John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was one of the greatest presidents of the twentieth century. He united almost the entire nation under a common goal; the Moon. His charisma could turn skeptics into believers, and strengthen the bond between himself and his supporters. He had so much charisma because he used many rhetorical devices in his speeches, the same rhetorical devices that have been wooing crowds of people since the time of Rome. One of his most memorable speeches he gave was at Rice University in 1962. In order to rally the support of the space program by the average United States citizen, Kennedy employs rhetorical devices, rhetorical appeals, and argument structure.
Kennedy uses many rhetorical devices in his speech. A
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He quotes George Mallory before he makes this statement, so that the audience knows what he means. Kennedy also uses parallelism in order to add emphasis to his speech. A relevant example of this is in his sentence; “… create new ills as it dispels old, new ignorance, new problems, new dangers.” (Kennedy, 1962, p.1). Kennedy uses imagery in order to show the difficulties with space travel. His statement; “The accuracy of that shot is comparable to firing a missile from Cape Canaveral and dropping it in this stadium between the 40-yard lines.”(Kennedy, 1962, p. 3). This statement gives the audience a visual image of the difficulty involved in space navigation. They are standing in the football stadium, so it is easy to visualize the target area of twenty yards, and compare that to the distance from Cape Canaveral in Florida, to the stadium in Houston, Texas.
Kennedy also uses Pathos, Ethos, and Logos in order to appeal to the crowd, and the average US citizen sitting at home. Kennedy says that “Technical schools such as Rice will reap the harvest of these gains.” (Kennedy, 1962, p.3). By saying this, Kennedy is trying to rationalize the space-program by appealing to the emotions of the college students (Pathos). If the attendants of the college feel that the space- program will help them learn more, Kennedy gains their support for his propositions. Kennedy says; “For the eyes of the world
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
There are many things that a speech must contain to make it a well written and spoken speech. John F. Kennedy 's speech he gave on September 12th 1962, titled “Address at Rice University on the Nation 's Space Efforts”, better known as “We Choose to go to the Moon” contains many of the important factors of a successful speech. Kennedy used rhetorical strategies and skills to help him influence the American people to help accomplish the major goal of reaching the moon. Kennedy did not only want to reach the moon, but he wanted to be the first country to do so. President Kennedy effectively told the objective he found important by using ethos, pathos and kairos throughout his speech to help get the support of the people. By using these three rhetorical strategies Kennedy gave a moving speech.
His main use of diction is progressing from an informal tone to a more serious one. The expression, “They seem to think that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a Kennedy to come to the campus of Liberty Baptist College,” is used to joke with the audience at the start of the speech. Through that remark and the statement, “You may not appreciate the president, but the Democrats certainly appreciate the prayer,” he turns some of the disconnect between him and the students into comical banter. Recognizing that his audience is college-aged, Kennedy uses humor to make them more comfortable with him as a speaker. After establishing a positive rapport with the students, his tone becomes more sincere. Towards the end of his speech, Kennedy states, “That ideal shines across all the generations of our history and all the ages of our faith, carrying with it the most ancient dream.” This language is much more formal in an attempt to express the gravity of the issues. The shift from relaxed to proper word choice helps set the appropriate mood for different sections of the
As a person who was known for his ability to speak publicly, and communicate comprehensible meanings while inspiring the people of his nation, President John F. Kennedy (JFK) gave his inaugural address on January 20th, 1961 in Washington D.C.. JFK was widely distinguished for his ability to use rhetoric in front of the masses, and in mass media. Like many authors and penman, President Kennedy implemented huge doses of rhetorical strategies in his speech, focusing on the appeals of Aristotle: ethos, logos and pathos. Ethos is used to convince the audience of the author’s credibility, logos is an appeal through the use of logic and reasoning, while pathos is an emotional appeal (Gayle et al). JFK applied all these rhetorical appeals
In 1962 President John F. Kennedy gave a speech about the rising steel prices. Throughout his speech he uses many kinds of rhetorical strategies; some include, anaphora , alliteration, and rhetorical appeals. By using these three rhetorical strategies Kennedy's speech was able to be connected to the audience very well.
