ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE VISUAL LITERACY BOOKLET 2024

English Home Language

1. Satirical Cartoons
Satirical cartoons ridicule or mock a practise or a person in society. The
cartoonist’s main purpose is to highlight the foolishness of the person or practise in
hopes that the reader would share the satirist’s view. Satirical cartoonists love to
ridicule the Government, current affairs, politicians, social practices and behaviour.

Please, please, please move away from the understanding that cartoons are
just supposed to make you laugh. They can also address serious issues.

Cartoon Features to focus on when you analyse cartoons

SETTING

Where is the cartoon’s action taking place? What are the visual clues that suggest the setting of
the cartoon? Are the characters referring to the setting directly or indirectly?

Setting: Doctors office.

Supported by the visual clues:
• Stethoscope, doctor’s jacket, examination
bed.

Speech bubble – word test Jargon associated to the

medical field.

CAPTIONS
Reinforces and helps contextualise the cartoons non-verbal elements. Can be
used to emphasise the cartoonist’s message. In the exam:
• Find the title of the cartoon. It could be in a block at the bottom of the cartoon or
simply a headline followed by an ellipsis.
• Sometimes there might not be captions because they want to emphasise the
visual.

LABELS
Cartoonists often label objects or people to make it clear exactly what they stand
for.
In the exam:

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• Watch out for the different labels that appear in a cartoon and ask yourself why
the cartoonist chose to label that particular person or object.
• Does the label make the meaning of the object clearer?
CHARACTERS

Focus on these familiar features of characters:

GESTURES
Hand movement, or position of the hand or arms that express ideas.

Finger: No! Hand: Stop Arms: Give up Hands: Oh no! Arms: Defeated Hand:
Shock/fear

In the exam:

• Study the hand and arm movement of the characters.

• Look for movement lines that could also support the gesture.

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
The eyes, eyebrows and mouth convey the mental state of mind of the
character.

In the exam:

• Study the eyes, eyebrows and mouth to see what are the emotions that are being
portrayed.
• Give specific detail by referring to any of the facial features above.
• If you are unsure of the emotion pull the face in the exam.

Indignation= Annoyance Disdain

= Scornful (That unimpressed look
your mother gives you when you do
something wrong)
Aversion = Dislike

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 2. CARICATURE

Sometimes cartoonists overdo, or exaggerate, the physical characteristics of

people or things in order to make a point.

In the exam:
• Look for any characteristics that seem overdone or overblown. (Facial
characteristics and clothing are some of the most commonly exaggerated
characteristics.)
• Then, try to decide what point the cartoonist was trying to make by
exaggerating them.

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The tennis player in the foreground is drawn larger than the rest of the cartoon.

The action (Caricature)being

emphasised creates the
humour.

Serena Williams shows bad sportsmanship by being a sore loser. She jumps up and down when
she loses.

3. STEREOTYPING
This is a fixed, exaggerated and preconceived description of a specific type of
person, group or nation. For example, all Zulu people are naturally ill-tempered.
All teenagers wear saggy denims.
In the exam:
• Analyse the characters. Look at their clothing, race, gender, profession, age and
words. See if any of these features have been generalised (We often describe
things as typical or normative)

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 Stereotype:
Created by the picture in the
textbook that suggest that girls will
become housewives were as to
boys will become businessmen.

The cartoonist ridicules the view that gender should determine your career choice or future. It
focusses on the issue of gender inequality.

4. Irony
Irony is the difference between the way’s things are and the way things should be,
or the way things are expected to be. In other words, the opposite happens to
what is intended. Cartoonists often use irony to express their opinion on an issue.

In the exam:
When you look at a cartoon, see if you can find any irony in the situation the
cartoon depicts. If you can, think about what point the irony might be intended to
emphasize. Does the irony help the cartoonist express his or her opinion more
effectively?

IRONY: The signs says “caution

children playing”, but the reality is the
children are not playing at the
playground, which is the purpose of
going to the playground.

The cartoonist satirises the influence

of technology on young children’s
lives.

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 5. SYMBOLS
Cartoonists use simple objects, or symbols, to stand for larger concepts or ideas.
Like a dove that stands for peace.
In the exam:
• After you identify the symbols in a cartoon, think about what the cartoonist
intends each symbol to stand for.

6. VISUAL METAPHOR
A visual metaphor is an image that the viewer is meant to understand as a
symbol for something else.
In the exam:
• Look for people, animals or objects that could represent larger ideas. They
normally represent a whole group in society.

Visual metaphor that represents the stages of lockdown and

. the decisions the president would make during lockdown.
The wheel represents the life’s of the people.

VISUAL CLUE:
LABEL Perspiration
droplets show that
the president is
nervous

SYMBOL:
Medical mask
has become a
symbol of
confusion, fear
and protection

LABEL

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IRONY: The spin wheel (wheel of fortune) normally brings wealth or good things. People are
usually excited by it. The irony is that people are not excited by it but fear it. It does not bring
them fortune but misfortune.

The cartoonist ridicules the president’s decision-making capabilities when it comes to lockdown.
He also suggests that the president gambles with or live’s and leaves our fate to chance.

