Rhetorical Analysis Of Comedian Jon Stewart

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Comedian Jon Stewart gives a speech on the Daily Show during the “Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear”. He wants the viewers of the Daily Show to realize the difference between the real and fake threats and to take a humorous perspective on most of America’s “problems”. Stewart also emphasizes to his audience not to take every person on the media by his word and not to overreact to everything they hear. He uses metaphors, comparisons, and hypothetical examples to get his point across. In the beginning of the speech, Stewart uses the metaphor of a magnifying glass to impart to the public of the effect the press can have on them. The media can either “hold [the magnifying glass] up to our problems,” or use it to “light ants on fire.” In other words, …show more content…

He points out that if our immune system “overreacts to everything, we actually get sicker.” By comparing us to an immune system, he is highlighting that, like our immune system, if we freak out over every little thing, we can actually begin to hurt our country, rather than focus on the issues that matter. That is, if we continue with our melodramatic ways, we will begin to suspect everyone as a threat, slowly making our country (the body of the American people) “sicker”. This comparison makes Stewart’s viewers think, “am I really overreacting to the things I see or hear on the media?” With this reaction, the author achieves this purpose by making his listeners reflect on how much they may be taking the media by its word. As a result, this self-reflection will most likely result in them “waking up” and looking at problems from a more analytical point of view, rather than just believing everything they hear, thus creating a society in which the author wishes people to value American “values and principles” over what they experience on …show more content…

He creatively conveys this idea by using an example of various people in their unique cars with different bumper stickers to represent their diverse beliefs. By doing so, he paints an image that portrays all of these people in their cars, with their passionate opinions, are normally traveling through traffic, not caring who believes what. This descriptive portrait show the author’s ideal versions of society, where people don’t blow things out of proportion just because they hold different opinions. In the example he adds that, of course, “there will be a selfish jerk who zips up the shoulder and cuts in a the last minute” to represent a “real” problem of America and stating that the individual “is scorned. This crazy driver is meant to highlight that, yes, there will be some real threats in the world, but America will be more apt to dealing with them if Americans put aside their minor differences and focus only on the problems that are a real danger to the country. Stewart’s traffic example contributes to his purpose by displaying every day people that get along just fine, despite what they might believe, thus showing his viewers that different people are able to get along just fine on a daily

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