Mark Knight’s cartoon of 

Serena Williams  
 
 
The word ‘language’ in the course title ‘Language and Literature’ refers to the styles, 
structures, forms and media used to construct meaning.  
 
As you analyse the articles below, ask what is being communicated? 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GLOBAL ISSUE: RACISM: HOW HAS RACISM BEEN ADDRESSED? 
 

 
 
Fill in your response to the article you have been allocated. 
 
Consider these sentence frames in order to embed your analysis of language: 
 
● Through the use of … the author achieves her purpose of ... 
● The author of Text X uses … in order to make the reader feel …  
● The author of Text X aims to … which can be seen in line X and the use of … 
● The language of Text X has a … effect on the reader, through the author’s use of 
… 
● The tone of the text is … which is established through the author’s use of ... 
 
 
 
Purpose  Why did the author write this   
article? 

Style and  How did the writer structure the   

structure  article? (you should comment on 
pictures also, but not the other 
features of the website) 
What is the style of writing? 

Audience  Who is the intended audience of   

this article? 
What is the reader’s response? 

Meaning   What is the message/meaning of   

the article? 

 
Follow up questions 
● Which key concept could you use as a framework to comment on the article? 
● How does this cartoon relate to any other of the texts (literary or non-literary) 
you have examined in this Unit (could include the Nike ad)? 
 
Finished? - read Recent background to the relevance of political cartoons and distill 
Rowson’s argument into one statement about the importance of political 
cartoons/satire in the world today 

Pair 1 (Grant and Richard) 

http://theconversation.com/mark-knight-is-our-best-tabloid-cartoonist-is-his-serena-willi
ams-drawing-racist-102990 
 
Purpose  Why did the author   
write this article? 

Style and structure  How did the writer  Through the employment of a landscape picture 
structure the article?  depicting the verbal exchange between Serena 
(you should  Williams and the umpire, Robert Phiddian, the 
comment on pictures  author of the article, intends to invite the audience 
also, but not the  to identify with Serena Williams’ aggressive nature 
other features of the  in contrast to the stereotypical impression of 
 website)  women being delicate and gentle. This 
complements well with the Phiddian’s statement 
of “You just cannot draw Serena Williams without 
drawing her female and black,” where Phiddian 
suggests that Knight is simply illustrating in an 
objective perspective.  
 
Phiddian’s subjective judgment on Knight’s 
motives behind his satirical cartoon has been 
embedded in the prevalence of personal 
pronouns. The use of personal pronoun “I” 
indicates his support behind the innocence of 
Mark Knight against the accusation of being racist.  

Audience  Who is the intended  According the comments below this article, the 
audience of this  general consensus seems that people do not think 
article?  that the cartoon is racist.  
What is the reader’s 
response? 

Meaning   What is the message  The author does not believe that this cartoon is 
of the article?  racist; Serena Williams is a black woman, and 
there is simply no other way to present her in 
without acknowledging that. He thinks that 
American culture has caused many things to be 
offensive, which has influenced to rest of the 
world to believe it is racist, too.  
 
The cartoonist Mark Knight should not be silenced, 
but he still must take responsibility of the critisms 
towards his cartoon. This is a fundamental part of 
today’s digital media.  

Which key concept could you use as a framework to comment on the article? 
 
Culture - Arguing American culture makes everything seem offensive, which does not 
align with the culture of Australia, where it is viewed as humour and satire. Due to the 
massive influence of American culture, this view of the “offensive comic” amplifies 
globally 
 
 

 
How does this cartoon relate to any other of the texts (literary or non-literary) you have 
examined in this Unit (could include the Nike ad)? 
 
Cat in the rain (A bit of a stretch): The American wife in the story has been reduced to 
just a girl, like how one of the greatest tennis players has been reduced to common 
 African American stereotypes. 

Pair 2 
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/11/the-serena-williams-cartoon
-exposes-australias-ignorance-on-race 
 
Purpose  Why did the   
author write 
this article? 

Style and  How did the   

structure  writer 
structure the 
article? (you 
should 
comment on 
pictures also, 
but not the 
other features 
of the website) 

Audience  Who is the   

intended 
audience of 
this article? 
What is the 
reader’s 
response? 

Meaning   What is the   

message of 
the article? 

Which key concept could you use as a framework to comment on the article? 
 
 

 
How does this cartoon relate to any other of the texts (literary or non-literary) you have 
examined in this Unit (could include the Nike ad)? 
 
 
 
 

Pair 3 jeffrey and logan 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/11/world/australia/serena-williams-cartoon-herald-s
un-racist.html 
 
Purpose -  Why did the  To criticize Mr Knight not only on his artwork/ cartoon 
Jeffrey  author write  about Serena Williams but also on his previous 
this article?  cartoons on the issue of race. 

