Political Cartoons in Utah Political Cartoons in Utah History and Current EventsHistory and Current Events

The Utah WarThe Utah War

Bell Activity

Your word is “civilian”Find the word on your grey study guide and

complete the following information for the word.Find the definition using a glossary.Use your own knowledge and experience to

complete the rest of the definition.

Where should your backpack be?

This is still a no gum class. Please dispose of it properly!

Word: civilian My Understanding: 4 3 2 1

Definition: Draw a picture of it:

Sentence:

Synonym/Example:

Antonym/Non-Example:

Does your work look something like this?

Word: civilian My Understanding: 4 3 2 1

Definition: a person who is not part of Draw a picture of it:

the military

Sentence: Civilians are often casualties

of war.

Synonym/Example: non-combatant

Antonym/Non-Example: soldier

Does your work look something like this?

Today we will learn about Political/Editorial Cartoons• History Objective –

We will interpret current and historic political cartoons to learn about the temperament of the period in question.

• Behavior Objective – We will collaboratewith our groups to understand our cartoon.

• Language Objective –

We will analyze a cartoon with our groups and write our own summary and response to a political cartoon.

The Importance of Political Cartoons to History

• Political Cartoons playan important part intelling the history of a given period of time.

• They help us understand the events, people, prejudices, attitudes,

culture, concerns, fears, and so on of a particular time period.

A Brief History of Political Cartoons

• People have been expressing opinions with pictures for a long time.

• This ancient Egyptian picture shows a noble as a mouse and her servants/advisors as cats.

Political Cartoons in America

• This picture was created by Benjamin Franklin when the British and the French were preparing for the French & Indian War.

• It later became a popular symbol for the American Revolution.

The Influence of Political Cartoonists

• Some of the artists who have created cartoons in the past still influence the present.

• Thomas Nast popularized the use of the elephant and donkey for the Republican and Democratic Parties.

• Even our modern image of Santa Claus was influenced by Thomas Nast.

How Do Political Cartoons Work?

• Political cartoons try to communicate powerful ideas.

• They often use humor to make a point.

• They incorporate events of the period in an easy to understand format that most people can

relate to even if

they don’t read well.

How do Political Cartoons convey information?

• Symbols, caricature, drawings and exaggerations used by the cartoonist point out themes and problems of any given time period.

Let’s try to analyze the meaning of a current political cartoon.

Historic Political Cartoons• Understanding historic

political cartoons is more difficult, but provide insights into the temperament of the time.

• If you don’t get the symbols that are being used, a little research will help.

Steps to analyzing a political cartoon, past or present.• Identify the characters, symbols and

objects in the cartoon.• Look for clues, cues, and details that

will give further meaning.• Identify the main idea of the cartoon by

reading the captions and putting the message into your own words.

• Identify any bias the cartoonist might have.

Terms to Know• Symbolism - an object used for or representing something else• Caricature - a picture ludicrously exaggerating the features of

persons or things• Captioning and labels - a title or explanation for a picture or

illustration, especially in a magazine• Analogy - a similarity between like features of two things, on

which a comparison may be based• Irony - the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite

of its literal meaning• Juxtaposition - an act or instance of placing close together or side

by side, especially for comparison or contrast• Exaggeration - the act of exaggerating or overstating

Let’s look at some cartoons from Utah history.

• Open your books to page 151 and look at the cartoon on the page.

• Let’s go though the steps to analyze this cartoon.

Utah: The Struggle for Statehood

ReformationWhat did Brigham Young call for

the Mormons to do?

How did this look to outsiders?

To WarWhy did Pres. Buchanan send

troops to Utah?

In the MeadowsDescribe the Mountain

Meadows Massacre, and what happened after it.

Cold War & PeaceHow did the attitude of the

soldiers change about the Utah War, and how did the Utah

Militia harass them?

Current Events• On the test, you will analyze a political

cartoon from the era of the Utah War.

• We are also going to do a current event assignment in which you will choose a modern political cartoon.

• First summarize what the cartoon depicts, explaining the people, symbols, and so on.

• Then respond and give your opinion of the cartoon, its message, the bias of the author, and so on.