Rhetorical Analysis Of Jfk 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.

With the Vietnam War affecting so many people across the world, Kennedy took extreme caution in what he said. His use of pathos includes many patriotic expressions and words to unite Americans. His phrases like “forge against these enemies,” (Kennedy par 23) “cultural and spiritual origins” (Kennedy par 6) and “a celebration of freedom” (Kennedy par 1) imply that the war is not simply a political issue, but a moral responsibility. On the other hand, though these phrases offer a feeling of civic duty, nothing compares to the legendary quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country” (Kennedy par 25). This message is so powerful because it speaks of

- 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

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 Fitzgerald Kennedy, arguably one of our greater presidents in our nation’s history, was assassinated on a Friday in the early stages of winter in 1963; however, he had accomplished much more than a man with lesser courage could have in his services to our country. One of President Kennedy’s most memorable actions while in office, actually took place very early on in his presidency; his Inaugural Speech in January of 1961. When attempting to motivate our citizens, Kennedy speaks of our citizens being “tempered by war,” and “proud of our ancient heritage,” he very successfully appeals to the emotions of his audience. Furthermore, his use of ethos quite effective when he speaks of

Kennedy’s speech was one of inspiration and hope. He wanted to win the confidence of his citizens by delivering a short speech filled with noble ideals (Matheson 11). President Kennedy starts his inaugural address by exclaiming his understanding that America was very different from that of the nation’s predecessors. The President also wanted to send out a warning to all other nations by letting them know that with him as commander-in-chief, America would “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend or oppose any foe in order to assure the survival and success of liberty”(Kennedy 609). Basically he was stating that he would not think twice about using all possible forces in order to preserve peace and prosperity for the United States. He further goes on to offer his support to developing countries by pledging to help them help themselves but with a special stipulation. He warned these nations to not lean on America’s success but to form their own freedom when he stated, “remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought to find power by riding on the tiger’s back inevitably ended up inside” (Kennedy 609). Of all the very remarkable things that this president stated the thing that resonated with me was his backing of the United Nations which would have ultimately dissolved had we not given our support. As stated earlier, our nation was in an atomic war with the Soviet Union and the citizens of the United States were

Throughout president John F Kennedy 's inaugural address speech he presents several emotional appeals to convey his feelings towards the American people. The purpose of Kennedy 's Inaugural Address speech was to inform the people of what his intentions were for the future of this country. Since this speech was based on his intentions for the future of his country, a sense of trust needed to be established between him and the people, he accomplished this by applying emotional appeals to his speech. President John F Kennedy charged up his speech by making sure he built bridges between him and the people. Through his speech, he capitalized on change, not only for America alone but for the globe itself. Since this time was not a time of peace, where war, inequality, racism was transpiring, President kennedy included numerous lines of hope, that could have potentially been used to persuade the audience to strongly believe in what he was communicating with them. He mentions “For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty…”(Kennedy para2) ,relating to all people of lower class, providing them a sense of hope in which they could look forward to. John F Kennedy then continues by summarizing that it is time for America to shape its own future and that the people as a whole can overcome any obstacle that is bestowed upon them. People at this time found these words very

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

The central idea is to move on without hate or violence but with peace and love to black and white people. This essay is going to tell you about what happened in that time and the main ideas that lead up to the central idea.

“The test of leadership is not to put the greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there” (Buchanan). On a cold morning on January 20,1961, John F. Kennedy had just pronounced his solemn oaths to the nation in front of thousands in the audience and the millions listening in on his broadcast. Standing at the nation's capital, he was ready to deliver his inaugural speech. Being a leader of an enormous country and a leading figure in the free world you must know how to deliver and craft a speech. John F. Kennedy knew this well and in knowing that he wrote this speech to specifically invigorate the american people and send shockwaves across the globe. In a time of crisis where the cold war grew increasingly tense and total annihilation was imminent, a leader needed to show the american people hope in the coming dangers. In this analysis I will explore the aspects on how Kennedy makes a powerful and encouraging speech by knowing his purpose,audience, and addressing the situation america is in and also using rhetorical appeals such as logos, pathos, and ethos . Kennedy in this speech has many goals of what he wants to do with his country but he also wants to send a message to every other country out there.

In the conclusion of his speech, Kennedy cleverly positions one of the most memorable quotes of history. While the audience is full of excitement and patriotic duty because of his previous statement calling for strength and faith, he pauses for a moment and states “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what you r country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” This statement attenuates itself to the rhetorical instrument of kairos because the placement and the time in which Kennedy chose to speak the words provided its long lasting impact. The influence of this

Kennedy was a man who saw the bigger picture when it came to the problems we face as humans. He not only wanted things to be better for America but he also wanted things to be better for the world. He was a man who wanted peace for the world and even though he knew that world peace would never happen, he still tried to achieve it. This was shown in his speech and that never give up attitude was a part of what drew people to him.

One point that Kennedy stated was, in a way, make everything right with the U.S. In paragraph 4, Kennedy points out that as a nation, we will do our part to succeed. In paragraph 8, Kennedy pledged to help the needy and to be hopeful. He wanted to make the less fortunate hopeful and pledges to give his best effort. Its clear what his point is and what he was trying to get across to everyone. He wanted to make right of what’s wrong and help make the world better.

This speech was not just a ceremonial speech, it also played the praise and blame game with Russia and also casted a vision for America and the role that it would play in the world. After the majority of the speech was finished, Kennedy stated that “all this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin,” to see a world where peace is prominent (Line 21). “Kennedy placed special emphasis on his role as the voice of a new generation, a group with exceptional values and qualities,” confirming that this speech would set the pace and the tone for his Presidency

This semester, we were asked to read the speeches of two very well known politicians. The first one was Abraham Lincoln, and the second one was Robert F. Kennedy. Both of their speeches have a sympathetic mood while being delivered, that easily affects the audience. Robert F. Kennedy's purpose was to deliver saddening news to a crowd and to also sympathize with them, while Abraham Lincoln's purpose was to reassure the nation into bring it back together, and so both of the men create an informal and sincere tone in order to get their point across to their audience.