Daily Show and Rhetoric

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.

The Daily Show and Rhetoric approaches the popular program from a scholarly, rhetorical perspective to uncover the rhetorical nature of the show. Using a variety of rhetorical methods, the book, taken as a whole, concludes that The Daily Show is more that just a show designed to make the audience laugh; it's designed to make the audience think.

Part 1 IntroductionPart 2 Section I - The Nature of the BeastChapter 3 Chapter 1: The Arete of Amusement: An Aristotelian Perspective on the Ethos of The Daily ShowChapter 4 Chapter 2: Before and After The Daily Show: Freedom and Consequences in Political SatireChapter 5 Chapter 3: Cramer vs. (Jon Stewart's Characterization of) Cramer: Image Repair Rhetoric, Late Night Political Humor, and The Daily ShowPart 6 Section II - ArgumentsChapter 7 Chapter 4: The (Not-So) Laughable Political Argument: A Close-Textual Analysis of The Daily Show With Jon StewartChapter 8 Chapter 5: Models of Democratic Deliberation: Pharmacodynamic Agonism in The Daily ShowChapter 9 Chapter 6: Purifying Laughter: Carnivalesque Self-Parody as Argument Scheme in The Daily Show with Jon StewartChapter 10 Chapter 7: The Voice of the People: Jon Stewart, Vernacular Argument and Political SatirePart 11 Section III - StrategiesChapter 12 Chapter 8: We Frame to Please: A Preliminary Examination of The Daily Show's Use of FramingChapter 13 Chapter 9: Breaking News: A Postmodern Rhetorical Analysis of The Daily ShowChapter 14 Chapter 10: Visual Aspects of The Daily Show with Jon StewartPart 15 Section IV - IssuesChapter 16 Chapter 11: Gaywatch: A Burkean Frame Analysis of The Daily Show's Treatment of Queer TopicsChapter 17 Chapter 12: A Modern Hebrew Prophet?: Jon Stewart and Religious SatireChapter 18 Chapter 13: The Daily Show and Barack Obama's Comic Critique of Whiteness: An Intersection of Popular and Political Rhetoric