Political cartoons are a form of art. Good ones succinctly sum up complex news stories into something that is immediately understandable, at a glance. They are an excellent way to share one’s opinion about politicians, as well as politics in general. Write a caption for a political cartoon, and you could win a signed print of it, complete with your suggested caption.
Most of the larger newspapers have a section that is devoted to political cartoons. You can count on at least a few of these cartoons to include a depiction of whomever the current President of the United States is. Other common symbols are images of “Uncle Sam”, and different versions of elephants and donkeys. The elephant is the symbol of the Republican party, and the Donkey is the symbol of the Democratic party. No matter what your own, personal, political affiliations happen to be, you will very likely be able to find a political cartoon that expresses exactly what you feel about the current election, or the big news stories of the day.
Although some political cartoons are made up of an image, without any words at all, most of them will include a caption. It is the combination of the drawing and the caption together that creates a strong statement. Most political cartoons are sarcastic, or are trying to point out something that has gone incredibly badly. When you look at a political cartoon that has a caption that matches your own feelings on the subject, you are likely to laugh, or at least smile, and then share that cartoon with your friends who feel the same way you do. To be effective, the caption must be just right.
Tom Toles is a cartoonist for the Washington Post. He has won the Pulitzer Prize. Right now, he is holding a caption contest for a political cartoon that he has drawn. This cartoon is for the upcoming State of the Union. It shows President Obama, standing behind a podium, holding a sign that says “State of the Union”. Above him is a large, empty, speech bubble. In the far background, there is a large aquarium that contains an octopus, a shark, and a swimming “Uncle Sam”, (among other things).
To enter the contest, you need to think up a caption for this cartoon. Enter your suggestion for a caption as a comment on the page that talks about the contest. Make sure that the email that you give is an active one, and is the email that is associated with your washingtonpost.com login. You have until January 24, 2011, to suggest a caption. The artist himself, Tom Toles, will read over all of the suggested captions, and will select a winner. The winner will receive a signed copy of that political cartoon, with your caption added in the speech bubble.
Image by Serge Melki on Flickr