Rhetorical Risks - Controversial Image

Prompt

Find a recent image – a magazine cover, a photograph, a political cartoon, an advertisement, or something else – that has generated controversy. What message do you believe this image conveys? What rhetorical risks does it take? To what extent do those risks pay off – that is, how effectively does this image achieve its purpose?

Response

The message that is conveyed in the cartoon above is how Joe Biden uses his student loan forgiveness to gain votes for the next election. In the cartoon above, the artist brings up the topic of Joe Biden’s plan to forgive $10,000 in student loans per person who qualifies (less than $125k individual or $250k joint). The artist doesn’t take a lot of rhetorical risk, the artist approaches this by symbolizing this plan as a vending machine, you vote for Democrats, you get loan forgiveness. The artist informs people that there is a very strong connection between these two. I would say that the artist subtly pokes at the ethicality of this plan by Joe Biden with this form of symbolism. Personally, this seems like a very effective way to communicate the message. It’s not very upfront - it doesn’t tell the audience explicitly what to believe, but rather allows the audience to think, and draw their own conclusions. In my opinion, allowing the audience to think, then draw their own conclusion will allow for a more knowledgeable and understanding about a controversial topic.