Materials & Prep
- Projector and internet access, or printed copies, for Joseph Keppler’s “The Bosses of the Senate” (Puck, January 23, 1889; Library of Congress) and Louis Dalrymple’s “School Begins” (Puck, January 25, 1899; Library of Congress).
- Display a teacher-created meme: an image of a student holding an oversized study guide with the caption, “When the test is open-note, but you get 30 seconds per question.”
- One half-sheet analysis organizer per student: Observe | Context | Evidence | Cartoonist’s argument.
Opening
DisplayShow the study-guide meme without introducing political cartoons. Ask students to write two responses: “What do you literally see?” and “What does the creator want viewers to think about the test?”
Turn and talkPartners compare answers. Listen for the difference between an observation such as “a student has notes” and an intended message such as “an open-note test can still be unfair if time is too limited.”
ConnectTell students that they already interpret memes by moving from image details to a message. Political cartoons work the same way, but their arguments address public issues and use historical context. Today, the image is not the final answer. It is the evidence for the cartoonist’s argument.
Direct instruction
IntroduceDefine observation as what is visibly present, evidence as a detail that supports a claim, and argument as what the cartoonist wants an audience to believe about an issue. Post the sequence: Notice details → connect details to context → state the argument.
DisplayProject Joseph Keppler’s “The Bosses of the Senate.” Identify its context: Keppler published it in 1889, when large corporations and trusts had accumulated major economic power and Americans debated their influence on government.
Think aloudModel with the image. “First, I notice oversized money bags in Senate seats. Several are labeled with trust or industry names. I also notice that the human senators are small and pushed into the background. If I stop here, I have only described the cartoon. I ask why Keppler made corporations huge and senators small. Those choices suggest that corporate wealth is overpowering elected representatives.” State the argument: “Keppler argues that powerful trusts dominate the U.S. Senate, so the Senate serves corporate interests more than the public.”
MisconceptionContrast “This cartoon is about monopolies” with the modeled argument. The first names a topic. The second makes a claim about power and representation. Emphasize that not every symbol needs a separate decoded meaning; students should use clusters of details to support one defensible claim.
Check for understandingPoint to the size difference between the money bags and human senators. Ask students to hold up one finger for “companies are wealthy” or two fingers for “companies’ wealth controls the Senate.” Have students justify why option two is an argument rather than a description.
Guided practice
AnnotateIn pairs, students mark four details in “The Bosses of the Senate.” They place O beside literal observations, C beside details that require 1889 context, and E beside the two strongest pieces of evidence for Keppler’s argument.
PromptPartners complete the organizer sentence frame: “Keppler argues that has too much influence over , as shown by and .”
DiscussAsk, “How does Keppler’s choice to make the trusts appear physically larger than senators shape his argument?” Then ask, “Would a business leader who supported trusts necessarily read this image as fair? Why or why not?” Require students to point to image evidence and distinguish the cartoonist’s perspective from neutral fact.
ScaffoldKeep the posted sequence visible and provide this word bank as needed: dominate, represent, public interest, corporate power, elected officials. Confer first with students whose claims merely restate labels, asking, “What does that detail make the viewer conclude?”
ExtensionAsk ready students to explain how the cartoon’s argument might change if the trusts were drawn at the same size as the senators, or to identify a limitation of Keppler’s perspective.
Independent work
DisplayProject Louis Dalrymple’s “School Begins.” Briefly contextualize it: Dalrymple published the cartoon in 1899, during U.S. debates over overseas expansion after the Spanish-American War.
Have studentsIndependently annotate the image and complete the organizer. They must write a one-sentence argument naming the issue and the cartoonist’s claim, followed by two sentences explaining how specific visual details support it.
Look forClaims should go beyond “The cartoon is about imperialism.” A stronger response identifies Dalrymple’s position, such as an argument that the United States should take responsibility for educating or governing newly acquired territories, supported by the classroom setting, Uncle Sam, and the labeled students.
ChallengeStudents who finish add one sentence explaining how the cartoon’s school metaphor could make U.S. expansion appear justified while minimizing the viewpoint of people being governed.
Closing
Exit ticketOn a separate slip, students respond to this prompt: “In ‘School Begins,’ what is Dalrymple’s argument? Use two visual details as evidence.” Collect responses using the success criteria: a claim about what the cartoonist wants viewers to think, not merely a description or topic; two relevant details; and a clear connection between details and claim.
ClarifyRead one anonymous descriptive response and revise it aloud into an argument with the class if needed. Preview that historians treat political cartoons as evidence of an author’s perspective, not as neutral photographs of the past.