To find a piece that is currently looked upon as a paragon of rhetorical strategies, scholars would look towards President Abraham Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address”. This speech was given at the start of his second presidential inauguration with the purpose of establishing his point of view on the war and its effects. To elaborate his thoughts and hopes for the future of the United States of America, Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” is riddled with rhetorical strategies such as installation of self-credibility, deliberately designated diction, and carefully supplemented repetition to succeed in his desire to sway the audience towards his views.
In Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address”, he promotes his credibility as a way to cajole the audience. Beginning his address, he states “Fellow-Countrymen” (ln 1) invoking the feeling that he is also of their status; however, he contradicts himself by availing, “I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all” (ln 13), he exerts himself as a higher being by saying, “I trust” because if he, the President of the United States of America, believes that the country is making progress because of this war, then the audience will then too assume that the country is making progress with this war. In the second paragraph, he once again includes himself in the audience by addressing his conjectures on the war. “All dreaded it, all sought to avert it” (ln 18-19). By utilizing “all”, Lincoln enhances his point of view in which he makes the audience believe he has the same power as the general population and can do nothing more than what is currently being done. In the third paragraph, he applies biblical relations to improve his credibility in the eyes of the audience, “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invoked His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any man should dare ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged.” (ln 42-48), he adds on by saying, “‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’” (ln 68-69). This appeals to both sides of the audience. The South relies heavily on their beliefs, faith, and religion and the North
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.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as the 32nd president of the United States in 1932, the third year of the worst economic depression in America's history. At the height of The Great Depression about 25% of America's workforce was unemployed, and the country was crying out for change. This is what he promised in the inaugural address he gave on March 3, 1933: change. He gave his speech to show the hearts and minds of the people of the USA that they will come back from this great hardship. Franklin Delano Roosevelt used a powerful yet sympathetic tone of voice, dramatic pauses for emphasis, and plan to change how the country operated, in his Inaugural Address to reassure the nation that they will come back from the Great Depression.
In his Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln provided one of the most memorable speeches in history that affected the way American citizens saw the war. The March 4th speech in 1865 gave more people hope for the country and allowed them to trust that God will help them through the Civil War. The people trusted Lincoln to help them through the situation because he had already served his first term as president, and the people knew he was trustworthy, so they re-elected him. Lincoln professionally used rhetorical appeals such as ethos pathos and logos to press his audience to agree, as well as tone to show his audience how importantly they should be taking the subject. Abraham’s Second Inaugural Address was an introduction to his plan for the United States for the next years he would be president, and much of it was a discussion about the Civil War and how they would bring it to an end.
When Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in 1860 the Union was divided. He accepted his presidential duties knowing that he was working with a nation that no longer remained united. Seven of the southern states had already seceded from the Union and were beginning to refer to themselves as the Confederates. What he had now were free states and slave states. When Lincoln gave his Inaugural Address he attempted to do so in a way that would not dissuade his chances of gaining support in the southern states, especially when it involved the institution of slavery. However, he also made it clear in his address that he believed a secure and united nation was of utmost importance and he rejected the ideas
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
Could the North and South ever come together again and unite as one nation after the Civil War? The purpose of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address was to offer his promising predictions for reconciliation with the South and his vision of the future. Lincoln utilizes strong and elevated diction to clearly articulate his vision for the future, with choices like “dreaded” and “sought”. Furthermore, Lincoln’s optimistic tone offers a beacon of hope, with examples like, “achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations,” and “to bind up the nation’s wounds”. The purpose of the address is achieved through parallelism and appeal to religion, too. Lincoln’s diction, one of his most powerful literary devices, is employed prominently throughout the entire passage.
Could the North and South ever come together again and unite as one nation after the Civil War? The purpose of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address was to offer his promising predictions for reconciliation with the South and his vision of the future. Lincoln utilizes strong and elevated diction to clearly articulate his vision for the future, with choices like “dreaded” and “sought”. Furthermore, Lincoln’s optimistic tone offers a beacon of hope, with examples like, “achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations,” and “to bind up the nation’s wounds”. The purpose of the address is achieved through parallelism and appeal to religion, too. Lincoln’s diction, one of his most powerful literary devices, is employed prominently throughout the entire passage.
In 1864, the country was divided due to the Civil War. Both sides had experienced great losses, and many were starting to lose hope. To this day, the Civil War remains the bloodiest war in U.S. history. 1864 was also the same year Abraham Lincoln was reelected for President of the United States. When Lincoln got up to make his second inaugural address, he claimed that because he had done this before, he wasn’t going to use all of the formalities that are often used in inauguration speeches. Instead, he focused mostly on trying to give the people-specifically, the north-hope during this terrible time. In Lincoln’s address, he attempts to give people hope and reunite the country via his use of tone, ethos, logos, and pathos.
Weeks of wet weather had occurred before Saturday March 4th, 1865, making Pennsylvania Avenue a thick, muddy place; however, the pounding rain did not stop the spectators from listening to Lincoln give his Second Inaugural Address, given one month before the end of the Civil War. The Civil War was the result of a long standing controversy over slavery. The North and the South did not agree with each other. Slavery in the North had died out to the point where almost all blacks were free. The South on the other hand very few blacks were free. Causing a long lastly disagreement between both sides. When Lincoln gave his speech spectators were expecting a speech on slavery when Lincoln gave a dark gloomy speech that no one saw coming. The Civil War had lasted through his passed presidency and ended five days before his death. United States President Abraham Lincoln surprised his massive audience with a very short speech in which he talked about the effects of the Civil War, and expressed his feelings toward the future of the United States. Lincoln wanted to restore faith in the nation, talking about how the war would end soon, and that the nation was going to reunite. In this short speech Lincoln asserts that the audience knows and is knowledgeable about the war, which shows that the Americans know the war was just by using juxtaposition. Lincoln addresses his opinion towards the war, and makes it clear by utilizing biblical allusion, creating a basis of mutual agreement between the North and the South.
Lincoln wants unity in the nation. For all people to be treated the same and referred to as the same. Lincoln doesn’t refer to single handed people. He uses plural pronouns to show that we are untied as one. But let “us” not be judged for one has done wrong doing to another. Lincoln is using plural pronouns (i.e, us, our, we, ourselves, etc.) to imply that we are all one nation. Lincoln hopes for “charity for all” for he does not want to see hardships upon anyone. He prays for “God” to “give us” the right to see the right, “let us strive” to finish the work “we” are in, to heal the “nations wounds.” This war is not just affecting one side but, is affecting both and it
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.
The Civil War was a period of racial injustice and a time of great loss for the people of America. During Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he creates a moral framework for peace and reconciliation with the use of many rhetorical strategies. With a sincere but reflective tone, Abraham Lincoln highlights the reality of the troubled nation and the solution to all of the problems, which is unity. Lincoln repeats strong phrases to enhance the theme, references to a holy figure, and creates simple, yet structured ideas to achieve his purpose of reuniting the broken nation.
President John F. Kennedy, in his inaugural address speech, claims that America will unify and assert peace, in and out of the country with the help of citizens who fight for liberty and protect their country. Kennedy supports his claims by applying rhetorical devices to create a good sense of optimism and community. The author’s purpose is to encourage his listeners to stand up and help others so that America can become a better, stronger nation.
JFK had many great speeches, the biggest and best arguably being his Inaugural Address. If you think that giving a speech to gather followers is easy, you’re wrong. It is an art, there are many trick to it. Some people have mastered this, and JFK has mastered this by using the ethos of ethos a lot in his speeches. The idea of teamwork is a common theme to him.
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.