Editorial Cartoon: Equal Opportunity

Overview:

Activities will help students explore how editorial cartoons often use familiar adages or idioms in new ways to make a point about something.

This is the seventh lesson in the series "Using Editorial Cartoons to Teach Social Justice [1]."

Introduction

Sometimes, an artist will use a well-known saying, adage or idiom in an editorial cartoon. An adage is a popular saying that you may have heard before. An idiom is an expression that may seem to not make sense if taken literally.

Here are some examples of adages:

Look before you leap.

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

Here are some examples of idioms:

What’s up?

He calls the shots.

At times, an artist will use a famous adage or idiom, but change it just slightly in order to make a point.

Editorial Cartoon

Examine the cartoon below.

Artist: Peter Nicholson, Australia. Reprinted with Permission. Teachers may purchase individual cartoons for other lesson plans at PoliticalCartoons.com [2]

The cartoon above shows six figures. What are the three figures on the bottom doing? What are the three figures on the top doing?

The glass ceiling is a term you may have heard before. It refers to the idea that, in the workplace, an invisible barrier prevents women or members of minority groups from advancing in their career because of racism or sexism. They try to climb the ranks, but are stopped by a “glass ceiling,” a cap on their growth that isn’t acknowledged.

In this cartoon, the artist chose to change the saying from glass ceiling to class ceiling. Why do you think he did this? What do you think this means?

Activities

1. In small groups, make your own list of common adages, idioms and expressions. Here are a few to get you started:

Hit the sack.

Drop me a line.

It’s raining cats and dogs.

Read between the lines.

2. Choose one of the adages or idioms on your list. Like the example in the cartoon, change at least one word in the adage/idiom to make a point.

3. Create a poster to illustrate your new adage/idiom.

4. Present your poster to the rest of the class. Explain the original adage/idiom, your change to it, and the reason why you changed it the way you did.