Political Informational Paragraph

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Techniques used in Political CartoonsPolitical cartoons have been part of editorials for a long time. They help people to understand and relate to powerful ideas in a humorous, enlightened manner. For effective conveyance of their messages, political cartoonists use five satirical techniques: symbol, exaggeration, irony, labeling, and analogy.
A symbol is something that represents another. One of the political news items that have been trending for the last few days is the bitter exchanges between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. In the US News on 5th March 2018, President Trump is represented by a standing gentleman throwing punches, while Joe Biden is represented by a shattered figure. Exaggeration is a way of making something look greater or bigger than it really is. It is a way of blowing something out of proportion. In the cartoon referred to above, Joe Biden is represented by a shattered structure to show how powerful President Trump is as compared to Joe Biden.
The irony is the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. In the cartoon, Joe Biden thanks the President for the punches and goes further to ask for more. In the actual sense, it is expected that Joe Biden would like to see an end to the shameful scenario so as to protect their dignity in the society. An analogy is a comparison between two dissimilar things that share same characteristics. The characteristics shared between Trump and Biden is that they are both leaders.

While Trump is rather abrasive in his approach to issues, Biden comes out as a more diplomatic gentleman. Labeling means using a tag to make it clear what the cartoonist is referring to. The shape of President Trump’s head is a label that makes it clear for any reader to distinguish between the characters in the cartoon.
By using the above techniques, the cartoonist is able to pass very sensitive information that affects the society. It is also a way of breaking the tension in the society, especially where the characters have solid support bases behind them. The cartoon in the US News cleverly demonstrates the unsolicited public display of dishonor among rather respected leaders.
Work Cited
Stantis, Scott. Daily Cartoons. US News, March 5, 2018. https://www.usnews.com/opinion/news/cartoons/cartoons/2018-03-05/daily-cartoons