Blog Post #5

Taylor Swift’s video “Love Story” contained romantic lyrics which are combined with mid tempo country and pop sounds made it a smashing hit. She plays a student who sees a handsome co-ed (Justin Gaston) and imagines them as a Romeo-and-Juliet couple. The story shifts between present day and medieval times where she is dancing in a gala or sitting out dreaming by the walls of the castles. It can only be imagined that she didn`t read the play, given that a fairy tale ending is tacked on at the end.

The most important part of writing is the audience. As an audience member to the video, I think that the lyrics go precisely with the video. Before I seen the video, I could explicitly depict what it was going to be like. We are familiar with the Cinderella and her prince love stories, therefore that is what we usually picture when hearing a song like this or reading a book. The title also displays what it is going to be like. You can tell from the castles and context of the video that Swift’s character has a reputation for being wealthy.

This song goes along well with our Composition Design Advocate textbook in the regards that it brings a lot of flavor from the rhetorical strategy of ethos. In Composition Design Advocate, the authors state that ethos main point in writing is the way you come across to the reader through the choices you make and how they reflect you (191). It also can be constructed through “the face you put on" for your audience (192). We can advise from the video that Taylor Swift’s point is to present a struggle going on within her. She shows that she has high spirits whenever she is with him; however once he goes away her smiling face turns lifeless.