What's Behind Cartoons?

For many years, editorial cartoons have been a good source to state opinions about political, economic, and social issues. One thing in common among all of them, is their use of symbols, or situations that seem familiar to us, which offer insights into our national, local, and international cultures. An editorial cartoonist has an advantage that other journalists, including editorial writers, do not share. Cartoonists are able, if not encouraged, to voice their personal biases in their work. The cartoonist’s reliance on caricatures and exaggerated features creates an artistic license that is not shared by those that work with the written word.


Effective symbolism works its way from editorial cartoons into the mainstream American culture. For example, the donkey and the elephant were first used to represent the two major U.S. political parties in the cartoons of Thomas Nast. Mr. Nast is also credited for giving us our modern day depiction of Santa Claus. Other cartoons have created symbols such as a dragon for China and Uncle Sam for the United States. This editoiral cartoons have become beyond popular in the past couple decades, cartoonists come up with some of the craziest, and random things, which makes it interesting to read. But according to a study by Carl (1968), he found out that 70% of newspaper readers were unable to identify the meaning of which the cartoonist intended to communicate in an editorial cartoon.

I never understood what they were really trying to say when I read this editorial cartoons, that's why I never bother reading them, because I will literally sit there and try to find the meaning of it, and in the end I never do. Before, back in the days when I used to read the comic ones, with Charlie Brown, now those I did get most of the time, and were quite funny. An editorial cartoonist should have a clear message for each one of his or her cartoons. Each cartoonist has a different style, a different technique and a different viewpoint. However, each cartoonist should try to clearly and concisely communicate his or her ideas on one topic for each cartoon. The goal should be to make the reader think about an important social or political issue of the time. An effective political cartoon is truly a work of art. It requires a balance of art and politics that is subtle enough to make the reader think yet obvious enough to be understood by the intended audience. A good editorial cartoonist is capable of striking the right balance and creating cartoons that are enjoyed and admired.

Free to Voice Out!!

Our nation is known to let those who want to speak, speak. The bill of rights allow us citizens to let our voices be heard, whether if it is in a good way, or a bad way. If a leader of an unknown hate group were to step foot on my campus, I wouldn't oppose to him/her being there. I mean there isn't much I can do, but to share my opinions with that individual as well. Legally, he/she is not breaking any law, therefore they should be protected under the First Amendment.

In my opinion, I would defend such individual from using inflammatory racist language, because after all he or she does have the right to say what he/she feels is right to say, many might not like what he/she might be saying, but they have the Freedom of Speech to do so. If i didn't like a certain subject persay, or if I was against something being said or done, I would put my vioce out there and say what I feel towards that matter, some may oppose to it, or soe=me may be in favor with me, but I do have the right to speak my mind out, just as freely as the hate leader is allowed to.

After all, nobody can really say nothing to that person, regarding police officers or so, because we do live in a world were we can't really be controlled. If the person giving the hate speech doesn't start any fights or cause any type of damage to anyone then he's good to go. And if in any case, he does provoke anyone, then he will be asked to leave, or I will try to situate the problem, it's only fair. I mean we can't simply take that right from someone, because if we do, then it complicates everyone's rights to Freedom of Speech. That wouldn't be such a good idea, because that's all we pretty much have. If the government takes complete control of that, then we won't have much to protect ourselves from, I mean the government already violates our privacy by using high technology to find things, and sometimes they break into people's houses without a warrant, so if Freedom of Speech is taken away simply because someone is voicing there opinion in a rude, or insulting manner, then it can affect all of us. I believe, that people should have the right to say whatever they feel free to say, and those who don't agree can either put up a front and give their opinions, or they can just simply walk away and not even pay attention to what he or she is saying.

Love Yourself, Before You Love Others!

Most of us with out even noticing it, we tend to love others, before we even get the chance to love our own self. Then they wonder why things go wrong, they get to involve trying to make others happy, while at the same time they’re sitting around trying to figure how to make themselves happy. It doesn’t work like, I personally believe that having self-respect is more important. Not being comfortable with yourself, brings unhappiness. self- respect is recognizing that everything worth having has a price, which is followed by happiness.


I live by the quote, “Love yourself first, before you love others”. This quote was introduced to me by a close friend back in High School. I remember feeling left out, I don’t know if I felt sad, or lonely, I just knew that I wasn’t the person I was used to being, I never paid to much attention to myself. I felt like I was being trapped in this black whole, not knowing how to escape from it, just like any typical teenager at that point in their lives feels when they hit that stage in high school. One day, I walked into my English class, we were have way through the semester when a new girl joined our class. The teacher sat her right behind me, I looked back at her, not with a smile, but not with a mean face either. Next thing you know, with a blink of an eye we became close friends, we started talking and hanging out more often. What’s ironic is, that just knowing this chick for so little time, through my smiles, and laughs she was able to tell that there was something wrong. One evening during lunch, she comes and sits next to me and asks me, “What’s wrong?”, I said, “nothing, why?”, My intentions weren’t to show anything, I mean I didn’t even feel like I was portraying some sort of expression, or body language, but I guess their was enough evidence for her to catch on. Then she popped out with the question, “Do you love yourself?”, in the back of my head, I was like, “what the hell is she talking about”. I started thinking, and deep inside I knew I wasn’t happy with the way I was, I felt not comfortable within my own self, and I responded back, “I’ve never thought about myself like that”. I Must have been in denial, she shared some of her past experiences, that were quite touching, and I thought to myself, oh man, she has it way worse than me, and I’m just complaining about how I don’t like certain things about myself. Through her words, I learned how to love myself for who I was, and learned to recognize that everything I was and had was worth being happy for. In the end, I got over my fears, and applied the “self-respect rule”, which in my eyes was, learn to love yourself, before you choose to love anyone else, whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves, and in return one will seek happiness.


