Cartoon analysis – Anleitung, Beispiele

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Auf dieser Seite findet ihr eine Anleitung, die euch erklärt, wie ihr eine „cartoon analysis“ durchführen könnt.  Außerdem haben wir ein paar Formulierungen angefügt, die man gut verwenden kann und einem den Einstieg erleichtern. Wir haben den Text sowohl auf Deutsch als auch auf Englisch geschrieben. Dies ermöglicht euch einerseits, dass ihr Formulierungen direkt übernehmen könnt und andererseits, dass ihr alles versteht.

Cartoon analysis – How to analyze a cartoon?

Sometimes cartoons are funny, but most of them are also critical. So the first step, analyzing a cartoon is to find out the point, the cartoonist is stating and the intention he has. Most of the time, the intention gets clear when you look at the illustration AND the text, because the point is made by a combination of both elements.

  1. The illustrations : They show caricatures of important events, people or particular stereotypes.To analyze the cartoon, it is important, that you define the illustrated person or event.
  2. The text: Text can be below the illustration ( caption ), in one or more speech bubbles or on a sign, poster, etc. in the illustration itself. You have to recognize and understand all of the forms mentioned before and state out, who is speaking.

An einem Beispiel-Cartoon wird klar, dass die Kombination aus Bild und Text entscheidend ist.

Cartoon analysis – How to write your analysis:

Zuerst: Einleitungssatz formulieren. Anschließend:

1. Describe what you see

  1. The first step is to describe the main elements you see without interpretating or giving your opinion.
  2. Describe the relationships, the main persons or elements have to each other.
  3. Give a detailed description of the persons and elements saying what they look like ( What do they wear, etc.), what they are doing, what they say ( if they say something ) and what their gestures express.

2. Interpretation

  1. Now you can begin to interpret: What does the cartoonist mean with his cartoon, what problems does he describe and what is his opinion about the given situation?
  2. What does he want you to see most and what does he want to criticize?
  3. Important : Give evidence for your presumptions ( What does he use to convey his message?)

3. Your comment on the cartoon

  1. Now comment on the cartoon and give your personal opinion about the cartoon and his message.
  2. Is the cartoon well drawn and does the cartoonist get the message across?
  3. Do you agree with the opinion of the cartoonist?

Cartoon analysis – Example/Beispiel

This cartoon „Anti-immigration 1620“ by J. Parker shows some native Americans constructing a wall. In the lower left-hand corner, in front of the wall, you can find a small ship carrying people who look like the first settlers. Moreover, in the background you can see a forest and below the cartoon there is a caption which says „They say they´re building a wall because too many of us enter illegally and won´t learn their language or assimilate into their culture“.

Jeff Parker tries to make the point that the first immigrants of the U.S. are the ancestors of those people who try to forbid immigration nowadays. He wants people to remember the American History and that America would not exist in the way it is today if immigration had been forbidden in former times. In addition he makes people aware of the bad feelings people have who are not allowed to immigrate to the U.S.
Relating to the article you can say that it criticizes the anti-immigration trend because it is unfair.

In my opinion this cartoon is very convincing because its message is very clear.“

Leider fehlt in diesem Beispiel der Teil des „comments“ und die Bildbeschreibung könnte noch etwas ausführlicher sein.

Cartoon analysis – Useful phrases:

  • the cartoon consists of an illustration of…
  • the illustration shows…
  • there is a caption under the cartoon, which is spoken by…
  • there is a caption under the cartoon which says „…“
  • In the first speech bubble it says „…“
  • The text in the speech bubble is spoken by…
  • The figure is a stereotype of…
  • The figure is a caricature of…
  • The drawing is detailed/clear/sketchy/abstract…
  • The cartoonist is making fun of…
  • The cartoonist is satirizing…
  • The cartoonist is making the point that…
  • The cartoon is funny because of the misunderstanding between…
  • I think/ don’t think the cartoon is ( very ) funny because…
  • I think/ don’t think the cartoon is ( very ) easy to understand, because…
  • I agree / don’t agree with the point, the cartoonist is making, because…

Wenn ihr Fragen zum Thema cartoon analysis habt,  hinterlasst doch einen Kommentar!

10 Gedanken zu „Cartoon analysis – Anleitung, Beispiele“

  1. Ich finde diese Erklärung sehr gut, weil sie kurz und bündig ist. Die Englischen Beispiele sind auch eine gute Idee. Vergesst aber nicht den schönen und Interesse erweckenden Einleitungssatz am Anfang. Er kann durchaus witzig sein, sollte aber zum Thema hinführen.

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  2. Hey, eigentlich ganz chillig, aber was leider ein wenig nervt ist, dass hier keine Einleitung vorhanden ist, die auf die bestimmten gegebenheiten eines Cartoons eingehen.

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  3. Scheint eigentlich gut gelungen sein, wobei jedoch bei der Schritt für Schritt Anleitung die EInleitung fehlt. Damit mein ich, wie auch im Beispieltext umgesetzt einen Satz mit einer Herkunfts-/ Quellenangabe. Dazu gehört jedoch auch noch eine kurze Wiedergabe der Message der Karikatur.

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