Imagery

One skill I work on with my students is analyzing political cartoons. Earlier this week, after learning about the 19th amendment, we looked at this cartoon from the 1900s:

It is hard to see, but the woman is wrapped in bindings on which a number of injustices are written (voteless, inequality before the law, etc) and the man represents government. He is asking the woman to help improve society, but she can't help because she is bound by her lack of rights. After we figure this out (which takes some time), I ask the students to write down one thing that could be done to change things so the woman could participate. I usually get a variation of the right answer (give her her rights, give her the rights listed on the tape, let women vote, etc) or the wrong answer (cut the tape, etc). This year, T. had this to say, "Find the scissors of justice and use them to set her free." How fabulous is that?!