Gabriel Marquez

Professor Baker

ENGL 1213-048

17 February 2014

Definitional Argument Unit Essay

Many people perform simple actions to help others on a daily basis. These actions often

go unnoticed and get taken for granted. But even these small gestures can be heroic. Heroes are

known for their good intentions, courageous attitude, and honorable acts of achievement. Young

children look up to heroes as role models and attempt to copy their actions in hopes of someday

growing up to be like them. Taylor Swift is the epitome of heroism because of her dedication

towards helping others and her ability to inspire individuals through her accomplishments as a

songwriter.

A hero is a courageous and strong-willed person who helps others. Heroes exhibit

qualities of bravery and fearlessness that are necessary to take risks and persevere in spite of

being in situations that may be challenging or scary. Their courage is demonstrated through their

willingness to never give up despite setbacks or feelings of inadequacy. Their selfless, brave, and

honorable actions inspire others to act in a similar manner; they serve as role models for other

people with their good intentions and ethical behavior, becoming people who young children like

to admire and imitate. Heroes are altruistic and compassionate people, capable of making an

impact on the world by performing noble acts of kindness that benefit others more than

themselves. Their achievement and success is widespread, affecting many lives within a

community. Heroes are renowned and celebrated for their work and dedication to making the

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world a better place. All of these characteristics must be present in order for someone to be

considered an effective and successful hero.

Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989. She is an American singer-songwriter who

grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Scott and

Andrea Swift, and has a younger brother named Austin. When she was ten years old, she began

writing songs as an outlet to express her feelings of being a victim of bullying and not fitting in

at school. She was shown how to play the guitar by a computer repairman and received her first

guitar at the age of twelve (Rollo). She moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the age of fourteen

knocking on the doors of record labels, hoping to receive a recording contract. While doing so,

she attended Hendersonville High School until she began homeschooling for her junior and

senior years (Duvall). In 2003, Taylor Swift received a development deal to record demos of

other artist’s songs with RCA Records of Sony Entertainment; however, the label did not want to

sign her as a recording artist to perform her own music until she turned eighteen. Swift decided

to walk away from the label and wait until she found one who would let her record her own

songs (Patrick). She believed in her talent so much, that she risked her first deal and decided to

wait until another one came along. She was later discovered performing at the Bluebird Café,

where Scott Borchetta signed her to his new record label, Big Machine Records (“History |

Bluebird Café”). Taylor Swift was the first artist to be signed to the label.

Since then, she has achieved great success in her music-making capabilities as a

recording artist. Her first self-titled album was released on October 24, 2006. The album’s lead

single, “Tim McGraw,” hit number 6 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and received a platinum

certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.

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Swift’s second album, Fearless was released on November 11, 2008. She received four

Grammy awards with Fearless, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album (“Taylor

Swift”).

Speak Now, Taylor Swift’s third album, was released on October 25, 2010. This album

featured 14 tracks that were all written and composed by Swift herself. The album sold

1,047,000 copies in its first week of release in the United States (Sisario).

Her most recent album, RED, was released on October 22, 2012. The album sold over 1.2

million copies in its first week of sales, which marked the “largest sales week for any album in a

decade” (Moody). “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the album’s lead single, “set a

new record for the biggest digital sales week ever for a song by a woman” (“Press Bio”). As a

girl who grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania, then moving to Nashville, her

persistence and dedication towards her passion for music is an inspiring feat for someone at such

a young age.

Taylor Swift is a philanthropist who possesses altruistic and compassionate qualities.

These properties attribute her to the description of a hero through her work to support charities

and foundations and giving back to the community. Swift has donated to many charities such as,

“Red Cross, UNICEF, Shriner’s Hospitals, [and] Feeding America” (Boulware). She also

donated $4 million to open the Taylor Swift Education Center in the Country Music Hall of

Fame and Museum. Swift states, “‘A lot of my music education happened outside of school…

I’m so glad this is a space where there will be demonstrations and instruments that kids can try

without having to spend money and buy one for themselves’” ("TAYLOR SWIFT

OFFICIALLY OPENS EDUCATION CENTER AT COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME®

AND MUSEUM."). The opening of this education center in Nashville demonstrates how Swift

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reaches out to her community. Her support for education shows that she is a selfless and

dignified individual, hoping to enrich the minds of Nashville’s youth. Much like a hero, her

magnanimous contribution to the world of country music exemplifies her altruistic and

compassionate qualities.

