A Rhetorical Analysis of Cardigan by Taylor Swift Media Essay

A Rhetorical Analysis of Cardigan by Taylor Swift
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[date] I - Introduction
II - Body
Taylor Swift and cardigan
Analysis
III - Conclusion
IV - References Introduction
One of the most famous pop music artists in today's generation is the multi-awarded singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. She has written and performed several chart-topping hits in her whole career (GRAMMY.com). In the first half of the year 2020, Taylor Swift released an album as an indie musician. She took the whole world by surprise after uploading her independently produced songs on digital platforms like Youtube and Spotify (BBC, 2020). Her songs as an independent artist have garnered love and attention from her fandom and diverse listeners. Also, what is interesting about her whole album is that all the songs, including the album title, are written in all lower case letters. One of the songs from folklore, Taylor's designated album name, is named cardigan. The song talks about a person who compares herself to an all-time favorite cardigan in the most basic sense. Later in the paper, I will give an expounded background of the song. Anyhow, the interpretation of Taylor's cardigan depends on the perspective that a person listening to it has. For this paper, I will look at the song's rhetorical patterns to prove its carried meaning. Rhetorical analysis of Taylor's song would mean that the lyrics will be analyzed according to how they are positioned in the song (Meynet, 1998). In addition to the lyrical assessment, we will incorporate Taylor's personal views and politics to prove the rhetorical assessment. That is why, as a thesis, Taylor's cardigan, more than the romantic meaning of the song, expresses a general belief in the relationship between the younger and older generation. The song expresses a more independent, wise, and open-minded picture of the younger generation rather than the older generation's claim that being young means being innocent. To prove this point, let us look both at the song and Taylor Swift.
Taylor Swift and Cardigan
Taylor Swift's cardigan is among the 16 songs in folklore that have made it to the charts (Lipshutz, 2020). The song interprets a love triangle, expressed by the person who is treated as the favorite cardigan. According to the song, the cardigan is treated as the second choice, being called "old" (Swift, 2020, 0:54) and "was your favorite" (Swift, 2020, 1:01). However, more than the love triangle that the song primarily expresses, Taylor's is wise enough to put her political ideas on the song's development. When it comes to being political, Taylor Swift never fails to express it in her music. The artist has always been vocal about her views and belief about human politics. She openly talks about her beliefs about women and their societal involvement. For instance, she would find a chance to talk about men's privileges in her award speeches to express political views (Savage, 2019). She has also built a reputation for herself that portrays her as an independent woman of her generation. She has even been awarded as the Woman of the Year (Savage, 2019). Taylor's successful reputation in the music industry has given her the platform to amplify political and personal views....