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Rhetoric Techniques Used In A Criminal Court Case

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The film does an effective job in accurately portraying the events that occur in a criminal court case, which consist of “choosing a jury, opening statements, witness testimony and cross-examination, closing arguments, jury deliberation and verdict” according to FindLaw.com. To begin, Dawson and Downey are charged before the trial can take place, with the murder of Private William Santiago. This demonstrates the pre-trial step of arraignment or initial sentencing. Although the process of selecting a jury is omitted, it is briefly referenced. Kaffee does in fact mention that the jury will be made up of other Marines and officials qualified to preside over the case. Opening statements are the first official court procedure, and both Daniel Kaffee …show more content…

Logos, or logic and reason, is used multiple times in the trial. Both Daniel Kaffee and Jack Ross reference the Marine codes as well as those of the Guantanamo Bay base in order to emphasize how Dawson and Downey either did or did not follow orders. In Kaffee’s case, he uses the code books to explain how Marines follow the books and regulations like one would the Bible. Ross, providing a counterclaim, uses ethos to argue that there is nothing in the books that is referenced directly at the base in Guantanamo Bay, and therefore displays its irrelevance. Ethos, in both examples, is effective in supporting the arguments of both sides of the case. It displays how regulations can cause individuals to act a certain way, via the logic of the case. Ethos, or ethics and credibility, is used quite often by either side as well. When Colonel Jessup is called in by Kaffee, it is a direct reference to his credibility. Considering that he eventually admitted to ordering the code red, his position in the navy and on the base justifies anything he claimed to have done. Lastly, pathos, an appeal to emotion, is used in the case to portray how Downey and Dawson were only following orders when the code red was issued. Kaffee, in questioning Downey, utilizes pathos in order to display how Dawson and Downey felt like it was their duty to follow the code red issued by Jessup. This illustrated how emotionally, Dawson and Downey needed to serve their country in order to fulfill their purpose and duty to their country. If they had not followed the order of their superior officer, they knew that they would be facing punishment. In order to avoid such punishment, they followed the code red and served their country by punishing Santiago. Although they did not mean to kill him, it was a part of following orders for the Marines.

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In General Douglas MacArthur’s ‘Duty, Honor, Country Address at West Point’ has many appeals to rhetorical devices that can be found throughout it. The phrase, “On the contrary, the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” It appeals to pathos because it is saying how soldiers have to bear the burdens of what happened in the war and it makes you feel emotions for the soldiers because they do so much. The appeal of ethos is simply everywhere the fact that the speech is written and given by General Douglas MacArthur already gives people a strong sense of credibility because MacArthur is a well established military official. The appeal to logos is found in the whole first

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Johnnie Cochran's closing argument during the O.J Simpson uses all three rhetorical appeals to try and convince the jury of O.J Simpson's innocence. To begin with, he uses Ethos by bring up a quote by Frederick Douglas that discusses the equality of all men and implying that if they vote O.J Simpson guilty it would be unethical because of his race. Next he appeals to pathos by using the statement "We haven't reached this goal yet, but certainly in this great county of ours, we're trying" to give a sense of both disappointment and pride first by showing that we haven't overcome discrimination yet but then that we still live in a great place that is striving.

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Downey was demanding to know what they had done wrong, because they had been following a direct order given to them by Colonel Jessup. Dawson responded by telling him that their job was to defend those who couldn't defend themselves and they went against that by following an order which ended up getting Santiago killed by their own hands. Fromm states the fact that, “ Obedience to the “authoritarian conscience”, like all obedience to outside thoughts and power, teds to debilite “human conscience” the ability to be and to judge oneself.” (Fromm 685). This supports the idea of choosing a path to follow, they chose the path that everyone followed because they never disobeyed orders, for the sake of other.

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