Monday, January 30, 2012

Mental Insecticide

What is the implication of this cartoon?  Who is the intended audience?  What are the appeals? DUE 2/3

17 comments:

  1. Kori Weaver

    The implication of this cartoon is that people are still just as racist as they were back when there still were slaves and everyone pretends not to know about it.

    The intended audience, I believe, are those that say that there isn't anymore racism in our country, or just in general the white population.

    The appeals are pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos, because there are so many people that believe that there really isn't any more racism, but are racist themselves. Logos, because most of us know that there is still racism and some just refuse to believe that. Ethos because Uncle Sam appears to be taking the racism out of people.

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  2. This cartoon is saying how the US is still full of racists and their ideals are still deeply buried in many people's minds.

    It appeals to those in our country who are either too ignorant to see, or choose not to see that out country's dark past is still fresh in many minds across America

    I believe it appeals to pathos because it's saying to everyone,"look at this pest, the very vermin you despise most resides in the hearts and minds of your neighbors."

    -Thomas George

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  3. This cartoon is trying to say that, as Americans, we have loads of bugs in our heads that are causing us to say and do unreasonable things, including being racially prejudiced. There are swarms of people who are racist, or who make racist remarks but don't even realize it all the time. The cartoonist seems to believe that our ENTIRE country needs to be "cleansed" of racist stupidity in order to move on in the world.
    The intended audience is a group that sees that racism still exists in America, even in modern days. The major appeal that I see is one to ethos, because it establishes this agreement with the viewer that racism is still rampant, even in our developed country. Pathos is also seen because for many people, anything that relates to racism, sexism, or any other -ism can incite particular feelings in various groups of people.

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  4. I think this cartoon is saying that America needs to get rid of racial prejudices. Not just America, but the world too. America is the worst when it comes to being racist. Almost as worst when slavery was around.
    The intended audience is people that think the racism isn't in the world anymore. Along with the people that need to have their eyes opened to the fact the America is racist.
    The appeals are both pathos and a little bit of ethos. Pathos because racism affects everyone. The people being racist and the people who are being affected by it. And a little bit of ethos because if we got rid of racism, then this world would look at everyone as the same. Logos doesn't have a role in this cartoon.

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  5. I think what this cartoon is implying is that America is, as a whole, racist in majority. Sure we have ourselves a black president, but that doesnt stop us from saying or doing the things we do. Although the whole world is racist in retrospect, but America is byfar one of the worst.

    The intended audience is morelikely than not the racist population of America. This may also be directed at those who dont realize that America is infact a racist country, or who just refuse to beleive that fact.

    Pathos is very highly appealed to in this cartoon, because when u look at racism, it tends to be a very sensitive topic to many people. Although ethos is appealed to because look at the facts look at the society we live in today, racial sterio types are used in everyday communication.

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  6. This cartoon is referring to this country's ever-present racial prejudices, he is saying that those who may not think they have racial prejudices may be surprised what's really inside their head. The intended audience is clearly the American population due to the use of Uncle Sam as the exterminator. I think this appeals to mostly pathos because he is simply conveying his perspective of American society and doesn't refer to any cold hard facts. He also doesn't establish any character.

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  7. Well, this carton is very bold in what it represents. Here, in the United States, we are known as a country full of rather ignorant/arrogant people and when things are unpleasant or annoying we tend to call them "pests." The cartoonist is very frank saying, saying that, Americans are all suffering from a severe case of "mental pests." At the very top of the cartoon it says, that the counrty needs a good cleansing. It seems to imply that the government is trying to "brainwash," us into normalcy. He uses racial discrimination as an example of what they are trying to cleanse. However, I would like to pose this question: is it the individual's job, or the government's, to change our minds?

    This cartoon appeals to mostly to adults through ethos and pathos. They appeal to ethos in the sense that the artist uses the idea of the whole country dealing with this problem. That creates a sense of reliabilty, especially by using racism - somthing familiar to most people. They can relate easily. The artist also heavily uses pathos. He uses the idea of racism and other possible mental pests to help people feel sympathetic.

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  8. Americans pride themselves in being the country that stands up for equality and justice around the world. This makes it rather awkward when racism is brought up. Americans all are aware of the racism that took place in our country just within the last century. The South is infamous for its treatment of blacks. What the cartoon implies is that, whether we suspect it or not, racism is still flourishing within our country today and we are all contaminated by it.

    There is another, slighter, implication made in this cartoon that I found particularly interesting. In the cartoon, Uncle Sam, symbolizing the government, is shown as the person eradicating the 'racial prejudice bug'. Is it truly the government's job to handle the task of ending racism? Do they have to right to force Americans to think a certain way? I'm in no way encouraging racism, but I found the suggestion of the government controlling what we think rather alarming.

    The intended audience are those who are unaware or ignore that racism is still in our cultural mindset today. The artist is hoping that his audience will realize the error in the way they think and will make corrections to stop racism within their own mannerisms and within the country's.

