Charlie Brown, the happy cartoon child of the Peanuts strip, seems an unlikely emblem for the massacre of cartoonists at the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine, except for his name. But the older, balder, unkempt version of Charlie that appears in the header of this blog, is a disappointed Charlie, growing a gut and largely disgruntled.
This version of Charlie Brown is used in association to show that he is disappointed in how this tragedy played out, and more so, that it is a part of the world he has grown up into. He seems sad that he is now an adult who has to suffer through tragedies like the killing of writers of the Charlie Hebdo magazine, and no longer a care free child. His face seems worn down by all the struggles and responsibilities of growing up and becoming an adult. It looks as if he’s desperately wishing to be a kid again.
The use of Charlie Brown was mainly because of the shared first name of Charlie Brown and Charlie Hebdo. The message wouldn’t have been similarly strong with any other child based cartoon character, so the use of Charlie Brown gives an extra depth to the graphic. The cartoon used in the header appears to be sad, thinking to himself “I am Charlie” (Je suis Charlie), as if this attack was on him.
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Counterintuitive Spring 2024 
caspertheghost, you didn’t request feedback on this post, so my remarks will be brief. First drafts are shredder fodder, as you know. Even the best must be torn down and replaced. As you revise, be sure each paragraph addresses a small topic. You’ve been asked to address three in particular: the cartoon, the combination of the cartoon with the text, the selection of the combined graphic as a header for a composition course blog. Avoid the temptation to begin each paragraph with a clunky, “Now, as for the combination of the cartoon with the text, this is what I believe.” Guide the reader subtly through the progression.
Your particular area of concern rhetorically will be your tendency, quite a common one, to overwrite simple statements.
For example, for your first paragraph . . . :
. . . could easily be rendered as:
That might still not be the best opening for your post, but it’s a bolder and more precise version of your first paragraph. See if you can apply that technique throughout, but organize your material first.
Grade Code 2Y4
Grades are decoded at Professor Conferences.
For an appointment, see the Conferences page.
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This is not the grade you want, CasperTheGhose. Revisions highly recommended. Leave a feedback request when you’re ready.
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feedback requested
Feedback provided. —DSH
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Casper, you get no credit for taking the model I offered you and pasting it into your own essay. Apply the lesson of that first paragraph to your own work. Your grade is unchanged.
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Feedback requested.
Feedback provided. —DSH
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Your second paragraph is quite nice, Casper, a little repetitive (he has grown up / he is now an adult / no longer a child / growing up / becoming an adult / wishing to be a kid), but well observed.
You should indicate, since the assignment instructed you to address three choices (the cartoonist’s art, the graphic designer’s splicing of the art with the slogan, the instructor’s selection of the graphic as the blog header), that you’re analyzing only the cartoon in P2.
The use of Charlie Brown because of the name similarity was the choice of the designer. While the name provides a handy connection, your P2 seems to indicate Charlie as drawn is a fitting image too, not just an accident of names. You’re right that the “joke” wouldn’t work if his name were not Charlie, but it also wouldn’t work if the image of Charlie the Tuna were used, or Charlie Chaplin, or Charlie Hooper from Two-and-a-Half Men. Right? Devote your P3 to an examination of the reason for this particular choice. (You have begun that job already.)
As for P4, which is missing, you should commit yourself to a statement about the reason your instructor selected this graphic for the header of a Composition course.
Getting better all the time, Casper. I hope you’re not getting frustrated by the process.
Grade Code 8E0
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