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Questions

1. What ongoing news story is cartoonist Dana Summers illustrating?

2. The cartoonist is taking a lighthearted approach to an issue that puzzles people about the president. Which 2 comic devices does the cartoonist use to make his point? Explain your answer.
a) exaggeration
b) pun
c) parody
d) irony


Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.

Cartoon by Dana Summers

Answers

1. The CDC updated their guidelines last month to state that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks in certain situations, such as when they are outside or in a room with other vaccinated individuals.

President Biden, who is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, has continued to wear a mask all the time – indoors and out. The people he comes into contact with have all been vaccinated. The White House press corps – who have all had the vaccine, are tested daily before entering the White House.  The president and his press secretary have been asked why he continues to wear a mask where it is not necessary and their responses are unclear/inconsistent. The president told one reporter who asked that he still wears a mask inside because he cares about them. Then he said it was a joke.

It was noted that President Biden wore a mask in the end of April while walking outside by himself to the podium to announce new CDC guidelines that vaccinated people can go without masks outdoors as long as they are not in big crowds and indoors with other vaccinated people.

2. a) exaggeration – The cartoonist is exaggerating the extent to which President Biden wears a mask – even doing so when he goes to sleep.
d) irony – irony is when the opposite of what you expect to happen occurs: in this case, you expect President Biden to take off his mask when he goes into the family residence at the White House where he is alone with his wife; instead, he wears his mask while sleeping