Jon Hooten's Fighting Words: The War Over Language

The language of war is commonly used by American culture nowadays in order to figuratively express ideas. In the essay “Fighting Words: The War Over Language,” Jon Hooten argues that integrating the language of war in a metaphorical sense will cause negative impacts in the actual world. When readers realize how common the language of war is in everyday language, they must wonder if Hooten’s statement that American culture has learned to casually use the language of war applies to them as well because of the multiple rhetorical strategies Hooten incorporates in his essay. Hooten assertively presents to his readers that using the language of war carelessly can desensitize us to the horrors of war and develop into real events through the usage …show more content…
In essence, Hooten draws attention towards his arguments by using first-person to create an inclusive environment for his readers. For example, Hooten begins his essay by stating that “Mine--perhaps, ours-- is the first American generation that has yet to experience a horror-story war” (394) in order to immediately connect and engage with his readers. As a result, Hooten is able to successfully strengthen his own argument. Furthermore, by using first-person, Hooten establishes to his readers that he is one of them developing a personal relationship to emphasize his point that American culture uses war words casually without considering their literal …show more content…
Because Hooten showed that he has the ability to display both sides of the argument, his readers respect the effort that he put into researching about the language of war. He directly engages with his audience by stating that “At this point, you may be wondering, doesn’t this guy know that the war on terrorism is actually a war on terrorists?” (397). Also, he mentions that “Doesn’t he realize that this exercise in logic has nothing to do with the reality of reality?” (397). Because Hooten incorporated an opposing view in his essay, his credibility as a writer increases significantly. This is because Hooten shows that he is confident enough to refute potential claims that discredit his own arguments. As a result, Hooten’s strength as a writer is respected and appreciated. Showing an opposing view rather than just showing one side of the argument exhibits that Hooten has done his homework to support his claim. Although Hooten is clearly passionate about not using the language of war so carelessly, he still recognizes that in order to strengthen