The Colbert Report

The Colbert Report is an extremely fascinating piece of comedy and satire. Aside from host Stephen Colbert’s very comedic message, lies an intricate and very well executed amount of rhetoric. Rhetoric can be defined as a way of using language persuasively, which is exactly what Colbert does. He has the ability to act and say one message that is understood to be in favor of an opposing side to politics. For example, in the most recent episode of the show from January 19^th, Colbert analyzes the choice made to throw a black tie affair at the White House, in which the President of China was invited. Colbert was trying to make the point that we shouldn’t be throwing fancy dinners for foreign delegates, especially when we owe foreign nations over a trillion “China bucks.” Although his point came across very humorously, it seems as though his strategy of giving criticism in conjunction with humor seems to work in this case. He further adds to his point by saying that the dinner should have been a, “sweatpants potluck.” He enhances the rhetoric of this phrase by dropping in tone and slowing down his speech. Colbert seems to have speaking down to a science, because he knows when to emphasize words, which carry a great importance. He could have simply said, “The White House shouldn’t be throwing ridiculously expensive parties,” but by adding humor to his point, he adds entertainment to what could be considered a boring lecture.

An interesting part of Colbert’s rhetoric is the way he stresses certain words to give effect. Like we talked about in class, the way that a person talks can affect the way a message is portrayed. The way Colbert uses a very serious tone naturally and drops the tone of his vice dramatically to make a point is very interesting. From what I can tell, it seems that Colbert raises his tone of voice when a point seems rather absurd, and he wants the audience to understand how ridiculous it seems.

Works Cited:
1995-2011 Comedy Partners. The Colbert Report. Accessed January 20, 2011.
<http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/thu-january-20-2011-chris-matthews>