How do you analyze a political cartoon?

3. Going forward, I will look at political cartoons by observing, reflecting, and then questioning them. In observation, I will use questions like, "What do I notice first? What details are in the picture? Are there any words in the picture?" After observing and using those questions I reflect on what I've seen, sort of to form a hypothesis about what I think the cartoon is about. From there I will question the cartoon if there is any more observations and reflections that I am unsure about.

In this political cartoon, President (Vice President at the time) Roosevelt traversed across the sea to Cuba, and carrying a "Big Stick." In reflecting on the cartoon, when I see the words "Big Stick" I think of a paddle or getting a spanking, which could allude to what he as an American is going to do to Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Mexico in the cartoon. My question after looking at this cartoon and observing the boats is, "What does the Debt collector stand for and the Reciever at the caboose? Is it meant to signify the collecting of Cuban tariffs?"

In this political cartoon, the effects of the Spanish American war are heavily shown. I can easily observe the racist views that the Minneapolis Journal has of the Spanish coming into America. I think this cartoon is showing that the kids in America don't think anything about the new population migrating to America no matter how different they are, however the adults of the country care. All three of the children are smiling, holding hands, and waving American flags, but the caption of the cartoon and the way the two children are portrayed really displays the racism and segregation the Spanish faced while coming to America after the Spanish American war. 

In this political cartoon, Uncle Sam is portrayed holding a very dark skinned baby. The baby is tagged as Filipino, however racistly conveyed and resembles a different race because the baby is so much darker colored than most Filipinos. After reflecting and observing this picture, it's easy to see that Uncle Sam isn't happy to be holding the baby, almost as if the baby is unwanted, which is ironic because most Americans didn't want the Filipinos to "pollute" their American lifestyles. I have no questions for this political cartoon because it is pretty self explanatory, from the faces of the two people, to the words of the tag on the Filipino baby, this political cartoon portrays early segregation as a result of the Spanish American war from its ironic and simple drawings.