AOW #9- End of IRB

Bossypants by Tina Fey (autobiography)

Tina Fey is a wildly funny actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She is extensively famous for her well-rounded accomplishments and of course, her witty humor. Ms. Fey published an autobiography called Bossypants in April 2011. In this book, Tina Fey comically sums up her life, focusing solely on the main events and accomplishments that make her who she is today.

In this book, Tina Fey discusses every aspect of her life that is vitally important to the person she has become. She acknowledges such aspects in her life as a brief overview of her childhood, zeroing in on her relationship with her father, her introduction into acting, her marriage and the birth of her daughter, her run on the hit show Saturday Night Live and the start of her own show, 30 Rock, as well as many other funny tales that make her who she is today. Through the sharing of several short stories that seem random and irrelevant at times, Tina Fey is able to accurately portray the life she has lived in just some 275 pages.

The context of this piece is the well-established fame of Tina Fey and increasing popularity of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. In writing this book at the time that she did, Ms. Fey had already established a quite extensive fan-base and a continually increasing popularity.

The purpose in which Tina Fey wrote her autobiography is to share with the world, her fans in particular, her life story and what exactly made her who she is today. She is able to tell the world of the events and accomplishments that mean so much to her and the impact that they have had on her life.

The audience for this autobiography is all of Tina Fey's fans, as well as her family, friends, and coworkers.

Some rhetorical elements that were effectively used in this autobiography are: (DIDLS)

• Diction- Tina uses comical phrasing and random word choice. She strongly uses humor and satire, which demonstrates her personality and passion for comedy. In her diction, she relies heavily on basic, common language that the average person is could easily define.
• Imagery- In this book, Tina uses a ton of description, in particular of the places she has been and people she has met. She describes in great detail her father and the summer theater camp, as well as the lifelong friends she met there.
• Details- Throughout the book, many somewhat random details are included, which seem irrelevant individually, but come together to express a much greater picture. In describing each event in her life, Tina Fey accurately uses detail to show the reader what she noticed the most in the experience and what was most important about that particular event.
• Language- As stated above, Tina Fey uses basic, humorous diction often in this book. She also indiscreetly uses curse words and inappropriate language. This usage impacts her story because it shows her personality and straightforwardness. It also adds greatly to the humor.
• Syntax- For the most part, the syntax in this book is pretty basic and simple. Tina Fey tends to use very similar punctuation and sentence structure throughout the book. There is a bit of variation, involving frequent lists and inserted pictures with captions, but for the most part syntax is very basic.

Tina Fey absolutely accomplished her purpose in writing this autobiography. After finishing this book, I have a new respect for Ms. Fey, whom I already loved. I have a better insight into her life and what made her who she is today. In reading her book, I have a better understanding of her humor as well, which just makes her even more funny!!