This close friend, and I continue to be friends, I share this story, because it was life changing. I mean, yes, we were young at heart, but we knew what it was like to feel uncomfortable in our own shoes. Through the many conversations we had, we learned a lot about ourselves and became happy campers. Now and days, I see friends, and just people in general, struggling and feeling down because so and so left them, or did them wrong ect, only if they knew that by having self-respect, it is much easier to overcome all that. Self-respect can be taken away just by a simple face expression, that expresses to the other person that their ugly for example, but people can’t take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them. When you express love, acceptance, and respect, you create happiness within.

How we speak to each other.

Men and women are very interesting to observe, especially when it comes down to non-verbal communication. We may have similarities, in those that men and women both have two hands, two legs, two ear, and a mouth I'm pretty sure most of us know how to use, but when it comes to communicating, we are completely different opposites. Statistically, it is said that 65-93% of men and women communicate non-verbally, by applying non-verbal behaviors, for example, gestures, emotion, status, and relational quality.

When it comes to the purpose of talk, I have come to realize that, men tend to lean more over to the independant side, and women tend to relie on intimacy. Men like rules, and most of the time, they follow them right when it's convienant for them, right ladies? Women, are based more on relationships. They like to commune, rather than to go by the rules. Surprisingly, there are interesting differences between the expressions used to introduce men's and women's speech. When it comes to speaking, men speak more firmly, and bluntly. They shout out things with urge, and aggressivness, making it a challenging conversation. On the other hand, women speak more innocently and quietly, along with obedience. When we women talk, we talk with loyalty, and offer humbly, and always with a smile, can't forget the smile! Now, when it comes to intimacy, I think non-verbal communication takes place more in relationships, because men and women express their emotions in totally different ways. Women have more high self disclosure, and they like to share things by showing emotion. Talking for women is not a hard thing, for a women talking is the key to developing and maintaining relationships. When it comes to men, they have less disclosure, and they love to share things by using their knowledge, and by what they have already retained and learned from past experiences.

I mean there are multiple ways to use non- verbal communication, the things listed above are just few of the many examples that are out there. Many of us don't even notice we use non-verbal communication; it's like we have all become immune to it, that no one even realizes it. Most people, when they are having a simple conversation use it, for example, let's say for instance your friend is telling you a story, about what happened to her/him over the weekend, and so your just standing there listening, but at the same time you're making gestures, or showing some sort of body language that is telling her you are listening by non-verbally communicating to her. I think about this all the time, I tell myself how is it that we all have managed to adapt ourselvesto such a way of communicating to one another, it's crazy to me, but at the same time interesting how it just fits everyone to use it. I know for a fact, I do it all the time, and I never catch myself in the act of doing it, until I am done talking. Then that is when I try to go back and remember the conversation and see if I actually applied any of the facial expressions, or body language letting my audience know that we are on the same page. The way I see it, is as a whole new different language, I believe it is not the same language being spoken to one another, even though both parties maybe using non-verbal communication it's different because, everyone has their own unique way in communicating non-verbally. Each individual shows off different vibes, that allow just that person to understand what is really going on. For example, it's just like is two people were having a conversation in a different language that you didn't understand what they were saying, It's basically the same concept with non-verbal communication. :)

It's ok to come out the closet, and talk!

In general, conversational obstacles’ exit between members of the same sex due to gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, social class, and age. Certain people of the same sex can be individualism, or collectivism. An individual person, is a very independent individual and uses "I" language, and is very self reliance. A collective person is interdependent, uses "we" language, and likes to work as a group, togetherness, and harmony. Women, tend to me more cooperative, have rational success, are softer and nicer, and relationship oriented. Men, are more competitive, based more on material success, task oriented, and are hard and tough. But of course, there is always those individuals that put up a front, which creates obstacles between the same sex.

Gender differences in the purpose of talk, include for males, they have more urge towards indecency, they go by rules, "report talk" in public and private, their more quite at home, and they interrupt to control, as oppose to females, they are more intimate, they like to build relationships, "rapport talk" in public and private, they are more talkative at home, and they interrupt to commune. When women talk they endure high self closure, and emotion sharing, We like to talk to develop and maintain relationships. Men endure less self disclosure, and use knowledge sharing, they like to use activities to develop and maintain a relationship.