7. PUNS
A pun is also called a 'play on words.' Some words sound alike or have more than
one meaning, and so sometimes we can put them together to say something
funny. Please take note that Puns are not always humerous.

Types of Puns
Homophonic Puns

Homophonic puns use homophones, or words that sound the same but have
different meanings and spellings. For example, the words pain and pane are
homophones. They sound the same, but they don't mean the same thing and they
are spelled differently.

Here is a pun that uses words that sound alike to make it funny:
• Where do polar bears vote? The North Poll!

(Here, 'poll,' a place to vote, is used in place of 'pole.')

Homographic Puns

Homographic puns use homographs to make them funny. Homographs are

words that look the same but have different meanings. Sometimes
homographs are also pronounced differently. For example, the word post
means to mail a letter and the word post also means a pole that is part of a fence.
These puns uses homographs to make you laugh:
• A bicycle can't stand on its own because it's two-tired.

(Here, 'two-tired' is used in place of 'too tired,' as in being too tired to stand.)

Homographic pun – Here the words “ten

ants” is used in the place of “tenants”
people who occupy a house.

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The most commonly used techniques used to convey humour in satirical cartoons
are:

• Irony
• Puns
• Stereotyping
• Caricature
STEPS TO TAKE WHEN YOU GET A CARTOON:

1. Identify the subject by reading the title and looking at the cartoon as a whole.
2. Identify important symbols, words, features, labels and details.
3. Analyse the characters by looking at facial expressions, gestures, caricature
and stereotyping.
4. Decide which technique has been used to convey humour.
5. Interpret the cartoonist’s message. What are the cartoonist’s beliefs or ideas
about the event/ subject?

ACTIVITIES:

Study the following cartoons using the steps above.

Cartoon 1:

Questions:

1. What is the setting of the cartoon? Support your answer by referring to a visual clue. (1)
2. What is the context of this cartoon? (1)
3. How does the characters body language and facial expression support the message
of
the cartoon? (2)
4. How has satire been used to convey humour in this cartoon?
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(Focus on the technique and explain) (3)
5. What is the message of the cartoonist? (2)
[10]
Cartoon 2:

6. Which of the countries above is portrayed to be less interested in studying? (1)

7. What is glasses symbolic of? (1)
8. What is the setting of this cartoon? (1)
9. Discuss the effectiveness of the technique used by the cartoonist. (3)

DISCUSS: Present all ideas of the argument

EFFECTIVENESS: Does it achieve its purpose?
TECHNIQUE: How has the cartoon been drawn? Consider/think about the following:
characterisation (caricature / stereotype) setting, punctuation, speech bubbles / thought bubbles,
presence/absence of speech, facial expression and body language – state explicitly what it looks
like, onomatopoeia, movement lines, etc.

10. Explain what comment this cartoon is making about the study habits of children in
different countries. (2)

11. Add a character that would represent the attitude of South-African children when it
comes to study habits. (2)

[10]

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 Advertisements

An advertisement is a notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product,

service, or event.

The purpose is to inform consumers of what is on offer, and to convince or persuade a specific
target audience to take action.

Initial questions to ask yourself once presented with an advertisement:

What is the product/service being Where did this advertisement appear?
advertised and who is the promoter
thereof?
Mediums include magazines, newspapers, on
a billboard, online etc.
Who is the specific target audience? What is the specific aim of this
advertisement? (inform/persuade/remind
etc).
To identify the target audience, take note of:  Inform
- Diction  Persuade
- Register  Entertain
- Type of publication in which it  Educate
appeared

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Successful advertisements make use of:
1. Celebrities
2. Playing on human needs/emotions/desires
3. Humour
4. Persuasive Language (adjectives/puns/repetition/exaggeration/rhetorical questions)
5. Visual effects (headlines/pictures/graphics/fonts and sizing etc)

AIDA Principle:
Attention Grabbing the reader’s attention:
- Colour
- Pictures
- Bold lettering
- Emotive wording
Interest Once capturing the reader’s attention, interest must be held so that they will
take note of what is on offer:
- Done through special offers (for example: buy one, get one free or
providing warranties)
Desire Desire to purchase must be created:
- Persuading reader that this product/service will satisfy a need/want or
even offer a symbol of wealth and status (luxury brands).
Action The advertiser wants the customer to now act and purchase the product or
service.

Elements to take note of:

1. Size of lettering
- Bolded words will contain more important information than, for example, terms and
conditions which are usually in small font.
2. Use of colour or lack thereof
- Different colours symbolise different things, for example:
 Red = blood/anguish
 Blue = sky/sea/peace
 Black = evil/death/fear
 Green = nature/growth/harmony
3. Placement of logo, slogan and catchphrase
4. Emphasis on particular elements (for example, a word that describes the product or
service)
5. Approach which advertiser makes use of:
- Factual (provides statistics and logical reasoning)
- Emotional (strongly suggests that product/service will provide a solution to consumer’s
issue)
- Humorous approach (may poke fun at someone of particular importance)

Example to follow on the next page:

AIDA Principle colour coded (table and example)

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Take note of the elements highlighted and look out for these when analysing in tests/exams.

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