"An Inside Look at Editorial Cartoons"

When did editorial cartoons first appear? What are their basic features? How should you read them? Bill Brennen provides answers in his informational text.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 11 Unit 3's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Media in a Democracy, Daily Me, The Newspaper Is Dying, Facebook Photos Sting, Abolish high school football, Facing Consequences, Time to raise the bar, New Michigan Graduation Requirements, Why I Hate Cell Phones, Editorial Cartoons, Let's Hear It for the Cheerleaders, Girl Moved to Tears, In Depth, but Shallowly, Advice to Youth, The War Prayer, Gambling in Schools, How to Poison the Earth
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. broadsheet
    an advertisement intended for wide distribution
    Editorial cartoons first appeared in the United States on single-page broadsheets during the colonial times.
  2. sever
    cut off from a whole
    The first popular cartoon is a snake severed into 13 parts with the names of each colony by each piece.
  3. Tammany Hall
    a political organization within the Democratic Party in New York City (late 1800's and early 1900's) seeking political control by corruption and bossism
    Flash forward to the years in New York City after the Civil War, when Tammany Hall became such a powerful political machine that it nearly sucked the life out of its residents.
  4. Thomas Nast
    United States political cartoonist (1840-1902)
    Eventually, the New York Times and eventually law enforcement officials began investigations of the Tweed Ring, but it was the powerful cartoons of Nast that brought the politicians to their knees.
  5. conviction
    a final judgment of guilty in a criminal case
    When Tweed tried to flee conviction, he was arrested in Spain, because authorities recognized his face from Nast's cartoons.
  6. icon
    a visual representation produced on a surface
    By the way, Nast deserves partial credit for another icon, one that has stood the test of time.
  7. caricature
    a representation of a person exaggerated for comic effect
    People love the humor, simplicity and caricatures of politicians of the day.
  8. exaggeration
    the act of making something more noticeable than usual
    Caricatures, I told the students at Senior High, are exaggerations of one's physical features.
  9. particular
    unique or specific to a person or thing or category
    The cartoon must make sense to those who read the particular paper.
  10. timely
    done or happening at the appropriate moment
    The cartoon must be timely...
  11. evoke
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    It must evoke emotion.
  12. specific
    distinguishing something particular or unique
    The cartoon may be looking at the truth, but it usually is coming from a specific viewpoint.
  13. provoke
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    But we all should agree that political cartoons are thought provoking.
  14. syndicate
    news agency that sells features for simultaneous publication
    Smaller newspapers subscribe to syndicated features for the right to reprint some of the better cartoons that have been published.
  15. component
    an abstract part of something
    Instead of thinking about just whether you agree or disagree with the message, see if the cartoons have the five basic components to it.
Created on Sat Nov 15 13:55:09 EST 2014 (updated Sun Nov 16 00:36:14 EST 2014)

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