Rhetorical Analysis Of Jfk Speech

John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech is was one of the best speeches ever written. It wasn't just remembered for the length of the speech, but it was remembered for the speeches content . Kennedy said that he will unify the United States of America and the whole world. Kennedy also says that he will not allow the enemy to threaten the U.S. or its allies. Through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos, Kennedy strongly tells this message to the American people and to all the leaders of world.

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.

Through his use of the anaphora, John F. Kennedy implies that a part of his vision is to unify the country and the world under a banner of fearless peace. As an example, he addresses the world, piece by piece, “To those…, we pledge...”(2). The antecedent to which “those” refers varies, but it always retains a respectful tone of logos, occasionally supplemented by pathos due to specific wording. For instance, “sister republics”(2) creates a sense of family, leading to a pathos appeal. One of the “pledges” Kennedy makes is in the form of an anaphora too: we will “help them help themselves, for whatever period is required -- not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right” (2). With this assertion, Kennedy emphasizes that the United States has no ulterior motives for

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.

In John F Kennedy’s “Inaugural address”, he tries to bring the nation together by speaking confidently and powerful. Kennedy’s vigorous use of rhetorical devices including Antithesis, Reasoning, Emotional Appeal, Allusion, and Anaphora that contribute to the success of his speech. JFK uses these rhetorical devices to convey his ambitions and hopes for america as a nation in a whole. Also hoping for a pledge of peace; that we do not show weakness. In his hopes of coming together our acts individually would make us look and be stronger. Kennedy used his speech as a way to draw all of the audience in by pulling us together.

President John F. Kennedy uses a wide range of rhetorical devices, and punctuation to make his tone clear, compelling, and friendly. Such rhetorical devices are: anaphoras, allusions, and metonymy. JFK uses these devices in his speech to establish a connection with the American people, and other international leaders.

Prior to John F. Kennedy’s inauguration was, of course, the election of 1960, in which Kennedy went face to face with Richard Nixon on issues such as, the Cold War, Kennedy’s religious beliefs, and the display of each’s competence. In Kennedy’s inaugural address, he not only alludes, but also addresses to the Cold War, and makes mention of his future plans and Roman Catholic religious beliefs; and, he does so through use of allusions and anaphoras. Through the use of allusions and anaphoras, Kennedy effectively achieves his purpose of fulfilling citizen’s expectations, addressing the Cold War, and stating the United States’s future plans to his audience, the United States of America and other nations, through emphasis and rhetorical appeals towards pathos and ethos.

One of the most influential presidents in United States history, John F. Kennedy was a brilliant politician and public speaker. In his inaugural address, he sparked hope around the world by discussing the hardships faced by all of society in the present time and then leaving them with a message of freedom, power, and hope. This measure of impact is not achieved easily; Kennedy masterfully utilized the art of rhetoric to emphasize his message and win the hearts of his people. In the middle of the speech, he discusses the dangers of the modern world and his drive toward international peace and cooperation. These messages are stressed through his use of charismatic language to signify his vision of a new and better world.

While the speech’s respectful eloquence is appropriate for the occasion of an inauguration, its youthful energy and look to the future make it distinctly John F. Kennedy’s. , The people of the United States desperately needed a boost in morale with ongoing tension of races, inequalities, the fight against communism and the cold war. The people were convinced that this war would be never ending, and believed in another inevitable war. From the beginning to the end of JFK’s speech, he uses a plethora of rhetorical devices to comfort the people and fill them with confidence.

In John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, he worked on persuading audience or listeners for the idea which is American should do anything that should be done to assure the survival and the success of liberty. In his mind, American should hold their liberty forever, further guarantee other country freedom. Kennedy really used a lot of rhetorical strategies in his speech. Of course, he used those strategies successfully. One of the rhetorical devices he used was antithesis. Another rhetorical device that I found out was metaphor which is a good way to create a good image, further, make audience believed in his mind.

For instance, parallelism such as the statement, “whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, hear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe,” gives flavor to the speech by pointing out opposite words within a single sentence but still making it work. A few antimetaboles are used in the speech, such as “let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate” and “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” make the speech more effective by twisting around the order of the words, or syntax, to get people to realize a point. Additionally, what makes Kennedy’s speech so effective is that he can transition from a simple sentence to a more complex, meaningful one in a matter of lines of the speech. In accordance to the diction, the words in his speech (freedom, poverty, devotion, and loyalty) are considered abstract. This is because they all convey a tone of desire and significant qualities held by friends. They strengthen and add more feeling to the speech as well. However, the archaic words, such as writ and forebears, are used in a manner to bring in the old language as well as the new, therefore there is sophistication as well as understanding. Kennedy also uses juxtaposition when he says, “peaceful revolution,” and this adds spice to the speech because of the contradiction of the two powerful words. Yet

Kennedy continues his appeal to emotion with a weaker, yet still successful attempt. Around election time, seemingly all American’s reveal their inner-patriot, understanding this Kennedy speaks to that inner patriot. Speaking of foreign affairs, he says, “…let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.”(3) This appeal is successful, as speaking of the Hemisphere as a whole represents unity, and also reaches out to the pride within the audience, stating that Americans shall remain in power of all they have worked so hard to obtain.

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.

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

Kennedy’s use of anaphora emphasises the idea of coming together and moving forward. Anaphora is shown