The Irony of “Born in the U.S.A.” As the fireworks explode in the night sky to celebrate Independence Day, “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen plays loudly for the audience to hear. As the men, women, and children bellow out the chorus proudly, they never seem to grasp its intended meaning. By studying the appeals and irony used in Springsteen’s lyrics, it is easy to see how Springsteen’s message of the poor treatment of Vietnam War veterans is misconstrued by millions of listeners into American pride. Springsteen’s intended audience is a group made up of mainly white, blue collar Americans- a group not likely to accept criticism of America. Through unclear lyrics and a poorly selected audience, Springsteen’s hit “Born in the U.S.A.” is a rhetorical failure. In order to gain credibility, Springsteen uses ethical appeal. Springsteen begins the song with the line, “Born down in a dead man’s town,” (Springsteen) and he concludes with, “Nowhere to run ain’t got nowhere to go.” (Springsteen) Springsteen uses introductory words as well as a conclusion to give the listener his life story from start to finish. By doing this, Springsteen establishes credibility by making sure the listener can understand that this song is a tragedy and his life was doomed from …show more content…
His usages of logical, ethical, and emotional appeal combined with the ironic chorus simply are not heard due to one great constraint. Springsteen’s audience is made up of mainly white Americans, a group that very rarely criticizes America. Criticizing America is very rare in this audience’s culture because they love America. Springsteen used the resource that most Americans know at least one suffering veteran. This resource was not strong enough because of the audience’s overwhelming patriotism. In the end, the audience’s strong love for America contributed to Springsteen’s failed
“Wherever there’s somebody fightin’ for a place to stand, Or decent job or a helpin’ hand”(Springsteen line 29-30) These two lines are parts of the speech of Tom Joad. From his mouth, we know that people have to fight for jobs and shelters. They need to turn against their friends, peers, or even family in order to survive. Nearly a quarter of the workforce was out of work. In other words, a quarter of Americans don’t have
America is a place for new opportunity, but that isn't shown in the video. Does the bad in America mean more than
The Bernie Sanders campaign’s “America” ad, featuring a homonymous Simon and Garfunkel song, is undoubtedly a positive ad, filled with warmth, hope and enthusiasm. The minute-long advertisement switches focus from the candidate to the voters, or the American people. Using classic American images, a familiar folk-style soundtrack and footage of children and family, “America” appeals to optimism and quaint patriotism, especially those of Iowans who are the primary target of the ad. The ad opens with the shot of a snowy day, with wind turbines in the background. The image brings viewers Iowa to relate whatever else happens in the rest of the ad, since Iowa is one of the “top states for installed wind capacity.”
Percival Everett’s short story entitled, “The Appropriation of Cultures” explores themes of irony and absurdity. The irony lies within each and every page. The story begins with Daniel, who is a young and successful black man with a degree from Brown University. He is also a musician and frequently played old tunes with a group of musicians. The story then shifts as white frat boys make suggestions of what the musicians should play, “One night, some white boys from a fraternity yellow forward to the stage at the black man holding the acoustic guitar and began to shout, ‘Play ‘Dixie’ for us!
His use of emotional adjectives and strong words empowers and motivates his audience to remember their trials and hardships so that they may take strength in them, enough to unify the country. For instance, his use of the words and phrases “injuries,” “unfair,” “dangers and difficulties,” and “days
At the beginning of his speech, he conveys emotion through telling his own story and putting the audience in his shoes. He states “On the one hand he is born in the shadow of the stars and stripes and he is assured it represents a nation which has never lost a war. He pledges allegiance to that flag which guarantees "liberty and justice for all. " He is part of a country in which anyone can become President, and so forth”. This shows the audience how African American children feel when living in a country made on the premise of equality, but feeling anything but equal to their Caucasian peers.
The expression of themes and topic in "In Response to Executive Order 9066" and "Mericans" shows that there is no one way or right way to be American or appreciate American culture. "In Response to Executive Order 9066" is a
Everyone who owns a television has seen the “Somewhere in America” commercial at least once, which was published by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This commercial is full of emotions and most people, “Always change the channel because they can’t take it anymore,” (McLachlan). The most depressing parts of this commercial is the pictures because the dogs and cats are all beaten up and suffering from being abused and neglected by their owners. As a matter of fact, they are trying to make the audience feel sympathetic so they can join the ASPCA. The ASPCA tries to encourage audience monetary donation by using ethos by their tone, logos and pathos from the pictures and the statistics.
Advertised as the land of the free and a beacon of hope and opportunity, America is a nation where a single ideal has drawn masses of immigrants who conquer difficulties. When one ideal has shaped the history of an entire nation, one must ponder the meaning of the American Dream. The American Dream manifests itself in Christopher McCandless’s journey to the West as chronicled by Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild. It weaves itself into the fabric of every American story, such as that of Maya Angelou’s memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Moreover, it finds itself voiced by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”.
So when President Obama at the end of his speech begins to sing, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost, but now I’m found; was blind but now I see.” It is not the paper in front of him belting out those lyrics, nor is it the way he wrote them on the paper that somehow makes them come out of his mouth in song, but it is his connection to the people that makes this melodious decision. Clearly, the writing of the speech helped the President organize his thoughts, but in the end, his delivery made all the difference to the citizens of the United States.
Carrying such powerful lines as “the world is big / big and bright and round / and it's full of folks like me” (Simone, 1967), Backlash Blues became a popular song in the civil rights movement, allowing African Americans to express their proudness and protest racism in a more accessible way. Freedom songs such as Backlash Blues were and are still so significant to African Americans as they “sustain as well as … publicise the struggle[s]” they face (Stefani, 2015). Furthermore,
He uses the appeal of pity, portraying how he himself has faced the same things his audience has, making him feel the same way. He says, “I'm not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver -- no, not I. I'm speaking as a victim of this American system.” He connects with the audience and shows them how he Americans have made him feel for years. He knows how he is looked upon, and is not afraid to say it.
The Poietic Aspect of Hendrix 's "All Along the Watchtower" Jimi Hendrix, probably one of the greatest guitarists of all time, in 1968 covered "All along the watchtower," a song originally written and performed a few months earlier by Bob Dylan. Even though Hendrix 's admiration for Dylan 's work was well known , his choice to cover a song belonging to a completely different music genre is emblematic. So why did Hendrix decide to cover Bob Dylan 's "All along the watchtower?" In this paper, I will argue that Hendrix 's cover of Dylan 's "All along the watchtower," thanks to its lyrics and sound dynamic, optimally conveys his anti-war and anti-violence beliefs.
There have been many protest songs in the United States; the freedom of speech has contributed to powerful music and protest words that are written in song. The song that will be discussed throughout this essay is “American Idiot” by Green day. This song speaks volume about the uneducated “America” and puts emphasis on the destruction that reality television is making on the United States of America. Listening to the unspoken word and read between the lies, for that then you will understand. The song “American Idiot” was released during the 2004 presidential election, where George W. Bush was selected into office for the second term as President of the United States of America (source).
The second speaker also reshapes the first two lines of the entire poem into a plea to the majority. Beforehand, the first speaker uses those lines as a call for the old American spirit to be revived: “Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be” (1-2). Both speakers change the meaning of the lines to express their thoughts on America. As a result, the poem expresses the desire for everyone to be treated equally in the land of freedom. The readers can relate to the speaker because they wish that everyone has equal rights in the country that proclaims itself to be the symbol of freedom.