GENERAL DOUGLAS
MACARTHUR
M. STITES AP ENGLISH
BY: JAKE DONNELLY
Duty, Honor, Country
OVERVIEW
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Introduction to the Speaker…………………………(3)
USMA Graduation (occasion)………………………(4)
USMA class of 1962 (audience)……………….........(5)
Purpose of the speech………………………...……..(6)
Duty, Honor, Country (Subject)……………………..(7)
Tone………………………………………...……………(8)
Speech (video)………………………………………...(9)
Ethos and Logos……………………………………….(10)
Pathos…………………………………………...………(11)
Other rhetorical strategies……………………….(12-14)
Citations…………………………………………………(15)
GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR
General Douglas MacArthur has a very unique military
background. Some of the more important conflicts he has served in
are:
• The Mexican Revolution
• World War I
• World War II
• And the Korean War
General Douglas served as General of the Army and Supreme
Commander for the Allied Forces during the second World War.
Some of his awards and decorations are:
• Medal of Honor
• Distinguished Service Cross (3)
• Army AND Navy Distinguished service Medal (6)
• Distinguished Flying Cross
• Silver Star (7)
• Purple Heart (2)
USMA GRADUATION-1962
• “But this award is not intended primarily to honor a
personality, but to symbolize a great moral code-a
code of conduct and chivalry of those who guard this
beloved land of culture and ancient descent.”
• This award is presented to an
outstanding citizen whose
service and accomplishments
in the national interest
exemplify the Military
Academy motto, "Duty, Honor,
Country."
USMA CLASS OF 1962
• The audience that General Douglas MacArthur is
speaking to is the 1962 graduating class of The
United States Military Academy at West Point.
PRESENTATION OF THE
THAYER AWARD
The Purpose of his speech was:
• To present the Thayer Award
• To produce a call to action for these young military
leaders
• To emphasize the importance of the motto,
“Duty, Honor, Country”
DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY
The subject of this speech is clearly “Duty, Honor,
Country
• The phrase is mentioned 8 times during his speech
and is the topic for a lot of elaboration.
• “Duty, Honor, Country” is also mentioned in the
thesis statement
“Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words
reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you
can be, what you will be.”
TONE
• The tone of the speech was rather serious but
optimistic and insightful as well.
• “…but to have compassion on those who fall; to
master yourself before you seek to master others; to
have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to
learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to
reach into the future, yet never neglect the past; to
be serious, yet never to take yourself too seriously…”
TONE (EXTENDED)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgqSI1BESVE
• “Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently
dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will
be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage
seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause
for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn. Unhappily,
I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of
imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that
they mean. The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a
slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every
demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker,
and, I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different
character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of
mockery and ridicule.”
ETHOS AND LOGOS
Ethos: General Douglas had automatic ethos for
being one of the most decorated military leaders of
all time. He also builds on his automatic ethos early
by saying, “Coming from a profession I have served
so long…”
Logos: “We deal now, not with things of this world
alone, but with the illimitable distances and as yet
unfathomed mysteries of the universe. We are
reaching out for a new and boundless frontier”. In this
sentence General Douglas uses logos to make known
the fact that technologically we are moving forward
and that there are endless frontiers waiting to be
explored.
PATHOS
Pathos
• “The soldier, above all other men, is required to
practice the greatest act of religious training—
sacrifice”. In the speech one of the primary literary
devices used is pathos. Especially in this sentence,
he evokes an emotion that everyone has
experienced before, sacrifice.
• “…blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud,
chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their
objective, and for many to the judgment seat of
God”. Again a very common allusion to God is
made to conjure religious emotions in the reader.
OTHER RHETORICAL STRATIFIES
Posing a question to give a more clear answer
• “And what sort of soldiers are those you are to
lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave? Are they
capable of victory?” He then goes on to answer his
questions in saying, “I regarded him then, as I
regard him now, as one of the world's noblest
figures; not only as one of the finest military
characters, but also as one of the most
stainless.”…”He needs no eulogy from me; or from
any other man. He has written his own history and
written it in red on his enemy's breast.”
OTHER RHETORICAL STRATEGIES
Repetition: repetition was another very commonly
used rhetorical strategy in this speech. Some
examples include:
“Duty, Honor, Country” (repeated 8 times)
• The main phrase and idea that carries this entire
speech. It is the central topic of the text.
“All other public purposes, all other public projects,
all other public needs, great or small…” Repetition is
used again in the form of anaphora as he repeats
the words “all other” three times at the beginning of
each successive clause.
OTHER RHETORICAL STRATEGIES
Epizeuxis: (In rhetoric, an epizeuxis is the repetition of a word or
phrase in immediate succession, for vehemence or emphasis.)
“Today marks my final roll call with you. But I want you to
know that when I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts
will be of the corps, and the corps, and the corps.”
Simile: (a figure of speech involving the comparison of
one thing with another thing of a different kind)
“Nation's war guardian, as its lifeguard from the raging
tides of international conflict, as its gladiator in the arena
of battle.”
CITATIONS
• "Service Summary of Douglas MacArthur." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
• "United States Army." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24
Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
• "Douglas MacArthur." History.com. A&E Television Networks,
n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
• "Duty, Honor, Country." : Gen. MacArthur's Speech to the
Corps of Cadets, 1962. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgqSI1BESVE