Rhetorical Analysis of Roxanne Horde's Essay on Bruce Springsteen

This essay offers a rhetorical analysis of Roxanne Horde's essay, which explores the political dimensions of Bruce Springsteen's lyrics. The analysis delves into Horde's argument that Springsteen's songs, despite his lack of overt political activism, function as political statements, examining the rhetorical strategies used to support this claim. The essay scrutinizes Horde's interpretations of various Springsteen songs, including "Growin' Up" and "American Skin (41 Shots)," highlighting how she perceives them as critiques of social injustice, the American Dream, and the government's role. The analysis also considers Horde's emphasis on the communal aspect of Springsteen's live performances and their role in fostering a collective political consciousness among his fans. The essay concludes that Springsteen's work engages with political issues, whether intentionally or not, and that Horde's analysis effectively establishes his place within a framework of collective politics.

Running head: RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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The purpose of every essay is to exert a point after having considered many aspects and
arguments of a particular issue. If an essay cannot conclude upon an assertive point, then the
essay is not successful and does not fulfil its purposes (Foss 32). The essay “Living in your
American skin” by Roxanne Horde dabbles into different issues and tries to understand how the
lyrics of Bruce Springsteen may have a political take and the artist be asserted as a political poet.
The purpose of the current essay is to analyze the aforementioned essay and decide whether it
has been able to establish the idea of the singer as a political figure.
At the very beginning of the essay, that writer has directly addressed the essence of the
essay by quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson and his take on the contemporary global political
condition. Horde writes that she reads “his lyrics as literature and as politics, as connected and
collective practice”, because she believes in the fact that Springsteen’s lyrics are with “poetic
depth”. She tries to fathom the density of his lyrics and aims to understand the poet’s stake in our
shared world. Horde believes that “if politics is that thing we do as individuals when we
conclude what is just and unjust, and then take responsibility for and action in accordance with
our conclusions, then Springsteen has long offered his fans, in his lyrics and his life, the
possibilities of politics.” This goes on show that the writer truly believes that the singer’s lyrics
to be political in nature, even though the singer himself never consciously asserted himself as a
political figure or took any part in active e politics until George W. Bush’s “war on terror”. She
also says that if politics can be defined as the actions of the humans as a collective who makes
decisions in support of a specific cause or issue, then Springsteen has always been a part of the
political conundrum of the world (De Man 27).
Horde has looked into the lyrics of many of Springsteen’s songs, including “Growin’
Up”, from his first album. Reading and analyzing the lyrics of this particular song, Horde

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concludes that Springsteen refuses to sit down and, instead, “he stands up and finishes growing
up.” This shows the spirit of the poet who is tired of conforming and finally stands up for his
rights and asserts his voice and opinions on matters. Horde believes that a poetic-political
framework is needed so that a person can open up to different subjects and emancipation occurs
through this knowledge itself (Schneider 13). She looks at Springsteen who used his young spirit
in his two albums to emerge from the other side unscathed and unharmed by the childhood
hardships, and this helped him to keep his soul pure.
Horde links the thoughts of Isin on the subject of a person being able to separate and
decide on just and the unjust with the lyrics on the album Darkness on the Edge of Town and
applauds at the ability of Springsteen to place himself amidst the have-nots and being courageous
enough to criticize the American dream, which only helps the rich to gain more power, or how
social justice is virtually non-existent (Wolff 7). Horde thinks that Springsteen’s lack of
optimism on his later albums, which also seems like an attempt to move back to his roots, was
fueled by his political thoughts and his views on the widening wealth disparity among the
American citizens.
Horde marks “The Ghost of Tom Joad” as the collective and communal call for equality
and an attempt to make the government strive for social justice, asking them to honor the social
contract that declares “one nation indivisible”. She looks into the live shows of Springsteen and
notes the high rate of participation of the public, where they sing along with the singer and
speculates that he encouraged this in order to instill a sense of communal experience through this
collective singing. Horde analyzes the live set for American Skin(41 Shots) and says that this
was probably the pivotal moment in the musician’s life, having voicing his opinion on the death

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of Amadou Diallo and trying to make the people understand the gravity of the actions of the
police and the hollow promise of the government to protect its citizens.
The essay is very factual and carefully analyzes the most influential songs on every
album, trying to establish the songs of the musician as political and concludes effectively that
Springsteen has always been involved in a collective politics, whether he knew it or not.

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References
De Man, Paul. Blindness and insight: Essays in the rhetoric of contemporary criticism.
Routledge, 2013.
Foss, Sonja K. Rhetorical criticism: Exploration and practice. Waveland Press, 2017.
Schneider "Another Side of “Born in the USA”: Form, Paradox, and Rhetorical Indirection." The
Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies 1.1 (2014): 9-35.
Wolff, William I., ed. Bruce Springsteen and Popular Music: Rhetoric, Social Consciousness,
and Contemporary Culture. Routledge, 2017.