A Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Speech

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.

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.

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.

Kennedy gave many speeches about peace, world hunger etc. all causing some sort of ripple effect, all of them were “ Make not only America but the world great again speeches” One particular speech that really stood out was his first inaugural speech given in 1961. Kennedy states, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country”. He genuinely reflects this throughout his life. He also states, “Ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you”, holding himself and America to the standards of patriotism. He gave these quotes in his speech to emphasize what citizens should be doing, and what standards citizens and the government should be held at. By doing this he intensifies the meaning of “actions speak louder than

Throughout his inaugural address, Kennedy brings to light the lack of unity throughout the country and the world. He states that “we are the heirs of that first revolution” (¶4) that broke the countries apart, and that the country that stood that day would unite against “those human rights” (¶4) that were promised in the founding of our nation. He connects to his audience by noting significant events in history that everyone knows, such as the founding of our country or the revolutionary war, but that few people truly live by. He awakens in his audience the yearning for connectedness to the birth of our country. On the day he accepted his place as the leader of our country, Kennedy unified his citizens by generating a feeling of

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.

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

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

In the first part of his speech, JFK pledges to the world how the U.S will help them to achieve peace and freedom, he makes his purpose effective by establishing his credibility. Then, he continues on to further appeal to emotions with a tone of strength and inspiration, using imagery and repetition. Beginning his speech, Kennedy first establishes his credibility to the audience by alluding to the Declaration of Independence. First, Kennedy mentions that he will continue to follow the oath that his ancestors took “ a century and three quarters ago”. By applying this allusion to the Declaration of Independence, J.F.K. assures the audience that his point will be well researched.

- 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

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 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.

This was one of his favorite weapons in his arsenal. It is because, through his use of parallelism, he is able to express his perspective in a smooth manner. He is also able to skillfully manipulate the audience into cementing their attention into his speech. He can even add a strong foundation for his speech and he can easily follow up and build his case further through his resourcefulness with parallelism. Parallelism might be the best tool John F Kennedy has mastered when building a speech. He is so resourceful with it, that he is able to construct powerful statements to attract and cement attention. This is clearly evident when he describes science as “power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life”, using powerful words that strikes fear into his audience, therefore further cementing their attention to him. He also does this when he proclaims his plans for conserving power for goals associated in achieving more freedom for his nation, and perhaps this is one of the biggest reasons for the fame for his speech. As one can see, it easily engages the audience to his

"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.