Rhetorical Analysis of a Satirical Comic

The image attached are of our dear former president and first lady and they just so happen to be the perfect people to is for satirical comics. The satire genre is based upon taking a serious matter and using comedic devices to discuss it. As you can see in this instance, the comics audience are everyday people seeing as it’s a political editorial from a newspaper. They want this to reach the general public so that they can see that there’s something wrong in the way the Clintons are treated.

The purpose is to show that they seem to be coated in Teflon which for those who don’t know is a non-stick coating usually applied to cookware. Nothing they seem to do ever sticks to them so they never face any consequences for there actions and that’s mainly due to the public. The author wants to show that this is exclusive to the Clintons which is why he trademarked the product with their name. The public has placed this shield around them due to how well Bill’s presidency went and now we see the consequences. The artist shows what the “Clinton” spray protects against and they’re all terrible things yet we aren’t doing anything about it and we can’t do anything about it at this point.

The writer, or in this case artist, is Matt Wuerker and his art is centralized around politics. He has won a Pulitzer Prize and is also an American himself. This adds to the credibility of the piece because he is well versed in this line of work and is recognized for it and is an American himself instead of an outsider judging the situation which is an example of ethos. An example of him using logos to persuade the audience is his use of Teflon since its a nonstick spray and that connection makes sense to the treatment of the Clintons. His use a pathos is the most prominent because the comic itself is meant to be humorous so automatically it can and will attract people.