Create an Editorial Cartoon

Background Information for Students

What is an Editorial Cartoon? Editorial cartoons use humor and satire to show a position about current issues. Editorial cartoons constitute both an unusual art form and a commentary on society. Because they express opinions on public issues, editorial cartoons are useful teaching aids for examining historic and contemporary issues and events.

History of Editorial Cartoons: Editorial cartoons have always been an important feature in our country’s newspapers. In fact, they have been in our newspapers even before the original colonies declared independence to become the United States of America. Benjamin Franklin drew the first published American cartoon in 1754. He wanted the colonies to unite together against the British. Instead of just writing about that thought in an editorial, he drew it as an editorial cartoon.

Franklin’s cartoon portrayed a snake that had been cut apart. Each piece of the snake symbolized an American colony. Franklin’s point was that if the colonies were cut apart; they would not survive. Franklin titled his cartoon, “Join or Die.” He got his point across with a picture and very few words. That cartoon is still famous today.

(*Interesting historic cartoon fact: There was a myth at Franklin’s time that if a snake was cut apart and the pieces were pushed together, the snake would come alive. That makes his cartoon even more significant.)

Editorial cartoons about current events, especially politics, continued after Franklin. Every American president since George Washington has been the subject of editorial cartoons. Sometimes the subjects of cartoons are not happy about being in a cartoon because the cartoonist can make them look unflattering through exaggeration and caricature.

Early editorial cartoons relied on more words and more realistic artwork than we see in contemporary cartoons. They also had less humor than is found in today’s editorial cartoons.

Modern American cartoonists are indebted to Thomas Nast. Nast refined editorial cartooning to an art during the 1870s and 1880s. He worked in New York and is called the Father of Modern American Editorial Cartoon. He is credited with creating the symbols of the elephant and the donkey for the Republican and Democrat parties. Those symbols are still used today.

(*Interesting historic cartoon fact: Thomas Nast was the first to draw the character we’ve come to recognize as the American Santa Claus.)

Uncle Sam is a symbol that represents the United States of America. An editorial cartoonist created him. Sam underwent many changes by a variety of cartoonists that drew him. Editorial cartoonist James Montgomery Flagg drew the most famous Uncle Sam. The U. S. Army still uses Flagg’s Uncle Sam image on posters. Whenever a cartoonist draws Uncle Sam, that cartoonist wants you to think of the United States. The United States and Uncle Sam even share the same initials.

Today, nearly every major daily newspaper in the country features an editorial cartoon on its opinion page. There are only about 250 editorial cartoonists practicing their craft in the United States. Yet, their impact found in newspaper opinion pages and magazines is profound. Newspapers that don’t have their own editorial cartoonist buy the work of other cartoonists to put on their editorial/opinion pages.

The Forum is one of the few daily newspapers in the country that has one editorial cartoonists contributing original work. Editorial cartoons run every day the newspaper is published with two cartoons appearing nearly every Sunday.

Editorial Cartoons Today: A cartoonist strives to make an opinion about a subject. The cartoonist assumes that you, as the reader of an editorial cartoon will have enough knowledge about a specific current event to understand the cartoon. Because a cartoon must make its point quickly, and usually with humor, it is usually drawn with simplicity you won’t find in other artwork. Cartoonists are proud of the work they do. Cartoons can make people mad when they don’t agree with the cartoonist or the cartoons can make someone happy when the cartoonist makes a point with which the reader agrees. A cartoonist prime goal is to get people to think about a certain subject and form their own opinions about it.

Cartoonists generally exaggerate the features of a person when drawing an editorial cartoon. The cartoonist takes specific features about a person and makes them bigger. For example a big chin might be drawn as a huge chin, or a big nose might even be more exaggerated.

Cartoonists have usually felt they are working for the public good. They try to attack what they see as wrong behavior and defend what they see as good. They generally try to protect the little guy in this life from being pushed around by powerful interests.

Every cartoonist in the United States knows how fortunate Americans are to have the right to criticize government and other institutions. A cartoonist feels free to exaggerate but not to engage in an outright lie. Editorial cartoons are a marvelous example of the right of free speech found in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. It is a right that should not be abused. It is right we can all be fortunate we have.

Facts about Editorial Cartoons:  Editorial Cartoons are an integral part of many newspaper editorial pages and are used to highlight the single most significant aspect of a news item.  Editorial cartoons reflect a subjective evaluation of a news story highlight.  Editorial cartoons focus on a single item that is clearly identified. They also may represent a simplification of a complex issue.  An effective cartoonist makes use of several specific “tools” to make his or her points clear.  It is usually necessary for a reader to be familiar with current events in order to understand the meaning of editorial cartoons.

Essentials of a Good Editorial Cartoon: • Good editorial Cartoons express the cartoonist’s opinion on a topic and provoke readers to think and clarify their own opinions. • Thinking skills are much more important than drawing skills in creating a good cartoon. • A good cartoon is always simple and limited. It never tries to tell everything the cartoonist knows about a topic. • Drawing should be uncluttered. Heavy, cleaner lines are better for the newspaper than many light lines. • Any words used (captions, dialogue balloons or words that are part of the drawing itself) should be large, clear and easily recognized. • Don’t be too much of a perfectionist. If your cartoon is clever and gets across your opinion, you’ve done a good job!

