The Daily Show and Rhetoric: Arguments, Issues, and Strategies

(Paperback)

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The Daily Show and Rhetoric: Arguments, Issues, and Strategies examines the popular Comedy Central program from a rhetorical perspective to uncover the ways in which Jon Stewart, the cast, and writers critique mainstream media and politicians. This volume analyzes the nature of The Daily Show, the arguments the program makes about the media and politics, the strategies that are used, and some of the particular issues about which the program makes arguments. Overall, the contributors skillfully demonstrate that The Daily Show is more than just a show designed to make the audience laugh. Rather, the show provides useful information and arguments so that the audience can make informed decisions about the world around them.

Reviews

Trischa Goodnows The Daily Show and Rhetoric: Arguments, Issues, and Strategies is an important contribution toward the study of an important artifact of contemporary popular culture. This volume assembles a strong, diverse set of voices to explore the significance of this television series. The book not only illuminates its object of study but suggests several ways to understand the intersection of popular culture and rhetorical media. -- Barry Brummett, University of Texas-Austin
In her introduction to this objective essay collection, Goodnow (Oregon State Univ.) asserts The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, an entertainment program on Comedy Central, persuades by means of political satire. In their 13 essays, contributors compare The Daily Show to traditional news; consider the political arguments that host Jon Stewart makes; discuss strategies used to inform audiences; and contemplate the ways in which the show handles specific issues, such as race, religion, and sexual preference. The volume is similar to Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post Network Era, ed. by Jonathan Gray, Jeffrey Jones, and Ethan Thompson (CH, Sep'09, 47-0107), but is of course more limited topically. Accordingly, it is a resource for those maintaining comprehensive collections in political communication. * Choice Reviews *

Author Bio

Trischa Goodnow is an associate professor in the Department of Speech Communication at Oregon State University.