Literary Devices Used In Born To Run

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For two things that seem to have nothing in common, they have more in common than one would think. A rock song, by the name of “Born to Run” written and sung by Bruce Springsteen in 1974; and the Inaugural Speech of the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump. Genre elements are elements that help set the scene for a plot, either a writing, or even a film. When the two writings, the inaugural speech of Donald Trump, and Springsteen’s iconic “Born to Run” were analyzed, various genre elements emerged. Genre elements analyzed included tone, pathos, language, and literary elements. On a piece of paper, it may be difficult to understand what the writer wants you to feel. Whether hope, sorrow, love, anger, or passion; these are all …show more content…

Pathos uses the element of emotion to offer a way for the audience to connect. One educational source states “when used correctly, pathos can make a bland argument come alive for the audience” (Writing Commons). In both writings, pathos is used in a variety of ways. Continuing with Springsteen’s song, the lyrics portrayed as a love letter to a woman, Wendy. These strong words evoked romantic and passionate feelings. “Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness, I’ll love you with all the madness in my soul”. These passionate words from Springsteen show hope for the future. This similar idea of hope for the future was used in Trump’s speech as well. In Trump’s speech, multiple examples of pathos were used to evoke trust from the people. Pulling from hopeless times full of past and current struggles that America has faced, dwelling emotions were drawn. “Mothers and children trapped in poverty... rusted out factories scattered like tombstones…the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives…” Manipulating fear, and times of hopelessness, making this statement heard. Rising up, providing hope, powerful emotions were drawn from encouraging statements of hope for a better future Trump has planned. “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now”. Trump uses pathos to manipulate change and build …show more content…

In fact, it was one of the shortest presidential speech’s in history. In terms of Springsteen’s song, due to the words being lyrics, there is no clear structure as it formatted as a song • Slogans In Trump’s speech, he used his campaign slogan “make America great again”. Bringing up similar statements as his campaign and assuring his supporters of familiarity. • References In Trump’s speech, he referenced two famous historical phrases, “America first”, and “forgotten man”. For the elements listed above that were incorporated into the writings, each element provided further analysis of the writing. The literary element that was highlighted the most in both writing was repetition. When repetition is used by a writer, it makes ideas or words more memorable. It tends to be something the writer wants the reader to strive to understand as it is appearing multiple times. Genre elements not only help a reader to better understand writings, but also are key tools used by authors to provide depth to their writing. Not only do genre elements work on their own, but certain genre elements such as language, can help add to different genre elements such as tone or pathos. Essentially, genre elements work together to create a well written, understandable, in depth piece of