Cartoonist Use These “Tools” to Communicate: Symbols: Symbols are simple pictures that are commonly understood by people in our society to stand for ideas or groups. For example, a donkey is the symbol for the Democratic Party. Uncle Sam or an eagle symbolizes America and a dove symbolizes peace.

Caricatures: Caricatures are drawings of people that exaggerate certain features to make the cartoon picture of the famous person quickly and easily recognizable. Caricatures also serve sometimes to poke fun at the person they picture.

Stereotypes: Stereotypes are styles of picturing a person or a group of people that call to the reader’s mind commonly held ideas or prejudices about the type of person pictured. Stereotypes often found in editorial cartoons include the lazy, rich Congressman; the old fashioned, bespectacled teacher; the sneaky, fast-talking lawyer; the rumpled, disorganized scientist and many others.

Analogies: Analogies are comparisons. In simplest terms, they tell us that this thing is like that other thing, at least in one respect. They often use symbols and compare a current situation to a well- know historic event, story, book, movie, fairy tale or nursery rhyme.

Create an Editorial Cartoon Student Activity Editorial Cartoon Analogy

“The strength of an editorial cartoon lies in its analogy. The best editorial cartoonists do not depict a problem in literal terms. They liken it to something else and invite readers to stretch their imaginations.” -Cartoonist Roy Paul Volume 1, Issue 6

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program

How To Dra w an Editorial Cartoon

taking place, which one should get when.” For Herblock, “Such attention first? “Unless there is one help—not ‘ideas for cartoons,’ but subject of overriding importance or background information and relevant timeliness on a particular day, or facts—is of enormous value.” some special outrage, I generally try 6. Complete the Cartoon to narrow down the list of subjects to Block kept a supply of lead and two or three,” wrote Block. non-reproducible blue pencils. 3. Decide Wha t Needs to Be Said His cartoons were composed with “It may not sound very exciting crayons, graphite, ink and opaque Herbert Block knew something or ‘cartoony,’ but to me the basic white. You will use the tools that about drawing editorial cartoons. idea is the same as it ought to be best suit you. Practice making His first daily political cartoon was with a written opinion—to try to say lines, hatch and cross-hatch marks published on May 24, 1929. More the right thing. Putting the thought to give dimension to your cartoon. than 70 years later, Herblock cartoons into the picture comes second.” Keep the drawing uncluttered. You appeared six days a week in The The editorial cartoon is similar to a may wish to use a balloon, labels or Washington Post. He wrote essays column. Both are signed and express title. “Wordiness can be awkward and books about his art and life as a a personal point of view. State your in a cartoon—though sometimes cartoonist. Block gave the Library of idea in a sentence. Then try to needed to explain an issue or provide Congress more than 100 cartoons; his express it another way. dialogue,” explained Block. essay, “The Cartoon,” was included in 4. Get the Comment Into Graphic Form 7. Share It the exhibit book, Herblock’s History: Is there a metaphor, allusion or Share your cartoon with others Political Cartoons from the Crash symbol that comes to mind? Sketch to make them think, to start them to the Millennium. Herb Block used several ideas. “A series of ‘roughs’ talking or just to see them enjoy your these steps. Quotations from Block may approach a subject from different work. When Block was starting his were published in “The Cartoon,” his angles or may be variations on a career he experienced “The Thrill essays and books. theme.” At this stage Block often That Comes Once in a Lifetime.” 1. Know Wha t ’s Happening shared his sketches to get reaction He wrote, “Such a moment came in Read the newspaper and listen to and “to get out any bugs that might one of those early days on the News news broadcasts. Know what the be in the cartoon ideas.” when I was riding a bus, seated school board and administrators are 5. R ese ar ch to Get A ccura te behind two men who were reading deciding about your school’s physical Informa tion the papers. One of them nudged the and learning environment. What You don’t want to be guilty of other and handed across his folded concerns student government officers libel. You also want readers to trust paper, pointing to something in it. and the kids who sit next to you in you. Get the facts. Block would ask And looking between their shoulders class? reporters who covered certain beats I could see what he was pointing at— my cartoon! Not family or classmates 2. Select a Topic for information or research for “who or colleagues, but a couple of people I Of the many actions taking or not said what or exactly what happened didn’t even know! “It may not sound very ex citing or ‘c artoony,’ but to me the basic idea is the s ame as it ought to be with a written opinion—to try to s ay the right thing.

An In tegra ted C urric ulum For The Washington Po s t Newsp aper In Educ a tion Program The Mechanics of Editorial Cartooning

Line: A continuous mark, as that made by a pen, pencil or brush Ha tch: To applied to a surface shade by drawing or etching fine Ben D a y: A way parallel lines to add a tone or texture to a printed image by imposing a transparent sheet of dots or other patterns Cr oss-ha t ch: on the image at To mark some stage of or shade a photographic with two or reproduction more sets of process. (Also intersecting known as paralle l benday, Ben lines Day dots.)

Ha tch mark: Line used to create shade

Non-pho t o blue: Color that does not photograph so does not reproduce on a printed Shading: Part of a picture depicting page. darkness or shadow