 Today, we will be looking at 2 other components of the editorial/opinion pages in newspapers: editorial cartoons and letters to the editor.

 Editorial pages always contain a place where readers can react to stories or comment on subjects that concern them  Newspapers have an obligation to verify that the person whose name is on the letter is actually the person who wrote it  Letters that are in bad taste or are libelous should be turned down  Look at Dallas Morning News Opinion Pages for examples. (nie.dallasnews.com)

One of the more fun parts of the opinion pages are editorial cartoons.

 Cartoon as a symbol – uses an image to represent an attitude  EX: Depicting a big business as a fat man, swollen with self-importance  Cartoon as a metaphor – compares one thing to another  EX: School violence being portrayed as a snake ready to strike  Cartoon as a joke on current events – targets a specific event  EX: an NBA strike

 Simple in design  Centered on 1 topic  Well drawn  Timely  May relate to an event or subject familiar to readers in their everyday lives or tie in with a news article elsewhere in the paper

1. What is the event or issue that inspired the cartoon? 2. Are there any real people in the cartoon? Who is portrayed in the cartoon? 3. Are there symbols in the cartoon? What are they and what do they represent? 4. What is the cartoonist's opinion about the topic portrayed in the cartoon? 5. Do you agree or disagree with the cartoonist's opinion? Why?