Analyze The Rhetorical Devices Used In Stephen Colbert's Commencement Speech

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Stephen Colbert’s commencement address, given at Northwestern University in 2011, is celebrated for its humor, wisdom, and inspiring messages. Colbert‘s way of joking might sound dirty, but it’s still a beautiful and close form of interaction because the main targeted audience can identify themselves in his jokes. Colbert builds his rapport with the viewers by proudly shouting out his college alma mater, Northwestern, and now he creates an environment of shared experience with the audience. Then he goes on and talks about how those experiences shaped him when he was a student. He confesses his passion for acting and further adds that since his school days, after graduation he has been interested in improv. While describing his inputs from this, he …show more content…

and like improv, you can’t win in life and make it clear that you cannot win in life. The line between winning or losing in improv is fluid, and the beauty of the art lies in the fact that there is always a next step in the ongoing process of creating and adapting. Colbert says that this is the time when he said to his relatives and friends, "Lives are not about performing a rare feat but about the struggle with everyday decisions and life journey". Successful people do not gauge their achievements by how others recognize them, or by the number and the degree of achievements, but by reflecting on the growth, learning, and the power of adapting to new conditions. Colbert goes on to say that life may be likened to improv, full of ambiguity and unfathomability, implying the need for the viewers to be flexible and ready for the unexpected anytime soon. Be honest with yourself instead of avoiding failure and see it as part of the adventure, failures and failures are lessons that shape one's success in the future. Comedy Central's Colbert, then, again conveys the fact that life is constant, just as improv is in a process that is not completed with a final

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