Rhetorical Analysis: The Colbert Report

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Human beings are assaulted on a daily basis. Some are attacked with bombs and guns while others may be attacked with harsh words and/or degrading tweets. Although these methods are on opposite ends of the spectrum, they both carry serious implications. This is evident by the attacks recently made on Comedy Central’s host of The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert. This program has been a part of the Comedy Central network for over nine years. In this segment called “Who’s Attacking Me Now,” there is one main rhetorical device that is used to prove that the show had no need to be canceled. First, Colbert utilizes the device of hyperbole in order to illustrate that everything that happened was a complete exaggeration. As defined by Merriam Webster, …show more content…

Colbert compares himself to a chicken wing through the use of a simile. Colbert says, “ the inter-webs tried to swallow me whole” but “I got lodged in its throat and it hacked me back up like a hastily chewed chicken wing.” This is a hyperbolic comparison because Colbert and the chewed up chicken wing have absolutely nothing in common. A chicken wing is food and Colbert on the other hand is not. Unless, there is some cannibalism involved. Both of these cause uncomfortable situations. Eating something and then chocking on it is very painful. However, cannibalism is just an uncomfortable …show more content…

Colbert states that “CNN took a break from their airline coverage” to cover his story. This however is not true. Colbert simply changed the headline of the CNN broadcast in question to fit his program. With this, Colbert is able to make fun of all of the coverage that the crash got. At the end of the program, Colbert also compares himself to Jesus. This comparison is fitting because in the same way that Jesus was buried for three days and then rose again, Colbert was technically canceled for three days. His recording schedule was to blame for this. Because of this, he was not able to defend himself or even comment on what was going on for three whole days. So, in the sense of things he was canceled. By comparing himself to Jesus, he comes off as arrogant. Jesus to some people is their Lord and Savior. And to some people they might even say that Colbert is their Jesus, in the way that they religiously follow his show. Some might not like him because of this comment but again he is in the comedy business for a reason. This high comparison also makes Colbert seem to be above other people. When one has enough arrogance to compare themselves to Christ it shows that some little tweet incident cannot get them down. Jesus went through hell before he died. With this statement Colbert is saying that he is willing to go through hell before he

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