Style and  How did the  The article is split into different sub sections, some 
structure -  writer  giving context to the situation and some on background 
Jeffrey   structure  information about Mr Knight. The article is structured in 
the article?  a way that provides both the serena williams cartoon 
(you should  alongside another older cartoon that Mr Knight has 
comment on  made that  
pictures 
also, but not 
the other 
features of 
the website) 
What is the 
style of 
writing? 

Audience  Who is the   

Logan  intended 
audience of 
this article? 
What is the 
reader’s 
response? 

Meaning   What is the   

Logan  message of  This article compares intention vs interpretation. 
the article?  Although Knight claims that he did not intend for the 
cartoon to be racist and sexist, but to show her poor 
behaviour on that day, the cartoon was interpreted as a 
dehumanization of Serena Williams. “The drawings 
seem to ridicule Serena’s appearance. Mark isn’t using 
the medium to support his joke by, say, depicting 
Serena as a baby, in which case the pacifier should have 
been more prominently featured.” 
The message of this article is that Mark Knight should 
be more careful and sensitive to how these cartoon 
 characters / people are depicted, especially when it 
comes to symbols that represent racism, or reinforce 
previous traditional racist content in cartoons. 
“Whether or not Mark intended to draw on the racist 
history of the symbols, he has. His intent is irrelevant. 
Either he is a deliberately racist cartoonist - or an 
incompetent and careless cartoonist.”  

Pair 4 (Charisse and Arshmit) 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/09/13/a-racist-serena-willi
ams-cartoon-went-viral-heres-how-to-caricature-her-the-right-way/ 
 
Purpose  Why did the  The focus of the article surrounds the ethics and criticism of a satire, 
author write this  political cartoon. From the title of the article, it suggests that the purpose 
article?  criticizes that Knight’s cartoon was “racist” and wrong. The article then 
interviews professional cartoonists for their input and alternatives to “do 
it the right way”.  

Style and  How did the  The author introduced the article with Herald Sun’s tweet, almost 
structure  writer structure  assuming the audience is aware of the original event. Then, they proceed 
the article? (you  to provide different perspectives from expert cartoonists. They primarily 
should comment  used their quotations as the substance of the content, the answers were 
on pictures also,  structured to progress from reactions to alternatives. Thus, allowing the 
but not the  reader to interpret the cartoonists opinions openly.  
other features of    
the website)  Although the tone of the author is reportative, they still show bias to 
What is the style  some extent. He states that Knight has a history of “depicting black 
of writing?  people in troubling ways visually”, creating a bad impression, and that 
the caricature shows “dehumanizing and painful Jim Crow imagery”, 
equating complex ideas and adjusting the reader’s perception.  

Audience  Who is the  This piece of text is intended for people who feel strongly about the 
intended  political correctness of a cartoon exaggerating Serena Williams’ reaction 
audience of this  to losing a point. This article displays opinions of different cartoonist 
article?  speaking on the allegations of racism in the way the cartoon was 
What is the  displayed. 
reader’s  The readers response towards this article is a larger and wider 
response?  perspective towards this issue because of the opinion and techniques 
that suggest the cartoon is not racist by experts in the field of cartoons, 
this leaves the audience to think if the cartoon by Mark Knight was really 
intended to be racist or not. 

Meaning   What is the  The message shared by this article is to share that the world is very 
message/meani sensitive and critical to many topics around the world, especially the 
ng of the article?  topic of racism. The article also shares an opinion from Micheal Miller, 
 the executive chairman of News Corp. Australasia at the very start of the 
article, “Criticism of Mark Knight's Serena Williams cartoon shows the 
world has gone too PC & misunderstands the role of news media 
cartoons and satire,”. This brings another view into the argument which 
suggests what the purpose of news media is if the world becomes 
sensitive and the backlash media groups may receive when reporting 
controversial topics. 

Pair 5 (Kobe + Haven) 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/09/12/what-the-heral
d-suns-serena-williams-cartoon-reveals-about-australias-racial-history/ 
 
Purpose  Why did the  The writer wrote the article because the writer wanted 
author write  to show the opposite perspective to Australia’s 
this article?  controversial topic of Serena William’s cartoon 
depiction by Mark Knight (the pro-cartoon opinion of 
the Herald Sun and the opposite view from the US - the 
global opinions and local(Australia) point of view. 
 

Style and  How did the  The writer structure the article by starting with the 
structure  writer  Herald Sun newspaper cover page photo and then 
structure  pointing out the connection between the Jim Crow 
the article?  cartoon of “Little Black Sambo” and adding in J.K 
(you should  Rowling’s tweet response. Then the writer starts to 
comment on  explain Herald Sun’s reason of adding in the cartoon 
pictures  onto their newspaper and supporting Mark Knight’s 
also, but not  cartoon. Then he starts to write about Australia’s racist 
the other  past during the colonial age. 
features of   
the website)   
What is the   
style of  Picture analysis: The cover of the Herald Sun 
writing?   
Although the focus of this article is on the Serena 
Williams article, the picture chosen is of the cover of the 
Herald Sun. Here the depiction of Serena Williams is 
only a small part of the cover, which suggests to the 
reader that the controversy surrounding this particular 
article is only a small part of an entire argument.  
 
