Date
5-20-2026
Degree
Master of Arts in Professional Communication (MA)
Chair
Cecil Kramer
Keywords
Storytelling, Narrative paradigm, rhetorical criticism, military leadership, leadership development, narrative criticism, narrative fidelity, narrative coherence.
Disciplines
Communication
Recommended Citation
Roseberry, Landon, "War Stories: A Rhetorical Criticism of How the War Stories in Extreme Ownership Are Used To Teach and Reinforce Leadership Principles." (2026). Masters Theses. 1467.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/1467
Abstract
This rhetorical criticism examines how military combat narratives, or war stories, exhibit distinct narrative elements that communicate leadership principles. This study operationalizes Walter Fisher’s (1984; 1989) narrative paradigm for rhetorical criticism to examine how narrative rationality (narrative fidelity and narrative coherence) is created in four war stories from the New York Times bestselling book Extreme Ownership, written by Jocko Willink and Lief Babin. This study views the narrative elements and leadership values through the lens of Generation Y values and norms. This study found that war stories create an extreme setting in which narrative consequences are heightened, and leadership values are seen as necessities for survival.
