John F Kennedy Rhetorical Analysis

A speech was given by Senator Robert Francis Kennedy on April 4th, 1968 to inform the public of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Kennedy did not dwell on the subject of death, but rather spoke of the segregation of the country and how they might remedy it as well as encouraging the people to move forward as a united country.

Immediately following the death of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Robert Kennedy's job was to inform his African American audience of King's passing. After realizing that the crowd’s initial reaction would be the desire to revolt violently, Kennedy knew he needed to subdue their immediate emotional reactions and make them respond rationally and peacefully. The speech Kennedy gave was crucial in the maintenance of peace in tragic times. In order to prevent revolts, Kennedy established common ground with his audience, he created an empathetic tone, and references a Greek poet to instill peace in the minds of his audience.

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.

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.

On the night of April 4 1968, people gathered to listen to the wise words of Robert F. Kennedy. What many thought was going to be a political speech soon took a twist, and the news of Martin Luther King’s assassination was announced and out to the public. Gasps and tears quickly erupted while everyone was gathered around Robert Kennedy’s pickup truck as he stood high above all trying to bring hope and comfort to those who lost someone that fought for their equality, rights and freedom. Kennedy's speech was powerful and successful because of the way he showed empathy to the crowed. He related the tragic scenario to his own life bringing comfort to the many broken hearted and showed both sides of the situation using contrasting forms. Lastly, Kennedy’s speech consisted of repetition with the use of anaphora.

On April 4, 1968 Robert F. Kennedy began his political campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in Indiana. Before boarding his plane, Kennedy found out that Martin Luther King, Jr. had been shot in Memphis, Tennessee. At his arrival in Indianapolis, Kennedy was informed that Martin Luther King, Jr. had died from the incident. Kennedy was scheduled to speak to a large African-American audience, and was advised by the Indianapolis Police to not speak. The Chief of Police warned Kennedy that he would not be responsible for whatever may happen, making this speech even more dangerous. Kennedy chose to ignore the warning signs, went into the conference campaign, and spoke to the audience. Robert Kennedy, putting his political aspirations aside, advises the Indianapolis African-American audience not to retaliate to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination with violence, but with prayer, understanding, and love as Martin Luther King, Jr. taught. This is done through the use of motivational appeals, rhetorical devices, and expressing to the audience a purpose.

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.

A leader should be able to diagnose problems in his country and effectively navigate his people safely through that trouble-spot. President John F . Kennedy was a great leader, who was able to lead the United States through several crises. One prime example of his navigational skills through such hardships is in his dealings with the rise in steel prices in 1962. In his news conference, on the issue of steel price, President Kennedy uses parallelism and juxtaposition to create the idea that the increase in price from the steel companies is detrimental to the United States' economy.

As Commander-In-Chief of a nation emerging from a recession, President John F. Kennedy addresses the hike in steel prices to the American public and steel companies to stigmatize the nation’s leading steel companies for their unnecessary decision to increase steel prices. Within his speech, Kennedy’s use of rhetorical strategies to enhance his purpose is dominated by his dichotomous diction to separate himself from the affluent and align with the suffering American people, parallelism and anaphora to emphasize the equal magnitude of previous American crises to the rise of steel prices, and cause and effect organizational mode to highlight the numerous detrimental effects on the American public caused by the steel companies’ hike in steel prices.

On April 11, 1962, President John F. Kennedy held a news conference to discuss the 3.5% increase on steel prices across the country. With the country at war, and struggling to emerge from a recession, increasing the price of steel would have a negative impact. After his administration had taken steps to aid the steel companies to reach a non-inflationary steel workers union contract, the decision to increase steel prices was deemed to be a betrayal of the President and the American people. The speech was directed towards the “common man” in opposition to big steel companies. He speaks for the purpose of not only persuading the companies to lower their prices, but also to convince the public that he is looking out for their best interest. Kennedy employs a disapproving tone and strong diction in an effort to clearly achieve his goal in influencing the steel

On January 20, 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy became the youngest man to possess presidency in the United States of America. As a young, wealthy man Kennedy rapidly climbed the political ladder by initially representing a working class Boston district in the United States Congress, then continuing on to the House of Representatives, followed by the United States Senate, and ending with the victorious defeat of his presidential opponent, to become the 35th president of the United States. According to theatlantic.com, Kennedy was so admired by the public, that “in the eyes of the world, this reticent man became a charismatic leader who, in his life and in his death, served as a symbol of purpose and hope.” As a result of John F. Kennedy’s

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.

The U.S. President is an emblematic leader of our country and to the world, he uses rhetoric in his everyday life to efficiently convey his logic and plans to the public and congress. One of the crucial events in history took place the day John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president of the United States. Although the world was in turmoil with communism spreading throughout the world’s powerful nations and weapons of mass destruction being created by the world powers. John F. Kennedy was a leader of the American citizens and symbolized an order of peace. John F. Kennedy was a young leader that brought reassurance to the world and addressed the nation that his term as president would be one of great change and ambition. John F. Kennedy

Abraham Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” and Emily Dickinson’s “Success is Counted Sweet,” are two inspirational pieces of art that fall under two different types of discourses. The “Second Inaugural Address,” is a great example and definition of what Rhetoric is. It encompasses all four resources of languages- argument, appeal, arrangement, and artistic devices. “Success is Counted Sweet,” doesn’t cover the four resources of language that apply to rhetoric; therefore, it is categorized as a poem.

The distinctive voices, inherent in any text, are intended to have an impact on the audience. Significant voices are influenced by the values and beliefs of the composer, as well as cultural, political and historical content. Composers use a range of language tools and features to successfully covey messages to their audience. John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, Severn Cullis-Suzuki’s Address to the Plenary Session, Earth Summit and Charlie Chaplin’s Let us all unite, all provide excellent examples of a distinctive voice. Each of these distinctive voices is formed through the use of emotive language, tone, repetition and rhetorical devices.