Combat High

In Sebastian Junger’s essay Combat High, he uses many techniques to effectively explain and support his arguments. He does this through his vivid and detailed descriptions of his experiences and tone of concern which makes him a credible writer. The reader is able to grasp an understanding of the techniques Junger utilizes to engage the reader and support his argument. In his essay, you can clearly establish where ethos, logos and pathos are being utilized to support his argument. In the following paragraphs we will pinpoint his use of these techniques to strengthen his argument and main points.
Sebastian purposely chooses to begin with his very vivid and detailed recollections of being on a hilltop with soldiers engaging in combat. He does this to strengthen his credibility as a writer and establishes an ethical approach to his argument in the rest of his essay. He begins with “Most of the fighting was at four or five hundred yards, so no one ever got to see- or had to deal with- the effects of all that firepower on the human body” (1). This instantly sets the tone for Sebastian’s essay. You can see his beliefs and stand point are challenged being at the hilltop with these American Soldiers and it causes him to question the ethics of the soldiers. For example, he writes “They watched until he stopped moving, and then they called in that he’d died. Everyone on Restrepo cheered. That night I couldn’t sleep, and I crept out of my bunk and went and sat on the roof of the ammo hooch.” This paragraph tells us of the enemy combatant dying alongside a mountain and all the men on Restrepo cheering when the enemy was pronounced dead. Junger was disturbed and didn’t understand why they would cheer over a human being vulnerable to their attack and eventually dying a slow and painful death alongside the mountain. This reaction seems to suggest that he cares