Kennedy traveled the country during the early 1960s advocating for the National Aeronautics and Space Agency. On September 12th, 1962, he delivered the “Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort” at the Rice Stadium, in Houston, Texas, the home of NASA’s mission control. He began the speech by thanking the Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson, and the President of Rice University, Kenneth Pitzer. He commends Rice University for its knowledge, progress and strength and advocates for these virtues nationwide. JFK alludes to the Space Race by saying “the greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds" (John F. Kennedy). He speaks of advances made throughout history including the wheel, printing press, steam engine, electricity, telephones, automobiles, planes and penicillin. He compares the past 50,000 years of to half a century to prove the amount of advancement that has occurred over a relatively short amount of time. He comments “this country was founded by those who move forward - and so will space.” (John F. Kennedy). JFK explains that we choose to go to the moon because it is a necessary challenge and part of our goal to lead as a nation. He highlights how close we are to achieving such goals by mentioning the testing of a Saturn C-1 booster rocket, the Saturn missile, satellites and the Mariner spacecraft. JFK points out that the space industry has created new jobs for Americans and puts the space budget in perspective by showing it is less that the annual spending on cigarettes and cigars. JFK concludes with a quote from Mt. Everest climber George Mallory who responded "Because it is there," when asked why he wanted to climb the mountain. JFK states, “Well, space is there and we're going to climb it." (John F. Kennedy) He ends by asking for God's blessing on the journey and thanking his
John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech is certainly one to remember. It’s memorable not for its length, but for the effective content that it beholds. He entices readers by the use of strong rhetoric techniques. His inaugural analyzes style of writing, such as diction, tropes, schemes, and syntax, and applies the concept of it effectively throughout the speech. A reader performs rhetorical analysis to examine how authors attempt to persuade their audiences by looking at the various components that make up the art of persuasion. Moreover, it is most essential to be able to understand the relationship among the speaker, subject, and audience, which President Kennedy adequately exploits in his speech.
On snowy, freezing cold January morning in 1961, five hundred thousand people lined Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. The temperature was only twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit and eight inches of snow blanketed the ground in the American capitol that morning, causing even more traffic than usual, but that didn’t stop these hundreds of thousands of people from attending John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s inauguration ceremony. Little did they know, they would be hearing one of the most famous and memorable speeches of all time. Out of all forty five presidents, the inaugural address that American citizens would remember more than all the rest was that of John F. Kennedy. But what made it so memorable? After all, each president has given at least one, sometimes even two or more, inaugural address. Kennedy’s speech was neither the most elaborate nor the longest; it had one thousand three hundred and sixty four words and took thirteen minutes and fifty five seconds to read and it used relatively simple language. The importance of the address laid not in the length or the intricacy, but in the theme and the rhetoric. With figurative language, themes of unity and freedom, and appeal to Ethos, Logos, and Pathos, Kennedy’s address became not only one of the most memorable inaugural addresses, but one of the most memorable speeches of all time.
President Kennedy utilizes rhetorical appeals and a variety of figurative language to formally express his beliefs and goals in a strong and eloquent manner.
John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917, the second of nine children. He was a US statesman and our 35th president. He came from a family with a history of good politics. As an infant he lived in a comfortable but modest frame house in that suburb of Boston. As the family got larger and the father's income and fortune increased, the Kennedys moved to larger, more impressive homes. Their first home was in Brookline, followed by the suburbs of New York City. John F. Kennedy had a happy childhood that was full of family games and sports. He attended many different private elementary schools, which were all non parochial. He later spent a year at Canterbury School in New Milford,
On of the most effective rhetorical device that Kennedy used was logos. Right away in the speech Kennedy uses a piece of information that makes him seem like he knows what he's talking about. With the quote, “Simultaneous and identical actions of United States Steel and other leading steel corporations
John F. Kennedy once said, “I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President, who happens also to be a Catholic.” In this single sentence, he uses a method of Aristotle’s persuasive speech making. One of the greatest examples of using rhetorical strategies is indeed John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address of 1961. John F. Kennedy uses diction, syntax, and Aristotle’s method of persuasion in his inaugural address that not only made it uniquely his own, but made it undoubtedly one of the best, emotion tugging, speeches ever.
Kennedy is remembered for following through on promises made during his campaign. One of Kennedy’s memorable feats in domestic affairs was the advancement of our space program (Armstrong, Lovell, Cernan). In a 1961 address to Congress he said,
In John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon, Logsdon goes on to explore the political services that had formed the space policy in the positon of the Kennedy’s term. He tries to explore the political services by using actual interviews with the people who had participated in the race to the moon. His point was to see the political stand by getting people who actually witnessed and was involved in it to make the information more validated. This book has covered the 20th century era from 1955-1972.
John F. Kennedy’s Passionate Appeal to the American Spirit: “We Choose to Go to the Moon” On September 12, 1962, John F. Kennedy gave a rhetorically sound speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas with the intent to rally American support for his space exploration proposition. Kennedy had proposed his plan to congress a couple months before and this speech was his call to the American people to stand behind him. While the speech is remembered for its famous line, “We choose to go to the moon,” it was a carefully constructed piece of rhetoric. Kennedy’s immediate audience extends beyond the people that were in Rice Stadium that day.