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Rhetorical Analysis Of Losing The War By Lee Sandlin

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Rhetorical Analysis of “Losing the War” by Lee Sandlin War is an incredibly ambiguous phenomenon. In today’s world it feels easy to forget anything but life in relative peace. World War II shook the globe. Now, it has has dwindled to mere ripples in between pages of history textbooks and behind the screens of blockbuster films. In Lee Sandlin’s spectacular essay, “Losing the War,” he explains that in the context of World War II, the “amnesia effect” of time has lead to a bizarre situation; “the next generation starts to wonder whether the whole thing [war] ever actually happened,” (361). All that seems to be remembered is a reverie; a spectacle of valiance and bravery. The older generation —the ones who were there—simply became the collateral damage. The war, in all its infamy, can never be …show more content…

He has chosen to title his essay “Losing the War.” This however is not originally the title. The longer title is as follows; “World War II had faded into movies, anecdotes, and archives that nobody cares about anymore. Are we losing the war?” Albeit subtle subtle, this is perhaps one of the most powerful choices Sandlin made in his argument. He is suggesting that although the war is considered “won” in the history books, the trauma it caused —as the general nature of the war— is anything but victorious. He is also arguing that the American public is, actually, losing the war. They are living in a time of relative peace, as he describes, which allows for only a fractured and idolized understanding of what war truly meant. Moreover, the American public is “losing the war,” and its realistic legacy over time, while the world never truly won the war to begin with. Sandlin’s argument unfolds in such a way that addresses both connotations of his title. He pragmatically outlines the psychological limitations of modern Americans, while contrasting them with the widespread trauma of a global

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