Rhetorical Devices In 'Thinking Out Loud'

Many artists use rhetorical devices in their work to help convey a message and to make their audience feel something. Ed Sheeran is a singer-songwriter who uses many rhetorical strategies to craft his songs. As a person, and a lyricist, Sheeran is very likable and popular because he always stays genuine and true to himself. He is truthful and real in every song, and what he writes is his way of dealing with any personal struggles; struggles most people can relate to. Specifically, in his song “Thinking Out Loud” Sheeran uses rhetoric to prove his love is true and will be lasting forever. He appeals strongly to ethos and pathos, and employs devices in order to invoke similar feelings of experiences in his young adult listeners. Starting with

He also opens the song with a somber tone, stating the realities that come with old age. He then pleads to his love with the use of two rhetorical questions, “Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love? / Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?” (Sheeran, 3-4). In these lines Sheeran personifies the mouth and eyes of his love, while coming clean to his insecure thoughts of the future he may or may not have with this girl. Her mouth cannot remember him, nor can her eyes actually smile; however, the use of these devices help to emphasize the romantic notions of the song and the message Sheeran is trying to convey. In this song Sheeran is attempting to convince himself, along with the girl who inspired him to write this, that they do not need to worry about the future and growing old because they will always love each other. Their physicality may change, and their memory may start to fade, but their love will always stay strong. Hearing the true love he has for this girl appeals to pathos, and continues to build up his ethos as a genuine and heartfelt