Rhetorical Analysis Essay On Ebola

Satire Oral Images are powerful; Frank R Barnard quoted “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Images have meanings and images convey many messages. Satirical images are the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vice by use of images. Satirical images typically ridicule political contexts. The political agenda changes depending on the country. For example, in Australia the agenda consists of domestic violence, global warming and health and education, whereas in America their agenda consists of presidential candidates, health and their allies. John Ohman a cartoonist for the Sacramento Bee created a satirical image “Ebola” which ridicules American’s and their priorities. When you hear Ebola, you panic, you worry, and you hope it doesn’t infect you. This is the message conveyed by the government when suspected cases occur in Australia and America. Yet, in parts of Africa, outbreaks are happening constantly killing thousands and they have been doing this for years. If Ebola is such a problem, why has it just been mentioned? Is it

The size of the man’s head is reflective of the size of the burger to make the audience astounded of the sheer size of the man’s eating habits. Ohman’s seriousness creates an ironic feel to the image as the man in the cartoon is worried about Ebola, yet, he is fat, he smokes and an alcohol addict. The salient image is his exclamation; “EBOLA” due to the contrast of colours and the sheer size of the message. Cleary, Americans have their priorities wrong. Ohman’s use of colour to contrast the colours of the message and to clearly show the American pride the man has, creates a stereotypical message, this is what all American’s are like. The use of this visual metaphor generalises Americans and their