A Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Speech

John F. Kennedy will always be remembered for two things; his triumphant inauguration and his tragic assassination. After being sworn in, Kennedy gave the traditional inaugural speech. He addressed America, as well as the rest of the world, to inform them what his intentions were during his presidency. By referencing current events such as the Cold War, he was able to identify dilemmas in need of a remedy. Kennedy's overall message was meant to inspire his nation and convey strength and hope to the world abroad. At the beginning of his speech, Kennedy condensed his message. He stated the problems in need of fixing during his presidency while also proposing solutions for them. By doing this, Kennedy was able to evoke confidence from Americans that he will follow through with his claims. Kennedy used anaphora, allusions, and emotional appeal to create an effective argument in the first half of his inaugural speech.

As well as, “signifies renewal as well as change….” for the same reasons as stated previously. This antithesis is used to band the new and the old breed together, and help them work together to achieve Kennedy’s ambition of creating the perfect nation, where his people would be united with brotherhood under one purpose, seeing themselves as equal beings, setting their differences aside and this would prepare them for the challenges the Americans would face in the future. All of this was done by his effective use of antithesis which is one of the reasons why this speech was so revered as one of the most powerful and patriotic speeches. Whether his cause was for the best is another story however. Now, we talk about his effective uses of the older methods of public speaking. More specifically, pathos and ethos. He uses ethos in the lines where he says “explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.”In Kennedy’s background, it was known that he was a zealous follower of Christianity and this is evident when he cites God and the Bible in some of his lines. This was done to fabricate an imagery of his personal character and that to show he was just as zealous of supporting the nation as he is zealous into following his

On a cold January day America’s newly appointed president John F. Kennedy delivered his inauguration address that was incredibly important to America’s success during the Cold War. Kennedy uses his speech as a call to arms, but not only to America but the World and our allies as a whole. He uses his strong powerful voice to appeal to the ethics of the country in the beginning of his speech telling America about the promise we made when we were founded and that we must uphold it still today, telling America we must make a difference. Kennedy also uses ethics to explain that we the people are united no matter what your background or where you are from, he refers to the Americas as one place, because he wants for us to feel unified not divided. Furthermore Kennedy’s use of powerful imagery, logic and pathos allows for him to effectively call the people of the World together during this terrible time.

Throughout Kennedy’s speech you can see many different types of these devices first off, I would like to bring your attention to parallelism. The definition of Parallelism is “Uses of words or phrases in a similar structure”. In his speech he come right out of the gate in the first 5-6 paragraphs and begins to show this. For example on Page (283) Kennedy says, “To those who old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty for old faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of co-operative (SAS) ventures. Divided, there is little we can do, for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder”. Furthermore he then directly goes into his next statement by saying “To those”. I also think that one of the man reasons his speech captivated not only America's people but many other nations, was due to how he connected with the audience.

In John F Kennedy’s “Inaugural address”, he tries to bring the nation together by speaking confidently and powerful. Kennedy’s vigorous use of rhetorical devices including Antithesis, Reasoning, Emotional Appeal, Allusion, and Anaphora that contribute to the success of his speech. JFK uses these rhetorical devices to convey his ambitions and hopes for america as a nation in a whole. Also hoping for a pledge of peace; that we do not show weakness. In his hopes of coming together our acts individually would make us look and be stronger. Kennedy used his speech as a way to draw all of the audience in by pulling us together.

Kennedy also brought the past into his speech. He spoke about Americas founding ideas and how the other countries did not support them. Kennedy wanted to change that. He hoped that every nation would put their differences aside and support each other’s views on freedoms.

- Kennedy’s thesis was “rallied citizens to get positively involved in serving their country and that freedom must prevail”. “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you. But what together we can do for the freedom of a man” and “My fellow Americans: ask not what America will do for you. Ask what you can do for your country” He is persuading the Americans by exclaiming that you should contribute to the country, and how you can provide freedom to every citizen to make this country a better

He believes that “since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe . . . now the trumpet summons us again.”3 Here, Kennedy is appealing to those who have lost loved ones as he draws upon the sorrowful and moving image of slain Americans through mentioning specifically the “graves of young Americans,” and uses the emotions of heartbreak and tragedy to inspire the country to act. This is shown through the pairing of the “testimony to . . . national loyalty” present in the the Americans that gave their life for their country to his statement that “the trumpet summons us again”; this creates a sense of responsibility to serve America in his audience. Using the incentive of avenging the deaths of their countrymen, he hopes that the audience will act to serve their country as so many have done before them; he is placing the destiny of the country in the hands of Americans so that they may support him. Kennedy additionally readily reassures the audience of how he believes in their generation, and that he has faith in them despite the trials and tribulations to come; he appeals to pathos through the emotion of pride and the inspiration that one’s country can create. Kennedy states, “I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring out this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.”4 Kennedy affirms his faith in his generation as he explains how no American would give up and take the easy way out by saying that none “of us would

