Chip Bok's Political Cartoon Analysis

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We hear it too often in the media, gun violence in America and the debate to control it.
We read, hear, and see horrific crimes involving guns at schools, homes and other public places.
In recent years, with advanced technology in the media, quicker access to bad news has produced the growth in awareness of gun crimes in the American society. Undeniably, no one wants to continue acquiring news of more children firing off guns in their home or at schools and the killings of more innocent people. This vital issue has fueled the arguments over gun control and created tension about the sort of society we want to live in. The issues of gun control have been controversial and debatable in America, with viewpoints split down the middle between pro-gun
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In Chip Bok’s political cartoon, Bok used an iconic sign, viewer’s hypothesis, juxtaposition, irony, superimposition, and symbolism to suggest that the
President’s executive decision to regulate gun’s sales only triggered an escalation in gun sales.
Cartoonist Chip Bok used US President Barack Obama as the iconic sign, since he is one of the main characters engaged with the issues of gun control. In a recent gun speech, President
Barack Obama grew emotional as he made a passionate call for a national sense of urgency to limit gun violence in America. The cartoon shows a poster of the moment when Obama cried during the gun control speech, which is interpreted differently by many people. Throughout his speech, President Obama became tearful as he presented his deep empathy for victims of gun crimes. Many people believed he revealed genuine emotions, of a passionate cause to limit violence involving guns. One the other hand, numerous critics speculated that he had “fake cried”, just to get the American audience to sympathize with his views and make it easier to convince approval for gun restrictions.
The poster of President Barack Obama’s tearful moment can be hypothesized of
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Barack Obama’s emotional proposal for gun control may have been for good intentions but one political figure should not be allowed to make these executive decisions for control.
Juxtaposition and irony is shown between the sales of guns and President Barack Obama, who is taking executive action to regulate gun control. After Obama’s proposal on gun restriction, sales of guns’ soared across America. The cartoon displays the words, “SALES
PERSON OF THE YEAR” superimposed onto the poster of Obama. This is a visual metaphor for his gun control speech, which caused an upsurge in gun transactions. With fear of gun restrictions laws attaining approval, many people lined up at gun shops to buy guns before they are banned.
To many Americans, guns have become a symbol to the American culture rather than just a weapon. The Second Amendment of the Constitution states, “…, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”. With that in mind, many Americans do not want their rights stripped away by politics or other people in power. If the rights to bear arms is taken away, what else will the government take away? Of course, Americans do not want to be in fear of

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