Commentary And Analysis Of Steve Sacks Student Debt

In recent years, 70% of students graduated with student loans, and in 2016 graduates on average held $37,172 in debt based on a survey done by Citizen’s Bank; 59% of those graduates do not know when their debts are going to be paid off (Powell). Steve Sacks illustrated a cartoon in the Star Tribune in May of 2012 to inform high schoolers about the struggle brought on in college by student debts. The cartoon, “Student Debt,” shows how hard student debts impact high school graduates going into college; students pile up so much debt, even before graduating the burden hits them hard. In this cartoon, it is viewed from a straight on view that is also looking down on the graduates at an angle. On the right side of the cartoon, there are graduates

Exaggeration is represented by the caps on the left being turned into weights labeled “debt” on the right. Using this characteristic to show how troubling debt is on soon to be college students makes for a better understanding of what the illustrator is trying to get across to the viewer. By using analogies, the cartoon also shows the comparison of an object we know, weights and pianos, to the caps of the graduates to show what debt feels like to students. Both analogies and exaggeration show through objects, such as graduates, caps, and weights; the actions of the graduate’s faces and the caps and weights. Without each element, there would be no argument presented to the

The only word used in the cartoon “debt”; which is the main argument the illustrator is trying to make. By having only having one word on the illustration, it draws the viewer's attention to that spot making them think about what the illustrator is arguing for. The color red is used for the word debt, and doing this makes the word stand out over the black and white cartoon; making the viewer’s eye go to that spot. Other than color, Sacks argued his cartoon by applying irony. Usually, when graduates throw their caps into the air they fall back down, but the irony in the cartoon shows the caps as weights as they fall and labeled “debt”. The graduates in the cartoon help to show the ironic occasion of this happening by showing happiness on their faces on the left, but on the right, they look worried and