Tuesday, December 6, 2011

US Politics

Explain the cartoon.  What do you think the artist is trying to convey?  Comment on the appeals.  DUE 12/12

14 comments:

  1. The cartoon is trying to say that we should tax everything. That we already tax everything, so why not just tax craziness. I believe that the artist is trying to say that being out of this world crazy isn't out of the norm. And that crazy should be taxed along with every single thing we already tax.
    I believe this appeals to logos the most, then ethos and pathos. Because its true that we tax everything and adding one more thing probably won't kill us. I really don't see the other two in this cartoon.

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  2. I think that what the cartoon is trying to say is there is so much crazy in U.S. politics that we should tax it. This goes along with how the government is finding ways to tax everything these days.
    Ethos is highly appealed in this cartoon because if you look at politics there is alot of crazy, and the facts show that there IS a tax on EVERYTHING. Next is pathos because this is suppose to enrage the reader. Finally logos, our logical way of thinking in the U.S. is "Go hard or go home." and the government is choosing to go hard by setting up all of these different taxes.

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  3. As the elderly couple watches politics on TV and sees what everyone on it are saying and doing,the old man implies, by saying that there should be a tax on crazy, that if America actually did impose such a tax, the government would soon be able to fund itself.

    Ethos is established, because by showing an understanding of American politics, the artist keeps up with current events and knows a few things about our world.

    Pathos is effectively used in this cartoon. The face on the politician made me laugh the moment that I saw it. I believe that the artist tried to combine comedic relief while showing a view point on a serious topic.

    As this is more of an opinion, no matter how wide this opinion is, there isn't much logos in the cartoon as far as I can see.

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  4. This cartoon is rather amusing to say the least!This artist has cleverly portrayed a very common problem we face here in the US everyday: taxes. Taxes are a source of endless groans in society and they are aggrivating to most. Many debates are going on about wether or not we should raise taxes and to most the very thought of raising taxes is sheer insantity--hence the artists comment about crazy politics!
    I feel that the appeals are to Pathos and Ethos. The artist appeals to pathos in the sense that the cartoon both upsets, and amuses the reader. It appeals to ethos because it refers to well known debates that the audience can relate to. Overall a very interesting cartoon!

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  6. If I were to truly examine this cartoon to my most profound extents, I would only shame my sense of pride and sully my faith. I’m not one to give into the semantics of heartfelt pessimism, but the current condition of the United States is a true reflection of those running it, those whose very jobs depend on the Democratic system they seek to protect. When I think about politics, all of my thoughts, my rationality, leave softly like a dream, and I condemn myself to the very mindless prose that has so gently split us from the realities of an ideal nation. Everything becomes arbitrary; logic doesn’t exist. This is the world of politics. Its absurdities fill me with the pressing urge to go outside and talk to the pigeons. Why, maybe they’ll listen to me.

    Surely the artist of this cartoon shares my pure cynicism towards this issue. No one likes to satisfy the amusements of criticizing their own authoritative figures, but the political-tragedy known as our government continues to unsurprisingly astound us with their pure, undeniable stupidity. Truthfully, I’ve seen more intellect from freshman. It has brought upon the fleetingly humorous idea that perhaps we should tax the “crazy” tendencies of these redundantly idiotic politicians. I laugh at the notion, but the feeling is ephemeral, and I am once again bound by the brinks of reality. What was I laughing at? And I never remember.

    In terms of rhetoric, I find logos to be the dominant appeal. Its acknowledgement towards the lunacy of politicians is a testament to the perspective of the author, and uses this to address its intended audience using the crushing grip of reason. More importantly, the cartoon is sensible and concise with its message.

    Perhaps there is a drop of pathos, albeit it’s subtle at best. The issue being asserted is not only extremely general, but it also examines very commonly felt assumptions. Despite my own sentimentalities expressed from this cartoon, I still believe that it is not intended to stir up such emotions.

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  7. Keifer, Coggin 12/12/11

    The entire nation is in debt, thats no surprise. The Government however is taxing a lot of people. Now im not agenst that, but the amount of tax out there is insane. All im saying is for the amount thats taxed we shouldnt be in this much debt.

    Now the guy in this comic is watching TV, and what he is watching is U.S politics. The authors interpitation of this is to express to the reader that U.S politics is crazy. Then also adds if we would put a tax on it one of two things would happen.

    First, maybe beacuse there would now be a tax on crazy no one would be crazy -or- as crazy. Now that might happen and if it did maybe we would be more rational in our own choices that we would make. Or the second choice would be that everyone would still act crazy and that would take care of the debt, but both are unlikely going to happen.

