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Rhetorical Analysis Of JFK Inaugural Address

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On January 20, 1961, the United State’s 35th president John F. Kennedy delivered his well-known Inaugural Address to inspire the people of America and their allies and to warn the nation’s communist foes. The purpose of JFK’s speech was to convey the idea to the world that America would help any allies and defeat any enemy at any expense to defend freedom for all man kinds. He utilized a passionate tone in order to evoke the patriotic emotions among Americans, and his effective usage of rhetorical devices helped him kindle the hope inside his people and allies. JFK started his speech, employing metaphor to warn his enemy that anyone who dares to challenge the US will be consumed by its furious revenge. Metaphor compares two unlike elements with their similar qualities. He compared the US with a “tiger” and its enemy with those who “foolishly ride on the tiger’s back.”JFK was admonishing his enemy that they didn’t fully understand the power America possesses, if the enemy dared to step any further, they were digging their own grave. Using the above metaphor successfully conveys the strong pride JFK …show more content…

Parallelism gives several similar forms of sentences to create a definite pattern. He adopted a series of “Let both sides” to implore the Soviet Union to get rid of their former conflict and negotiate for the better future of all human beings. He strove to persuade his enemy that their attitude would leave a significant difference in the world. The outpouring emotion from the president expressed his desperate desire to seek peace. A statement such as this was attempting to seize the heart string of citizens on his side and his foes, and his ingenious usage of parallelism only adds to the strength of his argument that the attitude of those two superpowers would have great effects on the world history. Thus, they should push back of their suspicion and try their best to preserve

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