To begin with, JFK was the 35th president of the United States of America. He was the youngest president, which meant he had to build trust. One of the main characteristics in Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address” is his powerful use of imagery, when he describes “the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans” (JFK paragraph 4). Kennedy talks about change and a future to look further to. His statement creates an idea of toughness, placing strength in each individual, but also in the President and government. Kennedy paints a desolate picture of the world which creates imagery. He describes the evolving world as “struggling to break the bonds of mass misery” (JFK paragraph 9), and nuclear weapons as “dark powers of destruction” that might “engulf all humanity” (JFK paragraph 11). He creates a dark mood and describes strong visuals to keep the audience’s interest in what Kennedy has to say about possible solutions to create peace. The imagery used is strong as it draws on images that are easily understood by everybody. He believes that all Americans should work together to create the peace they desire. He wanted America to reach its fullest potential. He felt it was important to use the past as an example but to look to the future and be prepared for anything to come.

Kennedy’s speech carries with it a dauntless rhythm of persuasiveness, emboldening and inspiring his audience through emotional conviction and personal attribution. With parallelism and juxtaposition, John F. Kennedy was able to capture the minds and hearts of the American people. During the vast majority of the address, he uses inclusivity (us, we, our) with the audience to show his personal dedication to the public and mankind as a whole. Kennedy’s dedication to his people and god was enough to gain the support of the nation, from both political parties; he proclaims that it was “not the victory of a party, but a celebration of freedom…” Kennedy does this in an attempt to establish his credibility as a just and equal leader, who saw past the petty divisions of our bipartisan dichotomy. Aside from this instance, JFK states later that he is a “fellow citizen of the world…” to appeal to his international audience. As much as Kennedy addressed his fellow man, he also referenced God in many occasions throughout his speech. Considering that at the time of its delivery 84% of the

Kennedy begins his speech expressing how “the world is very different” from what it used to be. He uses multiple rhetorical strategies that express and describe how he is going to lead their “very different” country by providing his audience with a sense of community. For example, Kennedy applies juxtaposition to his phrase, “United there is little we cannot do… Divided there is little we can do…” to compare what America can and can’t do when everyone is united. During the time when Kennedy was elected president, the Cold War was at peak of its period. He bravely announced that “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty,” using the rhetorical strategy asyndeton. He uses this particular mechanism to attract his audience and give emphasis to the ideas he wants to communicate. He starts the phrase off with “we,” as he wishes to convey to his listeners that we are going to pay any price, that we are going to bear any burden, that

Kennedy’s inaugural address reveals his legacy by expressing his goal of unifying Americans using antithesis and syntax to contrast selfishness with selflessness, emphasizing that Americans should be working towards selflessness and unification. The photograph of Kennedy taking the oath of office mirrors his legacy of unifying the country and the virtue of selflessness with its wide range, capturing not only Kennedy, but the people around him as well. In his address, Kennedy speaks of how opposing sides in any fight should work together towards a common goal, rather than fight each other and never be able to achieve their goals.

Similarly, Robert Kennedy’s speech also concerns with the assassination of a great man – civil activist Martin Luther King. In his speech, Kennedy, as in Mark Antony’s eulogy, also uses repetition, especially anaphora, to augment and stress the purpose of his speech – that peace and solidarity, instead of anger and division, should be the response to such a devastating event. In his speech, he describes the appropriate course of action in response the recent assassination, “What we need in the United States is not division;” urges Kennedy, “what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and

Early in the beginning of the speech Kennedy took notice of how the world around the american people was beginning to change. New issues arising from all over the globe that affected the course our prosperous nation set sail in, “For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” Now this quote from the second paragraph and fourth sentence of the speech comes to us in the form of a syllogism. While man has the power to rid the world of poverty as well as human life, he can’t simply because man's wants over exceed what he

"Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country," is a well-known quote among Americans that has so much meaning behind it. John F. Kennedy was a president for the United States and loved among many American citizens. His speeches were always thought out and used many rhetoric devices to reel his audience in. Therefore, making his speeches brilliant and known the citizens of America. By going over the main points of rhetoric JFK used in his innagural speech like antithesis, pathos, and the theme one can realize how deep the speech actually is.