Rhetorical Analysis Of Douglas Macarthur Speech

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General Douglas MacArthur was one of the bravest and most commanding general the United States has ever had. Douglas MacArthur was a military general who led troops in WWII and Korea. His Thayer Award Acceptance Address given at West Point Military School went through ethos, logos and militaristic diction to commemorate and entrust the new West Point Cadets who would one day lead our country. To change the speech to a different audience, one would have to use more pathos and common diction to make the speech have a different feel and audience, but maintain the same message. MacArthur was a very brave and commanding general. His Thayer award speech acceptance passed the torch to the next generation of leaders. Throughout his speech, he uses logos to show what it means to be a military leader. He goes on to say how he will always feel “a sense of pride… which will be with me always: Duty, Honor, Country.” He uses this statement as a logo and achievement for these cadets to look up to. The three words “Duty, Honor, Country” also show logos because they are what every man or woman stands for in the military. MacArthur also uses militaristic diction throughout his speech which appeals to the military audience. In the middle of his speech, he states that …show more content…

His intended audience for his Thayer Award speech was the West Point cadets who would one day lead our troops into battle. The purpose of the speech was to commemorate and entrust the cadets who would lead our troops. If the speech was written for a different audience, such as a more general and civilian group, it would need to have more pathos and diction directed at the common man and woman. No matter what audience the speech is written to, it contains powerful ideas and language that every audience will understand and with any audience, the message will always be the same and it will be for hundreds of