The issue of health care reform is said to have emerged as one of the most important topics in the 2008 presidential election. There are several reasons as to why the issue has demanded so much attention and those reasons are undeniable. According to The Commonwealth Fund, which is a private foundation that is working towards a higher performance health system, they say that in 2006 47 million Americans were unemployed. That is 8.6 million more Americans since 2000. Even with information such as this, the majority of the country does not think that neither the Republican nor the Democratic candidates' have come up with a solid solution to solve the health care issues. The visual text displays the, I do not really care attitude, by having both the donkey and the elephant answering the question very nonchalantly.
When the reader originally looks at the picture they may notice how both the donkey and the elephant have boxes drawn around them. The fact that the donkey and the elephant are separated from each other is an example of a compare and contrast paradigm. What is unique about this cartoon is that even though the donkey and the elephant are divided they consequently share an opinion that is very similar to one another's. The idea that they both share the same view is contradictory to the title of the illustration. The title reads, "The differences between the presidential candidates' health care plans", and what the author is saying is that the candidates' plans are not exact but are comparable to each other. Another slight difference between the donkey and the elephant is that the donkey says, "don't get sick" and the elephant says, "don't get sicker". The syntactic difference between the two is that when the donkey says "sick", he is telling us not to get sick which is something we can not control. The elephant on the other hand is saying "sicker" and the key to that word is the "er" which is telling us to not get any sicker than we already are and that is something that is controllable.
The use of a visual text to support and express an opinion is a widely used technique. If it is used intelligently and is able to convey its opinion to the audience it can also be very effective. The political cartoon pictured above shows the views of the Republican and Democratic parties regarding health care plans. With the use of rhetorical appeals such as ethos, pathos, and logos the author communicates to the reader that neither political party really has a firm stance on the issue of what to do about health care.
The author of this visual text uses ethos by having both the donkey and the elephant dressed in nice suits. The fact that the two characters are dressed in suits makes the reader naturally pay more attention to them. As a society we are more inclined to focus on someone or something that is more professional appealing. If the donkey and elephant were dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt the audience would not tend to believe the political statement as much as if they are in nice and professional suits. The body language of both the donkey and the elephant also reveals the candidates' attitudes towards the health care plan issue. They both are smoking cigar's, have their eye lids closed, have one leg crossed over the other, are leaning to one side, the donkey is whistling and the elephant is yawning. A good looking suit is known to be worn by people who have some amount of wealth, a job that requires them to wear a suit, and by high profile people. If you walked down the sidewalk and the person that passed you on your left was wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt and the person that passes you on your right side was wearing a suit your senses would make you turn your head to the right and look at the person with the suit. People as a whole are more interested in people that are wealthy which is why our eyes are drawn to the person with the suit. The fact that the donkey and elephant are wearing suits can also tell the reader that they are not worried about health care problems because they are financial well off. The donkey and elephant are both politicians and if someone is a politician they are going to have an above average income which allows them to not have to be concerned about health care issues.
Pathos is shown by the way the elephant and the donkey's portray their feelings in the political cartoon. Their facial expressions show what many American people believe how the presidential candidates feel about health care which is they think we are screwed either way. The presidential candidates obviously would not ever say that but because non of them have been able to figure out health care plans yet the American people have no reason to think that anything will change now.
It is ironic that the political cartoon is about health care and the donkey and elephant are smoking cigars. Cigars are obviously harmful to the body and can lead to several different types of cancers and diseases. Some of the types of cancers it can cause are cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, gullet (esophagus) and lung, and can also lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The fact that the donkey and elephant are participating in an act that is harmful to them can lead the reader to believe that they more than likely, do not have to worry about the health care situation.
Logos is the final rhetorical appeal used in the political cartoon. The donkey and the elephant's argument is that they are not sure what to do about health care or they do not know what to do about health care. Their relaxed and laid back personality is trying to make the audience believe that they should not worry about health care anymore. The cartoon is saying that the presidential candidates do not appear to be overly worried about health care so neither should you.
