Cartoons

In this essay assignment you will:
1.Examine a collection of political cartoons about Irish and Chinese immigrants from the 1800s.
2.Apply what you have read and viewed in the documentaries and PowerPoints listed on the syllabus so far to write your analysis of attitudes towards those immigrant groups as depicted in the cartoons.
3.Research the images and the ethnic groups using outside sources. You should google the cartoons themselves.

The Format of the Essay
•Select four images (two each of Chinese and Irish immigrants) from those included in the assignment PowerPoint.
•You must include the images in the body of the essay identified as Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc. so that when you refer to them in the essay it is clear which image you are referring to. DO NOT PUT THE IMAGES AT THE END OF THE ESSAY.
•Your final product should be in a Word document.
•The usual writing requirements apply:
–introduction and conclusion
–a thesis statement
–complete sentences and paragraphs.
–in-text citations which can be the title of the image, works cited page that lists cartoon title, date, artist (if you can tell – it’s usually Puck or Koeppler), and name of the magazine if it is available.
•The essay should be at least 950 words.
Your analysis should be in the form of a narrative essay in which you have an introduction and a conclusion. The essay topic is to analyze anti-immigrant attitudes and the issues that contributed to those attitudes as expressed in political cartoons of the 1800s.
The questions on the slides should help you identify key points to begin your analysis.
Be sure to read the captions and any text in the images for clues.
1.Which immigrants were the targets of anti-immigrant hostility? Why?
2.What behavior and activities were threatening to Americans? Why?
3.What role did race, ethnicity, national origin, and/or religion play in how and why specific groups were targeted?
4.Were there any legislative or legal victories on the part of Americans to restrict these specific groups ability to work and live without discrimination (and even persecution)?
5.Which people (or person) were depicted either acting against immigrants or protect them?