Elements of Cartooning

Sensory Qualities:

Are the lines more bold, fuzzy, light, hard, or soft? Are the shapes more curvy (organic) or angular (geometric)? What effect does this create?

Formal Qualities:

How did the cartoonist exaggerate parts of the body or background (make them big or stretch them out)? Is the cartoon more realistic or abstract (non-realistic)? What conventions did the cartoonist use (speed lines, worry or crying, swearing marks, silhouettes, or…)?

Expressive Qualities:

How is the facial expression portrayed? Is it happy, sad, angry, or…? What feelings do the lines convey? For example, shaky lines may suggest anxiety or curvy lines may suggest peace. What symbols did the artist use? What are the cartoon’s meanings? What do you think is the cartoonist’s opinion about the subject? What details does the cartoonist give to communicate his attitude? Is this done by the use of words or the image? Or a combination of both?

Technical Qualities:

What medium did he or she use to draw the cartoon (pencil, ink, brush, crayon, computer)? What method did the cartoonist use to create the light and dark shading (such as stippling with the point of the pencil, hatching and cross-hatching, smudging with a blending stick)?

Judgmental Qualities:

Is the cartoon in bad taste (not acceptable morally)? Why? Since cartoons are often based on stereotypes, were there any stereotypes used in this cartoon? What is the difference between this cartoon as art or entertainment? Functional? Does it serve a purpose as a means for creating change? How? Do you like the cartoon? Why? How is it effective in your eyes?

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Congressional Timeline

The Congressional Timeline developed and maintained by The Dirksen Congressional Center, arrays more than 550 of the nation's laws on a timeline beginning in 1933 and continuing to the present. A second timeline "band" depicts major political events of the period as a way to provide context for Congress's law-making...More

73rd Congress: March 9, 1933 - June 18, 1934

73rd Congress: March 9, 1933, to June 18, 1934

A meeting of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. The first session of Congress, known as the "Hundred Days," took place before the regular seating and was called by President Roosevelt specifically to pass two acts. March 9, 1933, The Emergency Banking Act...More

74th Congress: January 3, 1935 - June 20, 1936

The Soil and Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act allowed the government to pay farmers to reduce production so as to conserve soil, prevent erosion, and accomplish other minor goals. It was a piece of legislation passed in response to the Supreme Court's declaration....More

75th Congress: January 5, 1937 - June 16, 1938

In 1938 the Civil Aeronautics Act transferred federal responsibilities for non-military aviation from the Bureau of Air Commerce to a new, independent agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The legislation also gave the authority the power to regulate airline fares and to determine...More

76th Congress: January 3, 1939 - January 3, 1941

On November 4, 1939, the Neutrality Act of 1939 was passed, allowing for arms trade with belligerent nations on a cash and carry basis, thus in effect ending the arms embargo. ...More

77th Congress: January 3, 1941, to December 16, 1942

The Lend-Lease Act was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of the European war in September 1939, but six months before the U.S. entrance into the war in December 1941. It was called An Act Further to Promote the Defense of the United States...More

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Dirksen Center Special Projects is a series of multi-media projects rich in Web-based resources on a variety of topics from civil rights to editorial cartoons. We have posted them where it makes sense within our Web suite. But as the suite has grown, we suspect it has become more difficult to find these special projects.

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