Jfk Inaugural Speech Rhetorical Analysis

The 1960s in America was a decade where many problems occurred and much change was made. Some of those issues were racial segregation and foreign policy. Two of the most influential and inspirational people then were Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy. King was an African American who fought for an end to racial segregation and was committed to this important issue.  He delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech in August of 1963 in front of Washington D.C.’s Lincoln Memorial. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States and wanted a great way to improve relations with other nations. He delivered his presidential inaugural address in January of 1961 in Washington D.C. These two incredible speeches are both similar and different, in terms of whom the speeches were composed for, use of figurative language, and how the issues discussed continue to affect society today.

Oziel Rios S. Nambiar English 1302. SP3 12 February 2018 Kennedy Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis On Friday, January of 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy delivered a speech to the citizens of the United States of America and the world. Kennedy made a speech that he knew would be remembered for many years to come even after his presidential term.

The Inaugural speech by John F. Kennedy is a landmark type of speech that was given to the American populace in order to inspire confidence and to provoke them to take immediate action. His speech made extensive use of rhetorical devices in order to successfully express his goals. His stylistic devices include antithesis, parallelism, and varying structure flows in order to attract attention and to show what his service will accomplish. Kennedy details “a new generation of Americans” by contrasting old and new with his antithesis. He states, “Symbolizes an end as well as a beginning” and “signifies renewal as well as change” in order to do so. This connects the younger generation of Americans and the older generation. He unites them under one goal and one purpose by using antithesis, ignoring their differences, and prepares them for what’s there to come in the future.

In his speech Kennedy uses different rhetorical devices to unify the citizens of both the United States and the world. Kennedy was giving this speech after winning by a very small margin of votes so he was trying to unite the people of the United States and show he was the correct choice for the president. This speech was given during the Cold War so he was trying to connect the people around the whole world and establish peace. Kennedy was able to unify the people and try to establish peace while at the same time making himself seem like a very competent leader. In his speech Kennedy tries to build his credibility as a personable leader by creating ethos. Kennedy uses the words we twenty eight times, us twelve times and our twenty one times.

John F. Kennedy discusses and analyzes on how the nation differs from the past and present day in that time period. Kennedy narrators on the division and war in the the world to appeal to the audience patriotism by using pathos and logos. In this speech President Kennedy states “to thoses who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request; that both sides begin the quest for peace, before the dark power of destruction unleashed.” He uses this quote to obtain a logical appeal to the appeal to the people. Kennedy uses logos to show that he wants the nation to come together and be humble together in one peace.

Delivering the speech, Kennedy expressed compassionate and hopeful words to his audience. His view of freedom is something that makes its way through peace and negotiation. Kennedy states, “Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us” (16). This is a perfect example of Kennedy’s meaning towards freedom. He wants all nations to look at the things that join them together and can relate to rather than the things that guide them away from each other.

His diction is very inclusive; he commences his speech with several uses of the words ‘we’ and ‘our’, which makes way for inclusivity. JFK is blurring the distinction between citizen and superior governor by including the people in his proclamation. While describing the hardships and challenges that the country is facing, Kennedy mentions how imperative the occasion is on a global level; in the midst of the Cold War, he reminds his audience of the importance of uniting. Through the use of the lexical field of danger — words such as: ‘defiance’, ‘serious’, ‘risk’, and ‘sacrifice’ — he creates a feeling of tension and urgency, and engages his audience to the concern. To conclude his speech, the President mentions self-guilt on the part of the country on how they had not displayed the “sense of business responsibility” that they should have, a rhetorical strategy that approximates the audience to the government.

Robert Kennedy’s speech was given during a campaign rally in 1968, he broke the news to a crowd of supporters that MLK had been killed. This speech was analyzed through a PDF copy of the text.

Using “we” and “us” made an impression that the deliberative part of the speech was not a statement made by an individual for a personal gain. Moreover, Kennedy also exhibited how he cared more about the unity of the country instead of his political career by creating a speech that did not even mention his current and potential political positions. Without knowing the chronological background of the speech, a general audience might not be able to know what was Kennedy’s specific political position and plan at the time of the speech. Yet, any audience will easily identify that the speaker of the speech was a leader who wanted his people to unite with compassion and

Freedom Is Ringing We are inspired by great speeches because of the way they are rhetorically crafted to make us feel. The best speeches are not the ones that are informational, it’s the ones that tug at our heartstrings. John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, Martin L. King ’s I Have a Dream Speech, and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms State of the Union Address use a variety of literary devices in their speech to motivate and cajole their audiences to defend our liberties.

By using these strategies Kennedy was able to put emphasis in his speech. He effectively showed the audience Hayes viewpoint on the rising steel prices through his word choice. Kennedy starts his speech with a periodic sentence, immediately putting emphasis into his speech. In this sentence

By including himself in the sacrifices that have to be made by the “185 million Americans” (20) Kennedy provides a connectedness with the crowd. This is then turned around when he specifically singles out the steel executives. By singling them out he created

Kennedy starts off by telling us how the world and freedom is in major danger, being close to a nuclear war, telling us that it has the power to end the human species (3). The next point made is that we should “... never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate” (Kennedy 15). This means that we should negotiate to make a means with that someone not because we have to negotiate to stay safe from that someone. Kennedy then says that the goal would to have the world work together to explore problems, have a common arm control and be equal in weaponry power, and work together to unlock new sciences (16-18).

For example, JFK’s repeated use of ad hominem fallacy throughout his address united a fractured world, temporarily at least. This is especially evident when he states, “Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are -- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation, a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself. Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?” As previously referenced, JFK was heinously struck down on November 22, 1962, but in spite of his devastating death, JFK’s call for an end to the Cold War and an embrace of equality continued to resonate and as a result the

John F Kennedy was a level headed, determined and well accomplished person. During his short-lived presidency, he had to take on challenges like no other and did it with sophistication and grace. From conflicts involving other countries, like Vietnam, to the Civil Rights Movement that directly affected our own country, Kennedy continued to take each problem day by day until there was an overall improvement or resolution. It would be safe to say that he is one of the more progressive presidents our country has ever seen. David Burner’s John F. Kennedy and a New Generation was written with the sole purpose of giving an insight into Kennedys upbringing and presidency in an entirely unbiased approach.