Use Of Rhetoric In Tina Fey's 'Bossypants'

“Don't waste your energy trying to change opinions ... Do your thing, and don't care if they like it” (pg. 145). This straight to the point, no nonsense quote is not out of place in Fey’s hysterical memoir. From female empowerment to learning how to grow up, Tina Fey uses specific stylistic choices to reach her audience, enabling her to communicate her many lessons. Fey’s casual, sarcastic diction and her use of rhetoric allow the mostly female audience to relate to Bossypants. In Bossypants, Fey’s target audience is clearly young to middle-aged women. This is made obvious through her choice of subject matter. Fey shares stories and lessons that she has learned to which many women can feel a connection. In chapters like “All Girls Must Be …show more content…
She is able to develop a sense of credibility, establish an emotional connection, and skillfully use decorum, enabling her to convince the audience of her opinions. In the chapter “30 Rock: An Experiment to Confuse Your Grandparents”, Fey establishes her credibility as a comedy writer and uses known references like Lorne Michaels to further prove her point. By showing the audience her experiences in comedy, she can convince them to believe her thoughts on the working world. Fey emotionally connects with the audience by sharing her stories very openly with a touch of comedy. When retelling her childhood especially, Fey reaches the audience by telling heartfelt stories, while keeping them light and comical. This directly relates to her use of decorum. Throughout the memoir, Fey tells unfortunate or embarrassing stories, but she does so with a sarcastic manner while telling jokes. She is able to make fun of herself, comforting the reader and making her seem more human. Fey’s decorum is extremely clever because she writes as her audience would want. She seems very human throughout the memoir and extremely relatable. Through these intelligent rhetorical tactics, Fey influences her audience in a casual and comical