Unit 8 Assignment 2: Visual Argument Analysis

The cartoon that I chose is called Border Security. I find it very interesting that the cartoonist chose this type of background. Also having Border Security, NOT, and Amnesty all highlighted in red. The text in this cartoon is very unique to its time, because of the major focus that has been on border control. I believe that the cartoonist targeted a specific type of reader in this cartoon. That type of reader would be the nave and ignorant people focused on this topic of boarder security and bringing up unreasonable ideas as to why we need more border control and to send them back to their country. I also find it interesting that in this cartoon the Native Americans are talking about border security to each other, about the Europeans, just to find out that the Europeans in the future kill, rape, and steal the Native Americans land and people. To me it looks like the cartoonist is trying to get a point across that we need to take a look at ourselves and what we stand by, or perhaps the cartoon just may be telling us that this is a cycle. When talking about the exigence of this cartoon, the fact that I believe everyone should open their eyes and try to relate toward each other is my main motivation on writing about this topic.

The final e-portfolio, the last assignment for this course, will comprise a selection of your very best work from both semesters of Rhetoric and Civic Life (regardless of whether you changed to a different instructor).

A successful e-portfolio will display excellence in the following required modes:

E-portfolio writing and design that exhibits strong introductory and explanatory prose, sound visual design, and user functionality
Public discourse intended for a specific audience
Academic writing that integrates and responds to various sources and demonstrates academic disciplinary writing
Oral presentation that is captured as audio or video
Visual rhetoric that stands as its own visual argument or an original visual that