Broken English

Publication__Independent (blog)__      Date:_Jan. 11, 2009

Cartoonist:__Donar___________       U.S./International

Title of the cartoon:__Broken English ___

What action is taking place in the cartoon?

A redneck drunk approached an immigrant, and whined about how they

have bad English and don’t learn the language right. The immigrant

then corrects the redneck’s English and gives him help on how to

improve it.

Tone of the cartoon:

1) positive or negative framing of undocumented immigrants (circle answer)

2) positive or negative framing of immigration policies (Circle answer)

What “reality” is constructed/framed about immigration/immigrants?

The issue that the cartoonist is trying to address is that many immigrants do learn the language and speak it quite fluently, even better than some Americans. The stereotype of people with different colored skin and who look like immigrants make viewers think from the start that the Mexican one can’t speak English very well, but he proves that stereotype wrong by correcting the hick’s language. Immigrants in this cartoon are framed as intelligent, professional citizens who deserve equal rights or are perhaps more deserving of rights than white American bigots.