Political Cartoon Precis

Political Cartoon

Paste the political cartoon below:

Write the correct MLA Reference for the cartoon (use harford.libguides.com or mla.org for help):

Horsey, David. No end in sight to Seattle’s intractable tent nightmare. 2009, Seattle.
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/no-end-in-sight-to-seattles-intractable-tent-nightmare/.

Observation Notes

What choices do you see? What do you notice? Analysis. (What persuasive technique is it? What
might it mean? How does it contribute to the
purpose of the artist? Is it effective?)

1. The homeless person is unkempt and 1. This technique is using stereotypes, the
messy and lives in a filthy tent which is in author is using the stereotype of
 the midst of a huge pile of bottles of
beer, drugs, and wrappers.
2. The author references the court and
highlights the inconvenience that the
court ruling causes.
3. The artist makes the homeless man’s
teeth spaces out and places an emphasis
on the man’s dirty beard and huge nose.
homeless people being dirty, messy
alcoholics. The author is putting
homeless people in a bad light. I must say
that it is effective mainly because of how
widely spread and accepted this
stereotype is.
2. This technique is also using a stereotype
of the courts. This stereotype references
how courts are widely expected to back
up civil rights activists and disadvantaged
people. The author is using this to make a
point that the courts decisions are
heavily biased to begin with even though
ruling may have negative consequences.
The method is remotely effective at
making the viewer feel exasperated with
the courts and their decisions.
3. This technique is exaggeration, it is used
to make the homeless man and his
situation look ridiculous. This method is
effective because it is a way of making
the reader see the man’s needs more
ridiculous.

Considering the observations above, what is the message? What is the purpose of the cartoon?

Considering all of the techniques that the author used in this cartoon, I think that the purpose of this
illustration is to antagonize the tenant rulings that allow homeless people to take up public areas.

Write a Rhetorical Precis

(follow instructions on the canvas page)

In his political cartoon titled “No end in sight to Seattle’s intractable tent nightmare”, from 2009,
David Horsey supports claims that the intractable tenant rulings of courts in Seattle are short sighted
and inconvenient. The author achieves this purpose by using stereotypes and exaggerations to
deteriorate the position of homeless people as well as making the courts look incapable and short
sighted. In doing this, Horsey antagonizes the Seattle courts tenant rulings. It is evidenced from
Horsey’s message in the cartoon that he is hoping to attain a reaction of anger from the audience
that will put them against the Seattle courts', the tenant rulings, and homeless people.