Taylor Swift also donated $75,000 to her high school, renovating the lighting and sound

system in the auditorium. Principal Joni Worsham requested that the auditorium be named after

Swift in return for her generous gift to the school. Hendersonville High School’s chairman, Don

Long, states, “‘I don’t want any misconceptions that she did this as a result of (or that she made)

the request to have something named after her…She does it because she can, because she cares

about the community and she hopes it inspires others to give what they can’” (Duvall). The

improvements to the school’s auditorium will greatly benefit not only the students of

Hendersonville High School, but also the members of local community organizations that use the

amenity. Resembling a hero’s selfless and sincere nature, Taylor Swift has helped improve the

conditions of her high school, enhancing the lives of the Hendersonville community.

Heroes have a vision of a better world, in which they lead by example. Their behavior is

replicated by those who see them as a representation of virtue and integrity. Taylor Swift acts as

a role model for her fans through her behavior and storytelling abilities. During her concerts on

the Red Tour, she performs a speech before playing each song. Generally, these monologues

relate to how the idea for the song came about, but they also involve lessons that she’s learned

and the experiences she’s had in life that inspired her to write these songs. In the introduction to

her song, “Mean,” she explains that meanness is part of the human condition, and that it is

something that we are going to have to deal with our entire lives; the best way to process

handling the situation of being bullied, is by making a mental note to never intentionally make

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someone else feel the way that bullies make other people feel (TheRealConcertKing). Swift’s

good intentions and ethical behavior are demonstrated though this speech; she gives her audience

a lesson about how to deal with feelings of inadequacy caused by other people’s remarks, in

order to ultimately end the cycle of bullying. Role models have a large influence on the people

who they inspire. Taylor Swift is able to reach out to thousands of people and have an impact on

their lives by setting a valiant example for others to follow.

Heroes are often described by their courage that allows them to prevail over countless

impediments and challenges. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift won the

award for Best Female Video; she was the first country music artist to ever win a VMA award.

But, when she was in the middle of her speech, accepting the award for her “You Belong With

Me” music video, Kanye West came onstage and took the microphone from Swift. Although it

initially seemed like he was going to compliment the country music crooner, West interrupted

her acceptance speech by declaring, “Yo, Taylor. I’m really happy for you and I’mma let you

finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time” (ArtisanNewsService). Swift was not

given time to finish, as the show continued after Kanye West was booed off stage. However,

after Beyoncé evidently received her award for Music Video of the Year, she invited Taylor

Swift back on stage to finish her interrupted speech. At the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, a

year after the incident, Swift responded to West’s interruption with her performance of the song,

“Innocent.” She addressed the issue professionally; instead of criticizing West with angry

comments about his rudeness and immaturity, she forgave him for his ill-mannered actions.

Courage is often associated with acts of difficulty and danger such as jumping off of a cliff, or

slaying a dragon, but it can also be attributed to the ability to find strength in the face of pain and

loss of confidence. Although she was humiliated on television by Kanye West, Swift was

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courageous enough to be the bigger person and forgive him for his interruption. Her bravery to

address the issue in a song and speak her mind shows that she has the dignity to move on from a

disappointing situation and turn it into a more positive circumstance. Her courage and resilience

is demonstrated by her ability to live up to her values and principles in spite of the challenges

that seem to bring her down. Throughout the many experiences that may have rattled her

confidence, Swift has the audacity to persevere through tough times and prove that she can

overcome many obstacles and complications.

Taylor Swift is known to be a very honest and confessional songwriter. The media

always tends to exaggerate the fact that she writes breakup songs about her terrible experiences

with ex-boyfriends. People frequently complain that she only writes songs about how badly she

was treated in a relationship and that she never blames herself for being the cause of the breakup.

This can be seen as a flaw in a hero’s ability to be a role model, simply for the fact that it is

frowned upon to speak badly of another person; it is not courageous or heroic to complain about

one’s own problems. An online blogger claims, “Swift…teaches young girls to whine endlessly

about break-ups and publicly embarrass the guys who dumped her” (Schlussel). Vanity and

arrogance are not usual qualities that parents would like role models to influence onto their

children. But, while Taylor Swift does write songs about breakups and receives angry emails

from her ex-boyfriends, it is invalid to say that she does not take fault in the ending of her

romantic relationships. For each song that she writes about the experiences of a failed

relationship, the lyrics are likely to include a few lines in which she declares that she is

responsible. For example, in the song, “I Knew You Were Trouble,” the chorus states, “I knew

you were trouble when you walked in/ so shame on me now/ flew me to places I’d never been/

now I’m lying on the cold hard ground” (Swift). These lyrics exemplify how she knew that the