I believe that it isn't easy for a son and father, and for a daughter and mother to have that type of interpersonal communication. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but most mothers, and fathers don't have the courage to actually sit there and have a conversation with their children. Most parents intimidate them by telling them if certain things, like for example, mom says, "if i catch you doing something your not suppose to, your going to get it!", I mean I don't know about you but I can just picture my mom telling me that with a serious tone. It's a good thing that parents put a halt to situations by doing that, but it also has it's cons. Children are most likely to not express to their parents they've done something wrong, even if it is a big, or small problem. And of course, as we get much older, now it becomes a situation were, ok I'm old enough to know what I am doing, so therefore I don't have to tell my mother or father everything I do, but again. it's not like that with everybody. If parents, actually grew the courage to talk and open up their daughter, or son I honestly think they will learn to have successful interpersonal communication amongst each other, more trust will be within each other.

It's ok to have an accent!

. Foreign language is a hot issue in the United States. I believe that colleges and Universities should be required to have a foreign language in order to graduate. Primarily, because at this point, all businesses and jobs require for an individual to have a foreign language, or some type of skill that can be handy. i mean everywhere you pretty much go, the only languages you'll here a person talk is English and Spanish, there the top two languages spoken here in the United States. I mean knowing at least one foreign language is a virtue. Many businesses and companies give preference to candidates with foreign language skills, they also find it helpful to have signs, instructors, in both languages for their clients. In general it smoothes relations with foreign clients. I believe that people who don't have or practice a second language will face some challenges along the road, this nation is becoming more and more cultural, and it's going to continue to. I can't name not one business or job in the United States, that speaks just the English language. Regardless of the major you choose to do, in the end one is better off knowing a foreign language, that's the bottom line.I agree in that it is difficult for an individual to retain so much at such a developed age. The problem is that it is not required, but when it is taught. By the time they reach high school, most people have firmly rooted themselves in their primary language. However, brains are more malleable in their ways of language, but can still be taught. For example math is required to all college or University students, and many of the start from scratch, which is math 50 and build their way up, it's the same thing with a language except, letters are replacing numbers and variables. I believe we should all have the opportunity to pick at least one other language and have the passion to dedicate too and learn their ways of communicating. It's a neat thing to learn a different language, because it also helps to understand your own, and helps you built up your social skills by knowing something from a different culture. The job market continues to grow more and more competitive and our generation is being affected. By college and University students learning a new language is the key in distinguishing you from your competition. There is no doubt that learning a new language can only help a person get ahead in business, and I think there is no better way to do that than with wanting to know more. Therefore, colleges and Universities should require atleast one foreign class in order for admission or graduation, it will take them far and they will feel comfort knowing they have a stable job, instead of competing with another person for the same job.

Underneath My Shadow

Brown healthy hair dangling down my back, wearing a grey sweat shirt, with black warm-up pants, and my Mocasin shoes are what completes my outfit. Simple and athletic is what I like to refer it as, makes me feel relaxed and free from jeans that stick to me. I see my outfit, as seeing a person who loves to do outdoor hobbies. What is interesting though is how another person can view a certain outfit with a complete different perspective. Like that of an Artist, an artist can use their imagination beyond of what a normal person would, in other words, they are very talented and skilled individuals that use virtue of imagination to display amazing works of aesthetic value. An artist can paint a portrait using these three description, they have that nature to use their imagination and draw whatever comes to mind. If I was an artist, my portrait would consist of a drawing with a background that has trees surrounded around the land with lean short green grass, and a girl with long brown hair, aligned towards the left, with a soccer ball beneath her right foot wearing her mocasin shoes, having her back face the painter, forshadowing. Her clothes would be athletic attire, and somewhat fit to her body accordingly. The significance to the painter, would mean that, this girl is feminine, and enjoys playing with nature and what it has to offer.

A tailor is someone that enjoys making, repairing, and altering garments. I guess you can say someone that likes fashion, and likes to create new outfits. Out of the three descriptions, a tailor could take a piece of each clothing and make it into his/her own outfit. This is pretty neat, because it shows an individuals talent, and how his/her imagination works towards clothing. The tailor can also just leave my outfit as is without taking parts of it. A tailor can view my outfit as just wanting to adjust how my pants fit me, and maybe make them a little more adjustable to how my body is shaped. Like most fashionists say, " any type of clothing will never go out of style when it fits a persons body shape." This is very true, especially on women, clothes that fits to a persons body will always look astonishing and beautiful in my eyes, loose clothes just does not look classy at all. One always wants to look their best!

A nudist is a naturist, it's a person who loves to be without clothes at all times, even when going to work, hanging out with friends, or just relaxing at the beach. I find this really interesting, I abosolutly have nothing against someone being so comfortable with themselves. Naturism is all about feeling free, feeling enjoyment, and getting in touch with yourself and having the chance to get to know others real personality. A nudists will not sit there and compliment my outfit, a nudists will say take of your clothes, and then compliment on my real outfit, which is my very own skinned body. This builts self image, confidence and social interaction skills. This cannot be achievable when confined with mentally and physically in clothing.