TOW #1

For my first Text of the Week assignment, I will be analyzing a political cartoon regarding the 2016 presidential election. Since the election is coming up soon, there is a vast amount of propaganda circulating the media. This photo specifically is a political cartoon depicting the wall which Donald Trump swears to build on the Mexican-American border. Instead of the wall being placed there, it is inside his mouth, blocking what he is trying to say. In Donald’s hand is a list of his ‘platform’ he is using to win over voters in the election. The artist is John Cole, a popular political cartoon artist for the Times-Tribune in Scranton, Pennsylvania. By creating this image, Cole is sending a message to American voters about one of the nominees. The author is using the element of irony to depict Trump as a hypocrite. Trump has talked about building a wall to keep illegal immigrant from entering the U.S. He rallied voters and audiences by describing the immigrants as criminals, calling them racist and sexist. The author is making a point about how if Trump wants to build a wall against such atrocities, he should place the wall in his mouth to prevent his words from spreading. John Cole spread this message to prevent people from getting wrapped up in Trump’s ‘inspirational’ speeches by telling a truth about what he says and means. I think the author supported his point to educated people, but not to most of the population. I was able to understand the message because I have been trying to keep up with the election since it will have such a large effect of the nation depending on who wins. For people who do not know as much, or who only view the election from one extreme side, probably would not understand the meaning as well since it draws points and information from both sides of the argument.