Text in Cartoons

A cartoon often uses humour through images and, sometimes text to convey a social or political view point.

Often, the text in a cartoon is figurative and short. Its purpose is to add to the social or political commentary and it should be considered part of the whole of the message of the cartoon.

How do you can breakdown the meaning of text in cartoons:

• Look at the source – where is the text coming from? Is it a particular character, is it a heading, is it a commentary?
• How is the text written? Size does matter and font style. Capitalised letters and bold represent strong forceful statements while curly letters lean towards creativity and flexibility.
• Break down the text into smaller parts (just like what you do with figurative language in a poem) and then find the connotations / association with each part. Then put the meaning together.

Because the text often involves humour, here are the different types of humour or comedic devices involved so you can identify them, if required, in your exam:

• Hyperbole/Exaggeration - is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated or extravagant. It may be used to reflect or affect strong feelings or a strong impression.
• Incongruity – something doesn’t conform to what is expected.
• Surprise - unexpected
• Sarcasm - Sarcasm is "a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter gibe or taunt"
• Irony - what appears, on the surface, to be the case or to be expected differs radically from what is actually the case.
• Stereotype - Stereotypes in humour are when an exaggerated and oversimplified version of a person or group of people is used to poke fun at the original
• Repetition – builds tension and release. Is used to emphasise a point.
• Pun - A pun consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for humorous effect, whether humorous or serious. An example: The chicken crossed the playground to get to the other slide!

Let's look at these types of questions in the examples below. We'll also put into practice the approach to answering questions learnt in previous checkpoints.

Example Question/s

Watch video for explanation of the following question/s:

1. Let’s break down the text in each cartoon. Who? What? Meaning?
2. Are there any comedic devices used? What are they?

"Platnik Fishing Cartoon Playing Cards" by andertoons is licensed under CC BY 2.0

"GoodNews!" by aboondoggle is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Key Rules to remember

• To get meaning from text: Who? What? Break down further.
• What comedic devices are being used? Look at the structure of the piece and the words used.

Practice time!

Now, it's your turn to practice.

Click on the button below and start your practice questions. We recommend doing untimed mode first, and then, when you're ready, do timed mode.

Every question has two solutions videos after you complete the question. The first is a quick 60 second video that shows you how our expert answers the question quickly. The second video is a more in-depth 5-steps or less explainer video that shows you the steps to take to answer the question. It's really important that you review the second video because that's where you'll learn additional tips and tricks.

Once you're done with the practice questions, move on to the next checkpoint.

Now, let's get started on your practice questions.