 

Audience  Who is the   

intended 
 audience of 
this article? 
What is the 
reader’s 
response? 

Meaning   What is the  In my opinion,  

message of 
the article? 

Pair 6- Neha and Shawna 

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/11/opinions/racist-serena-cartoon-mark-knight-rebecc
a-wanzo/index.html 
 
Purpose  Why did the author  The author wrote the article to talk about the  
write this article?  comic and criticise the cartoonist on his racist 
views on the situation. Rebecca Wanzo talks 
about the racist and grotesque look of the 
entire comic making multiple points on how 
serena Williams was being degraded as she 
was being portrayed in a stereotypical and 
controversial manner by her facial expressions 
and behaviour that of a child’s.  
- Criticism of cartoon satire 
- Rather than portraying Serena Williams 
as a “hero” this article focuses more on 
caricature drawing styles on black 
women are depicted as racist 
-  

Style and  How did the writer  - The writer’s choice of diction can be seen as 
structure  structure the  dramatised and accusatory - this can be 
article? (you should  seen through the use of hyperbole as she 
comment on  states that Mark Knight is participating in a 
pictures also, but  long tradition of visual imperialism and 
not the other  normalizing a black grotesque.  
features of the  - Definite tone: states that all cartoons are 
website)  simply just an opportunity for regurgitation 
and reinforcement of stereotypes 
- Article is also biased towards black people - 
argues that the cartoon replicates 
imperialist visual themes like a black 
grotesque and victimised, vulnerable white 
woman. This could possibly be because the 
writer is a black woman herself (personal 
 connection / biased towards them)  

Audience  Who is the intended  The intended audience for this article could be 
audience of this  people who are equally outraged by the comic 
article?  as the article mentions multiple times that the 
What is the reader’s  cartoonist portrayed Serena Williams as a 
response?  grotesque black character. 
 

Meaning   What is the  The meaning behind the article is that black 
message of the  women are always villainized and white 
article?  women are always victimised.  
 

Pair 7 (Joseph & Angus) 

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/opinion/critics-of-serena-caricature-can
t-handle-the-truth/news-story/d88273a805d5fa4d2fc537cf5d325129 
 
If link doesn’t work, go through Gale: 
https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=News&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchRe
sultsType=SingleTab&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=8&docId=GALE%7
CA553791796&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAY-MOD1&prodId
=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CA553791796&searchId=R2&userGroupName=rchk&inPS=t
rue  
Password: lirc 
 
 
 
Purpose  Why did the  The author of this article disagrees with the popular 
author write  opinion which views the cartoon as offensive. The 
this article?  author believes that the cartoon does not deserve the 
controversy that it has received, and states how it was 
just a satire cartoon with no intention to make a 
“grandiose, posturing political statement”. The author 
believes that certain parts of the cartoon which caused 
the controversy, such as the visual representation of 
Serena Williams drawn with offensive stereotypes, are 
simply overreactions to an initial purpose of a satire 
joke with no deeper political meaning. The author 
seems to directly and perhaps, even offensively, 
humiliate the liberal beliefs that led to the controversy 
 surrounding the newspaper article (suggests a contrast 
between Australian and American viewpoints) 
 

Style and  How did the  This article is an opinion column in which authors can 
structure  writer  openly state their subjective opinions on a certain topic. 
structure  This can be seen through the language and register 
the article?  used throughout the text as it was mostly informal 
(you should  (through the use of words such as “bloody” or “fiasco”). 
comment  Thus, it is made clear from the style of this article that it 
on pictures  is clearly, and intentionally opinionated. The author’s 
also, but not  choice of diction is extremely negative and challenging 
the other  as seen from sentences such as “Perhaps we draw stick 
features of  figures with a disclaimer”, and shows his evidently 
the website)  strong or bold opinions on the situation. 
 
The structure of the article cannot be seen as only the 
transcript is available for viewing. 

Audience  Who is the  This article was published in an austrailian newspaper, 

intended  and was put out to an austrailian audience. The 
audience of  newspaper is the country’s most circulated national 
this article  newspaper in the county. Australians have a very 
sarcastic view of comedy, often not censoring their 
published comedy.  

Meaning   What is the  I think that the meaning behind the article is pointing 
message of  out how everyone is looking to call something racist or 
the article?  sexist, even though it is depicting something how it is. 
Brown mentions how “critics have invoked the 
abhorrent Jim Crow” and also “that's what Serena 
Williams bloody well looks like.” He goes on to say that 
if you are not able to draw a black woman without 
being crippled by the world’s media, then “perhaps we 
draw stick figures with a disclaimer: "Due to global 
offence, this stick figure is only really a guide.”  

 
 
Recent background to the relevance of political cartoons 
 
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-Of-Poem-Phenomenal-Woman-by-Maya-Ang
elou