    The appeal in this cartoon is pathos. Racism makes many people's blood boil. It easily upsets them and brings up past wrong-doings. A sense of victimization spreads through those who have suffered or whose people once suffered from racism. On the otherside, those who are racist or whose people were racist are awash with feelings of remorse and guilt at past crimes.

    There are no appeals to ethos or logos in the cartoon.

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  9. The first thing I notice about this cartoon is the Dr. Seuss theme. All of Dr. Seuss’ books are fantasy, non-realistic. I think this has a lot to do with what the author is trying to say. America has been racist since the beginning, literally. Trying to change America to what it’s used to being is almost non-realistic. We all have a racist part of us, even though we may not act on it. Many people pretend that it doesn’t exist, but we all know it does.

    The intended audience is Americas who try to ignore the racism problem we have in our country. The author’s hope is that we realize what we are doing, and that we try to change it. We can’t sit around and expect nothing to happen, or just ignore it. The author expresses pathos. He wants to give America’s a reality check. We have to change our racist ways.

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  10. Although there is truly no panacea to racial inequality or prejudice, this cartoon is a profound reminder that the racial problems are as much of a problem today, as they were a century ago. Considering, in the past, how tolerable we were when it came to such matters; no one can deny that we’ve made progress. Even after the emancipation proclamation, it was obvious that everything wasn’t straightened out, people don’t change their way of thinking over-night. The worst part is that racial-prejudice is fostered through the subconscious, family beliefs, morals, traditions and is a generational factor, very hard to cleanse and start a-new.

    This cartoon lays emphasis on America as a whole when it comes to such matters, stating that we need to be cleaned of racial impurities and start a-new. This cartoon suggests that such prejudices are subconscious. The cartoon implies once severed from the ‘bug’ that dominates that American way of thinking; one can finally acknowledge his own faults.

    I felt this political depiction displayed equal amounts of Logos and Pathos. Logos was displayed through the factual nature of the cartoon: that America is tainted by racial prejudice. Pathos was embedded into the whole cartoon in general, it provokes emotion, most notably guilt.

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  11. This cartoon is trying to point out that everyone has some sort of racial prejudice inside them. People can state that they see past people's races, but it is nearly impossible to see past our physical differences, and it's a shame that we can not identify our unique differences in this society. The intended audience is the American people, due to the portrayal of Uncle Sam as the "exterminator." I think the cartoon could possibly be directed more specifically to people who think that they never have racist thoughts. There is a strong appeal to pathos, because racism in general is completely emotional.

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  12. Everyone, get your tinfoil hats ready! The government has been trying to get into our minds for years, and now some of the American public is trying to let them. Of course this cartoon is portraying it as a good thing by saying that the government should rid our minds of racial prejudice but if this were to really happen that would be letting out a hole new can of worms. I think that the artist is one of those socialists who thinks that the government needs to be more invold in our lives. On the other hand Unlce Sam looks like he has a mean and scary face so maybe the artist might be saying, "What This Country Needs Is A Good Mental Insecticide." in a sarcastic way. Maybe he's saying the the government could do some good every once in a while but for the most part it's a bad thing. But, I'm pretty sure that the artist was hinging at the first suggestion I said he was. I feel that the audience is the American people. I think that the author uses pathos in the sense that it's hinting at brain washing which has been a scary subject to conspiracy theorists for many years now. Another appeal to pathos is the talk about racism in it which is a very touchy subject. The author appeals to ethos by using Uncle Sam which is a prominent figure in American history. I don't find any appeals to logos.

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  13. Silly America, racism was supposed to be over decades ago. This cartoon is portraying a rather comical outlook on the most recent racism issue we have regarding our country and the prejudice and racial inequality that comes along with it. Uncle Sam in this is being shown as the "government", who is thoughtfully debugging our minds of the pests we have crawling around in our heads. It's essentially saying that our minds are now clean and free of prejudice, though it's a known fact that all around the world, to this day, discrimination and racism run through many of our daily lives.

    The intended audience would be adults I believe, who understand the inner workings of the government and follow it routinely. The main appeal is pathos, because it stirs the emotion is us and makes you think twice about what is going on with our society today. Will it ever end?

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  14. This cartoon is really just implying that America is full of prejudiced people which is in no way wrong. We really are very prejudiced people and that is one of the major things that is tearing our country apart. Now.. we obviously dont have a bug inside our heads but if their was then i suppose that people would line up to get it out, because the fact that we cant see past the differences of others is a shame. Many people do say that they dont see others of a different race or religion different than themselves, but lets be honest, we all know the go through the head of every American in our society when we see Hispanic people on the news because they tried to get across the border.

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  15. This cartoon is implying that the government wants to get rid of the "racial prejudice bug" that we have in our heads with "mental insectiside." It also implies that we may not even realize that the bug is in our heads. Based on the line of (mostly) white old guys, the audience is the majoyity of Americans, specifically those partaking in racisim - even those who do not realize they are being racist.

    Pathos is appealed to because people get angry about racism and want to do something about it. Ethos comes into play because people agree that racism whould be exterminated, so they agree with the author.

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