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relationship was not going to last, but she went along with it anyway, rejecting her initial feelings

of hesitation. In the end, it was her fault for not believing in her primary suspicions. Although

complaining behavior is not normally celebrated by society, Swift does not give complete

responsibility to her ex-boyfriends. It is also important to note that she does not exclusively write

break up songs. It just so happens that the songs that become singles tend to be based on

breakups. Other topics of her songs include the joys of spending summer with her friends,

surviving freshman year of high school, addressing an unpleasant critic, and growing up to live

in her own apartment.

As a figure who is often scrutinized by the media, Taylor Swift continues to inspire those

who wish to make the world a better place with her honest consideration for others and her

selfless, philanthropic effort to benefit charities and organizations around the world. Taylor Swift

is a hero to millions of people around the world due to her ability to overcome challenges despite

discouraging factors and her dedication to helping others out of the goodness of her heart. All of

these characteristics illustrate Taylor Swift as a distinguished and honorable hero.

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Works Cited

ArtisanNewsService. “TAYLOR SWIFT VMA AWARD MOMENT RUINED BY KANYE

WEST.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube. 13 Sept. 2009. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.

Boulware, Crystal. "Taylor Swift Charity Tops in 2013."Guardian Liberty Voice. N.p., 1

Jan 2014. Web. 9 Feb 2014. <http://guardianlv.com/2014/01/taylor-swift-charity-tops-in-

2013/>.

Duvall, Erin. "Taylor Swift Honored by Her High School." The Boot. N.p., 23 Sep 2010.

Web. 10 Feb 2014. <http://theboot.com/taylor-swift-hendersonville-high-school-

auditorium/>.

"History | The Bluebird Café." The Bluebird Café. Noise New Media, n.d. Web. 10 Feb

2014. <http://www.bluebirdcafe.com/about/history/>.

Moody, Nekesa M. "'Red' Album Sales Hit 1.2 Million For Taylor Swift." Huffington

Post Entertainment. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 31 Oct 2012. Web. 10 Feb 2014.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/31/red-album-sales_n_2048723.html>.

Patrick, Melanie. "How Country Superstar Taylor Swift Got Her Start in the Music

Business." Yahoo! Voices. omg! and Yahoo News Network, 28 Oct 2010. Web. 10 Feb

2014. <http://voices.yahoo.com/how-country-superstar-taylor-swift-got-her-start-in-

6921444.html?cat=2>.

"Press Bio." Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift, n.d. Web. 10 Feb 2014.

<http://taylorswift.com/>.

Rollo, Sarah. "Computer repairman taught Swift guitar."Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines

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UK, 3 Nov 2009. Web. 10 Feb 2014.

<http://www.digitalspy.com/celebrity/news/a185076/computer-repairman-taught-swift-

guitar.html>.

Schlussel, Debbie. "Despite Conventional Wisdom, Taylor Swift Was Never a Good

Role Model for Girls." DebbieSchlussel. www.debbieschlussel.com, 22 Aug 2012. Web.

13 Feb 2014. <http://www.debbieschlussel.com/53445/despite-conventional-wisdom-

taylor-swift-was-never-a-good-role-model-for-girls/>.

Sisario, Ben. "Taylor Swift Album Is a Sales Triumph."The New York Times. The New

York Times Company, 3 Nov 2010. Web. 10 Feb 2014.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/arts/music/04country.html>.

Swift, Taylor. “I Knew You Were Trouble.” RED. Big Machine Records Inc., 2012.

"Taylor Swift." GRAMMY. The Recording Academy, n.d. Web. 10 Feb 2014.

<http://www.grammy.com/artist/taylor-swift>.

"TAYLOR SWIFT OFFICIALLY OPENS EDUCATION CENTER AT COUNTRY

MUSIC HALL OF FAME® AND MUSEUM."Country Music Hall of Fame. Country

Music Foundation Inc., 14 Oct 2013. Web. 9 Feb 2014.

<http://countrymusichalloffame.org/recent-press-releases/view/2297>.

TheRealConcertKing. “Taylor Swift – “Mean” with speech (Live in Los Angeles 8-19-

13).” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube. 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.

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