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Rhetorical Devices In Duty Honor Country

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Use of Rhetorical Appeals in “Duty,Honor, Country” The effectiveness of rhetorical devices is no better illustrated than in the essay “Duty, Honor, Country” by General Douglas MacArthur. Throughout this piece the tone and opinion is made clear without being heavy handed making the piece infinitely more relatable. MacArthur’s use of the socratic appeals(Ethos,Pathos and Logos), not only makes the reader contemplate what he is saying but how it is being said. Establishing one's own credibility is a challenge often faced by both speakers and writers. How do you get an Audience to trust you? One prominent method used to establish credibility is referred to as the plain folk appeal. When using the plain folk appeal, typically the writer reduces …show more content…

Throught this powerful essay it is clear that MacArthur is passionate about his Country and the military who serves it. Being very vivid in the descriptions of the world at war, was a way that this essay provokes emotion. Stating “...many a weary march from dripping dusk to to drizzling dawn,slogging ankle-deep through the mire of shell-shocked roads, to form grimly for the attack,blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective…” Those striking words hit the audience like an arrow piercing the hearts of those in attendance. This diction drives home the the point through the use of the audience's emotions keeping their feeling on the surface to be further affected by the speaker's words. The Logical side of the brain is constantly pulling apart the arguments of the people around you looking for flaws or gaps. This was perhaps the least developed rhetorical device in “Duty, Honor, Country” not until almost the final paragraph does MacArthur begin listing facts. Mentioning the financials needed in war in only two clear instances. Moreover, the only other cold hard fact mentioned is the death tolls which seemed to be more directed at the reader's emotions than at their logical

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