Google Search Tool
• National TPS Site
• Library of Congress
• loc.gov Teacher PageAbraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

Cartoon Analysis

The use of political and editorial cartoons in the classroom can have multiple benefits. One of the wonderful qualities is the fact that they can be used to develop skills used in language arts (language use), art (cartooning techniques) and social studies (political and popular events and individuals).

Similar to It's No Laughing Matter found in the Presentations and Activities section of the Teacher's Page, the political cartoons to be analyzed here are completely interactive. You can drag and drop the persuasive techniques used in political cartoons onto their instance in the cartoon. The instance area will highlight when you have the correct technique over it. The cartoon analysis is built using Adobe Flash technology, so you will need Flash player installed to use the analysis. You will need the at least version 8 of Flash Player.

We chose to focus on these five common persuasive techniques used by cartoonists: exaggeration, labeling, symbolism, analogy, and irony. Here is a brief explanation of each technique:

• Exaggeration - Cartoonists will overdo physical characteristics of people or things in order to make a point.

• Labeling - Objects or people are often labeled by cartoonists to make it clear exactly what they stand for.

• Symbolism - Objects are used to stand for larger concepts or ideas.

• Analogy - Cartoonists will 'draw' a comparison between two unlike things.

• Irony - The difference between the way things are and the way things should be.

On to the Cartoons...

On the linked pages you will find four different cartoons to look at. To begin click here for the FIRST CARTOON. We have provided an explanation of the persuasive techniques with each cartoon to help out. If you would like to download a cartoon analysis form it can be used to analyze other cartoons available through American Memory or in print and web media today.

Cartoon Home - Cartoon One - Cartoon Two - Cartoon Three - Cartoon Four