Rhetorical Analysis Of Duty, Honor, Country By General Douglas Macarthur

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Surveying the room of young leaders, General Douglas MacArthur prepares to accept the Sylvanus Thayer Medal, the highest honor the United States Military Academy could confer. A true hero of the American army throughout the World Wars, the general commands the attention of the West Point Cadets as he launches into a lively description of what their academy meant to him. In his address, “Duty, Honor, Country”, General Douglas MacArthur uses rhetorical devices to explain what it means to be a soldier of the United States army through the changing of time; thereby, also showing what being a soldier meant to him. He starts off by explaining the motto of West Point. In the beginning of his speech, MacArthur uses contrast and religious references to explain what it means to be a soldier of the United States. Through the use of antithesis, MacArthur compounds the idea that a soldier must be multifaceted: “the meekness of true strength” (MacArthur 2). In many years of military service he had seen all kinds of soldiers. As one of the highest ranking military leaders, he knows what it takes to have a successful career in the army. …show more content…

Throughout the closing lines of his speech, MacArthur continually mentions “The Corps”. He describes the moment of his death saying, “when I cross the river my last conscious thought will be of The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps” (MacArthur 5). This show of anaphora demonstrates how much MacArthur values his military experience. Coming from a family of all military members, service to his country is all that he knows. By how many times he talks about the military, it is fair to say that it holds a special place in his heart. In doing this MacArthur shows to the West Point graduates how much the military means to him and how much they will have to cherish it to go as far as he