http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/8cbbf998-7a76-42bd-8cb2-6f8d5d9abd2f.html
The general subject of this cartoon is the spreading wildfires in California. This is a something that is being shown on local and national news daily and nightly. The piece seems to be addressing the general public. Because this is a highly publicized issue it would seem that most people know about it. The meaning would probably change if the audience were the people who are having their homes destroyed by the fires. The idea here is that people really get into halloween with costumes, parties and decorating and sometimes it's hard to tell if their houses are really haunted or if their characters are really fake and it's as if California is putting on the costume of
a burning state. In reality this isn't true but it is true that these wild fires are really going too far and destroying much of southern California. The tone of the text isn't exactly serious but I don't think it is laugh-out-loud funny either. It seems more like a relief piece. So while having your house burned down is not funny, seeing trick-or-treaters who think this is part of halloween might be. The visual of the large fire in the background is hard to not notice. That is why I assume it is the problem with fire (more specifically fire in California as mentioned in the caption) that is the context for this cartoon. To understand the meaning of this cartoon the audience has to be in a Discourse that is knowledgeable about halloween, the annual occurrence of wildfires and the huge problem with combating the fires at this time.
The general subject of this cartoon is the spreading wildfires in California. This is a something that is being shown on local and national news daily and nightly. The piece seems to be addressing the general public. Because this is a highly publicized issue it would seem that most people know about it. The meaning would probably change if the audience were the people who are having their homes destroyed by the fires. The idea here is that people really get into halloween with costumes, parties and decorating and sometimes it's hard to tell if their houses are really haunted or if their characters are really fake and it's as if California is putting on the costume of a burning state. In reality this isn't true but it is true that these wild fires are really going too far and destroying much of southern California. The tone of the text isn't exactly serious but I don't think it is laugh-out-loud funny either. It seems more like a relief piece. So while having your house burned down is not funny, seeing trick-or-treaters who think this is part of halloween might be. The visual of the large fire in the background is hard to not notice. That is why I assume it is the problem with fire (more specifically fire in California as mentioned in the caption) that is the context for this cartoon. To understand the meaning of this cartoon the audience has to be in a Discourse that is knowledgeable about halloween, the annual occurrence of wildfires and the huge problem with combating the fires at this time.
No comments:
Post a Comment