Rhetorical Strategy

In Andrew J. Bachevich's The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War, he often changes his approach to his topic in sometimes confusing but overall captivating fashion. Starting on page 9, the first chapter, "Wilsonians Under Arms," he is more colloquial and approaches his topic in a flourishing, story-telling way. This is understandable when one considers that this is the beginning of the first chapter of the book, and Bachevich must engage his reader and persuade them to a degree to continue to read the book. However, this kind of diction continues to a degree past the itial section of the first chapter. For example, he writes regarding political leader's love for militarism, "The ensuing affair had and continues to have a heedless, Gatsby-like aspect, a passion persued in utter disregard of any consequences that might ensue." (Bacevich 14). This is language more apt to be seen in a work of literary criticism rather than a more academic work. I wonder whether this wording is proper when considering the context of the text. It is still very early on in the book, and the author must continue to grab the reader. Also, he is talking about a general observation on a trend through history, which is difficult to capture in concrete terms, so it seems plausible that the author is fitting the language to his topic.
I think that the previous discussion is plausible especially when one sees that whenever Bachevich makes a major point, his writing style shifts to a much more technical and logical fashion. For example, he writes that "Under the terms of that consensus, mainstream politicians today take as a given that American military supremacy is an unqualified good, evidence of a larger American superiority." (Bacevich 15). Here he is much more forward with his point in comparison to the much more circumlocutious style earlier. I don't exactly approve of his sweeping generalities though, as exhibited by the statement. Because many people would accept this statement as a trueism, I feel that generalities such as this are even more precarious because the author himself can fall into the trap of not backing up his work. It's good to talk about overarching themes such as Wilsonianism, but I would like to see a more detailed explanation of how this ideology has effected people worldwide. I personally believe that this is true, but his arguement would be stronger if he had more substance within his arguement.

Andrew J. Bacevich, The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.