Analytical Essay Ap Composition Soldier in Iraq

An American soldier, fighting in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, has written to his friends and family back home about his unpleasant time while serving his country. Through out his email he gives examples of what its like to live like a soldier and creates a vivid visual for his audience. He adopts a grim tone about his situation in order to give his audience the true experience of being an American soldier on the front lines. He creates this tone through his use of rhetorical strategies like figurative language, syntax and ethos.

He begins his email with a great deal of metaphors. The soldier tries to relate to his audience by giving them situations to portray exactly what he has to deal with on a day to day basis. He opens with a direct comparison between the filth inside a vacuum canister to what he is surrounded by everyday. He describes the dirt as being everywhere and in everything, "pour it all over you [the dirt], your bed, clothing, and your personal effects.". The readers can get a really good visual from his comparison. Also he makes another comparison between his tent mates and a "kennel full of pugs". He compares his nine tent mates "smell, snoring, and social graces" directly to pugs. Once again the soldier gives his audience a feeling of what its like to live like this.

The author of this email also using the rhetorical strategy of syntax to give this passage a grim tone on his day by day life. He starts off by talking about his tent and what exactly its like. In this second paragraph he uses many commas to break up sentences to sort of list what the reader should do to get the full idea of living in Iraq. This also shows how structured his life is in the military. He gives the reader steps like, "pitch a tent in your driveway, and mark off an area inside it...". You can also see his use of syntax when he describes what its like to just go to the restroom. This gives the audience the feel of his life in all aspects. He uses short sentences like