Political Rhetoric

                When I first heard that our assignment was going to be on politics and oppression I wasn’t very excited. I don’t know much about politics, and there isn’t much about it that interests me, but then after the assignment was explained more thoroughly I felt better. I knew I wanted to do something that had to do with the great depression, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. There weren’t many text based examples which is what I originally wanted, so I decided to search for a picture. The whole picture thing started out badly, but then I got lucky and stumbled upon this photo. In my chosen photo two men stand in front of an apple stand. The one on the left, the black and white image represents the great depression. The man on the right, the colored image represents today’s economy. The rhetorical situation in this image is that because of the economic problems the men are now jobless and because of that are being forced to sell apples on the street. I think that this cartoon was pretty straight forward and that most of its audience picked up on it.

                The thing that really drew me to the cartoon was the fact that it compares the great depression to the economic depression that is happening in the United States currently. I think that the author did a good job at the comparison by making the 1929 cartoon color and today’s in color. I also liked the fact that today’s apple seller is selling organic apples. I also liked the fact that the author made today’s apples organic. Many people believe that organic is the way to go when it comes to produce. Studies have shown that not only is organic more expensive, but it’s shown to not be any better for you than non-organic foods, and like the way the author used that to compare the economy in 1929, and their beliefs. I feel like the author has an opinion on why the economy is the way it is, but it doesn’t come through this cartoon. Personally, I think this cartoon closely relates to the views about social relationships involving authority or power, because of the comparison that the author made. I think that this is also a reflection of what our government officials are doing for our country. The author did a good job at making the cartoon clear, and persuasive. The fact that the men so closely resemble each other makes me feel that our country’s economic situation is more serious than I previously thought.