    The author establishes a good point though, saying that this stuff is just crazy and needs to be settled in a much more quiet fashion. Sure its better then the older days, but still we act like little children when this stuff all happens.

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  8. I think that the cartoon is basically just saying that because of how stupid our politicians are, we should tax them for their stupidity. Honestly, these people just can't keep themselves out of trouble; it's somewhat sad.

    This pays some attention to ethos given the fact that we have taxes on just about everything, so why not tax our politicians.

    It also pays attention to pathos because it's funny how unintelligent our politicians are yet it is still upsetting.

    "If I couldn't laugh at stupidity, I would just cry."

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  9. The crazy antics on both sides of the political spectrum, have no doubt taken a profound effect on American society today. With right and left wing extremists' right around every corner, splurging offensive slurs, and giving out empty promises what really can the American people think other than: Crazy?

    The majority of this cartoon appealed to Logos: by stating the simple fact that Politics today is a corrupt game, bent on profit, fame, and money. Ethos was established through the onlookers of the television, the American people.

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  10. The cartoonist is trying to get one main point across: his belief that everything about American politics is absolutely insane. The policies that both sides of our legislation come up with can be entirely ridiculous and unhelpful to our country's citizens, our politicians act like animals and children instead of resolving issues through mature discussion, and politicians that are running for office are slandering other candidates and acting foolish. The artist simply wants to make the point that everything about politics in our country is completely inane and ridiculous. He uses the dialogue of the older man to say that if we put a tax on insanity, our country would be rich by now.

    The cartoonist appeals to ethos through the use of the couple watching TV. Almost all average Americans can relate to the act of watching television and seeing what their "dignified" politicians are up to at the time. What the man says in the cartoon also appeals to ethos, because talk about taxes is rampant lately in our country, due to talk about Occupy Wall Street and upcoming elections for new politicians that will choose to tax or un-tax certain things. Logos is also seen in the simple logic that nearly everything our politicians seem to be doing lately makes them seem pretty crazy. Pathos is not seen much, unless you happen to be involved in politics. A politician who saw this cartoon may become offended and enraged at the fact that a cartoonist was calling him/her crazy.

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  11. Danny "Ladies man" SiepkerDecember 12, 2011 at 4:08 PM

    The author of this political cartoon is trying to express his dissatisfaction with politicians, and their economic policies. The author is jokingly stating that if there was a tax on crazy, the government wouldn't be in so much debt. I believe this cartoon appeals to pathos, because while none (or almost none) of our politicians are actually insane, the American people like to assume ideas not similar to theirs are insane. The cartoons purpose it to get the American people upset that "crazy" people are deciding how much money to take from them, and who to take it from

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  12. You can assume that the couple on the couch thinks the politics are crazy. Based on the face of the U.S. Politics man, they would be right. Everyone is wating to tax so many crazy things, that they sound crazy. Therefore, if we could tax crazy, it would solve all of our problems and we would be rich.

    The artist appeals to ethos because people can relate and agree with the idea that U.S. politics may be crazy, and some of the taxes are crazy. Logos is appealed to the most, because it seems reasonable to say that U.S. politics can be crazy, and that if we taxed crazy then we would always have somthing to tax. The appeal to pathos is not so great, but you can feel angry about all the taxes, or laugh at the irony of "taxing the crazy."

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  13. This cartoon presumes to explain the current issue with our government- taxes. Moan and groan all you want, but there will soon be a tax on just about everything, even craziness. If only we used this tax, we could easily pull ourselves out of debt, work on a plan within the next few years to keep ourselves OUT of debt, and live the "American Dream" we so blindly have been promised.

    This highly appeals to ethos I believe, because we can easily relate. Logos is another big one, in a sense that the logic behind the cartoon is reasonable. We understand what the elderly couple is perceiving and feeling, and US politics will only get crazier over time.

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  14. The cartoon depicts an elderly couple watching political programming on television. The man says "maybe we could put a tax on crazy" saying that how the government seems to want to tax anything and everything is crazy. If we taxed things that are insane the Government would have more than enough funding just from our politicians alone.

    The cartoon appeals mainly to pathos because it offers an image that is supposed to make you laugh at the alleged craziness that is U.S. politics. The cartoon does not appeal to ethos or logos because it does not establish any character and (even though there is reasoning behind it) it does not offer any reasoning as to why the author thinks this.

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