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Rhetorical Analysis Of George Patton's Speech

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The fear of killing and being killed in battle is no easy thing to contemplate or to inspire. Inspiring soldiers to participate earnestly in battle is crucial to winning wars. Approaches to accomplish this have been studied and tried by military leaders for millennia. George S. Patton attempted this very thing in his speech to the Third Army. Patton delivered a profane and vulgar speech to untried soldiers who have yet to see combat. Patton is able to inspire his soldiers by using his reputation while dismantling his authority, using obscene humor, and appealing to their sense of honor and courage. George Patton was a senior officer and commander of the U.S. Seventh Army during World War II. One of the pioneers in tank warfare, Patton became best known as the most effective general of World War II. Patton led American forces to significant victories on the fronts of North Africa, Sicily, and Europe. Before the European invasion, Patton, along with a major build-up of Allied forces was covertly preparing for the first assaults on German occupied Normandy, France. General Patton’s speech to the Third Army was given on June 5, 1944, in the United Kingdom on the eve of the Allied invasion of Europe (National Endowment for the Humanities, n.a.). This famous speech was given to the soldiers under his command. The speech was delivered as a motivational device by Patton in order to inspire and solidify his men for upcoming challenges. Throughout Patton’s speech, harsh and foul language is used abundantly. The speech begins with Patton identifying the American public opinion of not wanting to enter the war. Patton refuses this and establishes Americans as wanting to fight, and instilling American pride into his audience. Patton then addresses the men’s fears of dying and killing but shadows it with their duty to country, and honor to their manhood. The speech then moves to the importance of being a team and how every man has a crucial part to play, whether it be a truck driver or infantryman. Patton then feels the need to quickly remind everyone that his presence in England is to remain a secret. After this, he reinstates the mission and why they are here. They are here to defeat the Germans in Europe, then move

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