Paper 3 Outline: Rhetorical Analysis of a Satiric Work

Outline for “Sarah Palin Uses a Hand-O-Prompter” from The Colbert Report

  1. Introduction
    1. Overview of the piece
    2. Rhetorical strategies
    3. Commonplaces
    4. Overall message
  2. Logical Fallacies and Rhetorical Figures
    1. Twisting a cliché
    2. Reductio ad absurdum
    3. Inventing new words
    4. Taking a phrase literally
  3. Explaining Satire Through Satire
    1. Details of the story
    2. Colbert’s use of wordplay
    3. Key rhetorical victory
  4. Commonplaces and Aims
    1. Mainly Democratic audience
    2. Sarah Palin’s image against her
    3. Defends President Obama
  5. Conclusion
    1. Restatement of thesis
    2. Viewer takeaway
    3. Colbert’s style and delivery
    4. Success of the piece

4 thoughts on “Paper 3 Outline: Rhetorical Analysis of a Satiric Work”

  1. Great topic! I’m sure anything Colbert related will give you not only enough writing material but also have the reader very entertained. I like your outline, It makes sense (organization wise) so good job!

  2. I’ve seen this Colbert clip and I think this is a great concept for your satire. Great job connecting many of the strategies from TYFA in your outline, can’t wait to see the whole paper.

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