Captioning political cartoons from different perspectives as a tool for student reflection

Abstract

Political cartoons are underutilized in classroom settings even though they can be quite effective in teaching theoretical and conceptual material and improving critical thinking skills. Examining political cartoons help students hone their analytical skills while enlivening class discussions, in part, by sparking enthusiasm. The goal of this chapter’s learning activity is to cultivate students’ critical thinking and analytical and writing skills by creating and discussing political cartoon captions from different perspectives. After completing this activity, students should be able to (1) consider discourse on an environmental issue by creating succinct political cartoon captions, (2) express varied perspectives about an environmental issue by writing cartoon captions from different viewpoints, and (3) interpret the discourse revealed by cartoons through discussion.