John F. Kennedy was an American politician and he became 35th president of the united state from 1961-1963. Kennedy is most famous in his presidency for his powerful and inspiring speeches. His positive energy made him easy to listen to for all audiences. More than twenty thousand people against a backdrop of deep snow and sunshine when John F. Kennedy was delivering his inaugural. At a time of racial tensions, economic crisis, and people’s fear of war, he needed to bring confidence to the American people. Therefore, Kennedy used many rhetorical strategies to convince the citizens of the United States to become involved with their country. He began to help his country become a firm, confident, and unified nation. He used many different rhetoric strategies such as reputation, antithesis, parallelism and rhetoric questions that made his speech one of the most inspiring speeches of all time. Although Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, his wonderful and powerful inaugural address and what he had done to help America will be remembered by people forever. …show more content…
In grammar, parallelism is the similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words or phrases. And antithesis contrast ideas expressed by parallelism of strong contrast words. Here are some examples: "To those old allies"; "To those new allies"; "If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich"; and the most famous, “Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country." The use of this rhetorical strategy used many times in his speech builds a contrast of his ideas by setting two opposites against each other. These parallelisms demonstrated emphasize their difference and makes them more rhythmic. As the result, audiences will understand American government's determination and faith. This is why JFK uses antithesis and
On January 20th, 1961, John F. Kennedy gave an assertive inaugural address to an audience of more than twenty thousand people about strengthening the American military, as well as providing a tough stance against the Soviet Union. Many rhetorical devices were used in his speech, but the main two devices that John used are repetition and metaphors to get the audience intrigued. One of the rhetorical devices John F. Kennedy used in his address was repetition. In paragraphs fifteen through eighteen, John constantly uses “Let both sides”. He uses this device to draw attention to a minor detail which is both nations coming together in peace.
In the speech made by John F Kennedy in Jan 20th 1961, he announced his presidency and addressed his agenda for the future of America, and more over, of the world -- the pursuit of peace and liberty inside and outside America. His audiences were his fellow citizens who were Americans and those around the globe, and he surely implied his points powerfully by arguing with a serious tone and meaningful yet powerful diction. The first aspect that makes the speech effective and incisive is the tone of it -- lofty and formal. For example: “Let every nation know...
Although America’s thirty-fifth president’s name became memorable primarily through his assassination, John F. Kennedy gave a powerful inaugural speech through his use of rhetoric. The essence of his speech nurtured the idea that the country will only flourish if everyone works to construct “a grand and global alliance” (23). To evoke emotions from his listeners, Kennedy used pathos-- the rhetorical device that purposely grasps resonating feelings and highlights them. Allusions to the Bible connected to ethos, giving credibility where needed; whereas his use of anaphora stressed the essence of his message. Kennedy’s message to America was that coming together to “lead the land we love” (27) will make our country, and the entire world, a better place.
- Unite the American public and Avoid hysteria - Present the world U.S's Intention for peace so as to the USSR 2. The elements for good speech in JFK's speech: Content: a. The speech dealt with the most
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was elected on November 8, 1960. On January 20, 1961, Kennedy delivered a reassuring speech to display how he will run the country. The question of what direction the country was going to go in after his election worried many citizens. The speech is not only targeted towards American citizens; it is a message that JFK desires to be spread beyond the United States and throughout other countries. He wishes for every nation, including America, to acknowledge that the United States will give assistance to any country in need of help.
The use of various rhetorical techniques also helps John F. Kennedy to consolidate the audience through the use of syntax and diction. In one of the most popular lines of the speech, Kennedy implements antimetabole to appeal to the audience in a way that they can relate to. To illustrate, “Ask not what…for your country,” (Kennedy 26). The antimetabole reverses the words in order to change the meaning for the audience to assess in a different context than how they were originally interpreting it. The first half of the sentence is the part that the audience relates to, by mentioning that the people were asking how the country was going to benefit them.
Amna Mansha Mrs. Hoffman AP Language and Composition 27 September 2017 Rhetorical analysis of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural address In his inaugural address, John F. Kennedy not only reassures America’s existing allies of his support, but through his use of unique sentence structure, repetitive diction, and rhetorical strategies, Kennedy also helps inspire Americans to feel a sense of unity and patriotism. Kennedy’s purpose is to get Americans to rise up to a new level of commitment to the nation.
According to the JFK Library, our 35th president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was the first Catholic president, the youngest man to be elected as president and also the present who died the youngest. These factors may have all had an effect on his speeches, and could play a role in what makes him so memorable. He was recognized by many as young and charming, and as a president who would bring optimism and change to the country. His unexpected assassination made a huge impact on the world, which could make him and his speeches even more
Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms- and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations. ”(16) JFK uses parallelism, phrases in the statements that are repeated and identical in structure, in this quote to introduce the idea of justice and liberty between the nations. When he applies parallelism as a rhetorical device, he uses it to build up the thought of what we can accomplish together as a world instead of against each other. He stacks these motivational statements up to catch the audience's attention, in order to fulfill the purpose for his speech which is to create unity.
A hero, an Pulitzer prize winner, a U.S senator, the youngest America president, John.F. Kennedy ,gave a great speech: the Presidential inaugural address of John.F. Kennedy. Through this speech, he used parallelism and repetition to talk to the Americans and the Soviets that he wanted to solve the problem with Soviet Union through a peaceful and noble way, however, he did not fear military force that America was strong and powerful enough to fight against the Soviet Union. JFK stated that the right thing had to be done just because it is right. According to the eighth paragraph of the speech: “not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right,” which JFK used parallelism to express his opinion.
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.
John F. Kennedy uses literary devices to capture the attention of the audience, sets himself equal to his audience getting their attention and support, and uses the christian religion to strike the emotions and gain the support of his audience. Kennedy uses many literary devices to catch the attention of his audience. One of these devices is repetition. One example of repetition that Kennedy uses is, “Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.
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.
As the 35th President of the United States of America during the year 1961, John F. Kennedy was an effective speaker regarding his rhetorical use of ethos. This alone gives John F. Kennedy credibility as he was the President of the United States. Before Kennedy became president, he obtained a college education at Harvard University. All the while Kennedy managed to serve in the United States Navy only to enter the field of politics after WWII. This significantly affects Kennedy’s ethos because he developed a greater education through means of college as well as a military proficiency in his time of service during WWII.
The use of antithesis in Kennedy 's speech is demonstrated in the statement: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country” (para. 25). Kennedy’s use of antithesis are used to strengthen his argument. He strengthened his argument by inviting the audience to think about what one can do for the country. Another example Kennedy uses, “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate” (para. 14). Kennedy is saying to never have fear to negotiate and face our fears.