'Stephen Colbert on American Jobs\r'

'Stephen Colbert on the Statesn Jobs In Stephen Colbert’s book, the States Again, Re-Becoming the Gr w beness We Never Weren’t, he duologue al approximately(prenominal) a wide start of problems in American society. They range from tasks to faculty to healthc be, and of course, they argon all written in a satirical sense. In the imprimatur chapter, Colbert and his writers talk about commerces in America. They talk over the problem of theorises macrocosm shipped overseas to countries alike(p) India and China and Colbert puts forth his â€Å"solutions” to the problems, which mostly take setting up sweatshops in America.He too dialog about job interviews and how to be successful at them. Colbert and his staff of writers intent a wide range of rummy techniques in the book as a whole and in the chapter on jobs to roast the American culture and government. One risible technique Colbert subprograms in the jobs chapter is reduction. Reduction is esse ntially belittling or degrading someone. rough the beginning of the chapter, there is a scenery of Barack Obama macrocosm captioned as apprize Carter.While Jimmy Carter was a decent death chair and umpteen an(prenominal) historians agree that he didn’t do anything bad, he is widely remembered for not doing frequently of anything during his one term as president except failing to get the Americans that were being held hostage in Iran out safely. Barack Obama has a similar record of inactivity in his first term, so the book captions Obama as Carter to essentially say that Obama didn’t do much in his first term as president.Throughout the chapter and the whole book, Colbert and his writers physical exertion cyphers to their returns. This is a general technique in badinage because it’s escaped to get your marrow across using pictures. They are usually fairly simple, quick to look at, and easy to understand the meaning of. Colbert overly uses apes to his advantage in the chapter on jobs. A caricature is usually some sort of picture of the someone or group being ribd with their much than unsightly features being greatly exaggerated. It is a mutual technique use by ironists.Near the beginning of the chapter, there is a picture of an Indian woman difference through the Kama Sutra exercises, a very mature series of exercises use to strengthen the body and mind, while meeting at a call center. Through this picture, Colbert is talking about the problem of American jobs being shipped overseas. He as well as has a picture of a howler monkey named Bobo running a human resources division at a company. There is a common stump against human resources de surgical incisionments for not doing much work and do the employees’ lives difficult.The howler monkey is vatical to represent the HR department because it would be impossible to work with a monkey. Bobo heretofore goes so further as to eat an employee’s pa perwork, the equivalent of an HR department losing your paperwork. While pictures are of great use in satire, voice communication can be just as effective if used properly. One technique Colbert and his writers use is burlesque, or the treating of a serious matter in a joking or flippant way. Burlesque is used throughout the chapter, only if is used the most in the part about job interviews.Job interviews are super important, for they can make the difference amongst being hired for a job and not getting a job. In our current economy, interviews have become counterbalance more important because people are often in dire need of employment. Colbert devotes several pages to telling readers how to conduct a good interview. He tells the reader how legion(predicate) handshakes they should give, proper dress, and even how to appeal to the interviewer. Colbert also says to repeat the interviewer’s name umteen ms.He says â€Å"Make a point of repeat your interviewer’s name as many times as possible as soon as you hear it” (Colbert 44). Colbert is essentially saying that by repeating the interviewer’s name, you’re flattering them, a common technique used by job seekers in interviews. Colbert satirizes the interview process as whole because he sees it as a joke and formality. He believes, and many testament agree with him, that getting a job depends on flattery and connections with the interviewer. A fourth technique used by Colbert in the jobs chapter is reductio ad absurdum.This technique involves the satirist gambleing to take the side of the person or group he or she is mocking in an attempt to besides humiliate their subject. In the chapter, Colbert pretends to support sweatshops and merchant marine jobs overseas. He even goes so far as to suggest putting sweatshops in America and disbanding unions. In one of Colbert’s â€Å"truth punches” he says â€Å"The minimum charter ruined the proud American tra dition of the sweatshop. You start paying American workers a minimum wage, the next thing you accredit they’re demanding air-conditioning and less flammable shirtwaist materials” (Colbert 30).The conditions he describes are very common in sweatshops around the world and are obviously a huge health and safety hazard. However, they make manufacturing cheaper and the lack of cut into laws allows them to force their employees to work in the aforementioned(prenominal) conditions. Colbert pretends to support these views because by doing so he can make gambling of them more effectively. Also, he highlights the uttermost(a) working conditions because by doing so, he can show the fatuity of both sweatshops and the argument for them.He can pretend to support horrible working conditions and liquid be viewed as humorous because everyone knows that those conditions are inhumane. One characteristic of satire that Colbert and his writers use in the jobs chapter is obscenity. A t the beginning, he makes fun of the Rosie the Riveter, a common figure for egg-producing(prenominal) empowerment during World War II. He describes Rosie as â€Å"History’s most thinly veiled lesbian-I have worked lumbering to remain ignorant of whatever subvert act ‘riveting’ is” (Colbert 21).He also talks about Alan Greenspan’s scrotum and puts in a picture of it. The obscenity does not rattling have any purpose in satirizing Americans and their jobs. It’s there mostly for the rice beer of making the reader laugh and take to continue. Exaggeration is easily one of the most common, if not the most common, characteristics of satire. The chapter and the book as a whole are alter with exaggerations of varying amounts. He uses a â€Å" refer” of Ayn Rand’s, which says â€Å"Any man using the words of another is an unthinkable parasite worthy of contempt and death” (Colbert 25).Obviously Ayn Rand never say this; itâ⠂¬â„¢s a rather extreme thing to say and would have discredited her credibility. Colbert uses exaggeration in this instance to satirize Rand’s views of the working American. She is widely cognize for being a conservative and scorning Americans who sham’t work and live dispatch of the benefits of society. Colbert also uses this quote as an luck to take another swing at the Republicans. By making fun of a popular conservative, he is, by association, making fun of conservatives as a whole.The dash of satire that Colbert and his writers use is a monologue. In a monologue, the satirist speaks from behind a mask. In America Again, Colbert is the narrator, and he uses this mail to satirize more freely. By staying as himself, he can use the fibre he has on his tv show, and he doesn’t need to spend time creating a character to speak through. This is also advantageous when using the reductio ad absurdum technique because most readers will already know that he doesnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t sincerely support the side he’s pretending to be on, and they can appreciate the comedy more.The chapter on jobs was very mirthful and did a good job of satirizing American jobs and American’s views on jobs. He satirizes how Americans preach the need to bring jobs cover to America from countries like India and China, but no one is willing to lose capital by investing in more expensive American workers. Works Cited Colbert, Stephen, Michael C. Brumm, and Andrew Matheson. â€Å"Jobs. ” America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Werent. youthful York: Grand Central Pub. , 2012. 16-47. Print.\r\n'