Music gives soul to the universe
           Wings to the mind
                        Flight to the imagination
                                    And life to everything...
                                                                          -Plato

A wise man once said that rhetoric is how meaning is ascribed to artifacts, ideas, and situations and that there is never a non-rhetorical use of language. I couldn’t agree with him more. I see rhetoric as one of the most powerful forces at work in our lives and I think that living a life without recognizing rhetoric is like listening to someone speak underwater—you know you can hear it, but you don’t really get anything out of it. With the importance of recognizing rhetoric in all aspects of our lives, I have focused my energy on a topic that  demonstrates how rhetoric and rhetorical theory are all around us—rhetoric is not just the esoteric and pedantic words of ancient philosophers, but it is thriving in our everyday lives. This cultural reading of rhetorical theory seemed to naturally lend itself to that which “gives soul to the universe” according to Plato, so I decided to look at how rhetorical theory may be present in the music that fills our everyday lives. In my particular case, the music that fills my life or “gives wings” to my mind belongs to the catalogue of Robert Allen Zimmerman, better known as cultural and musical icon Bob Dylan.

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I’m not quite sure the exact moment when I became fascinated with Bob Dylan. Maybe it all started because he had always been a favorite of my Dad’s or maybe because my high school sweetheart took me to my first Dylan show or maybe because we are fellow Minnesotans, but no matter how it started, it is certain: I see connections to Dylan everywhere. I think about "Subterranean Homesick Blues" whenever I take the time to watch a weather report, I am reminded of "Mr. Tambourine Man" whenever I pass by a street performer uptown, and I hear echoes of "The Times They Are A' Changin" whenever my life inevitably shifts course yet again.  I believe that Dylan is one of the most powerful cultural icons of the twentieth century; therefore, I think that his catalogue is the perfect anthology to analyze for the inextricable presence of rhetorical theory. For this venture, I have taken seven different Dylan songs that were written over the course of his music career and applied the theories of seven prominent rhetorical theorists to see if I can prove that rhetorical theory is indeed present in our everyday lives. And perhaps I will be able to answer the question of Bob Dylan: raconteur or rhetorician?

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--Kendra Andrews 2013--