Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Adgural Address

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.

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.

Mr. Kennedy wrote his address knowing that he was going to have to make a statement. A statement that would leave a forever lasting impression on his political views, intelligence and stance on worldly matters. Behind any good speech are rhetorical devices and good sentence structure.

Prior to 1962, America was beginning to combat its recession. In an attempt to accelerate the process, President John F. Kennedy called upon the nation, to make sacrifices for the benefit of this country. Now, Kennedy is forced to address the nation once again to secure his beliefs, by using diction, repetition, appeals to authority, logic, and emotional appeals. Kennedy’s speech stirred the nation and furthered his dream because of his strategies.

With the appropriate use of rhetoric, one can captivate the attention of millions, as well as uniting a divided country. This is evident in John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s inaugural address given on a cold January afternoon in 1961. Having to be the first Roman Catholic president, many were skeptical of Kennedy; however, he developed a form of credibility with his associations as a war hero in World War II, three terms in the House of Representatives, and less than two terms as the junior senator from Massachusetts (Nelson). To unite the United States and reassure Americans of his duty as the president, John F. Kennedy used the rhetorical strategies of allusion and alliteration.

John F. Kennedy delivered his Inaugural Address in 1961 to the entire nation. He establishes a conversational tone through the use of rhetorical devices. His use of metonymy and asyndeton elicits a feeling of solidarity and unity in the masses who listened to their new President. JFK’s catchy usage of chiasmus institutes compelling structure and an open, friendly attitude. These aspects of his speech were necessary for seeming like an approachable figure instead of the formal, far-away airs that are associated with the title President. Metonymy, asyndeton, and chiasmus were essential actions towards Kennedy’s goal of reaching his audience in a compelling and conversational way.

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

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

To begin with, John F. Kennedy used pathos to grab the attention of his audience at the Inauguration which lead them to listen to him speak about peace between nations. Using transitional words was to make his speech work smoothly with his strong source of emotional persuasion. The Inaugural Address is where (United States was held on Friday, January 20, 1961) President John F. Kennedy gave his speech about trying to make his quest of peace by speaking of the ways they can come together to speak about problems together and to never fear to negotiate. The style this speech was written was mainly to get to see the audience’s reaction to his point of view of what he wants for the future for the United States which means he

Syntax helped Kennedy achieve his purpose as well. He used short paragraphs to get his point across. For example “And, so my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Think of how famous this quote has become! The short sentences make more of an impression. They express more emotion. Complex sentences are also used in this speech. They allow feelings to be built up in sentences. He uses opposites in this speech a lot. For instance, “Never let us negotiate out of fear. But let us ever fear to negotiate.” This shows he has considered all counterarguments and knows exactly what he wants to achieve while in office and that he is as qualified as any other politician to be the next president of the United States.

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

Kennedy used anaphora as a way to emphasize his point to the audience. JFK repeatedly explained to the crowd of people listening that he did not want the country to be split into different groups, but he wanted peace and harmony among all Americans. He continuously begins his sentences with “Let both sides…” By creating a sense of unity throughout the different groups of people, JFK tried to convince the audience that a major change was needed for the United States. By repeating the words “Let both sides,” JFK allows the audience to believe that war is avoidable for the country. JFK uses repetition when he says, “For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” By saying this, Kennedy shows Americans that the world is different now,

President John F. Kennedy addresses Rice University in September of 1962. He could not have picked a better time in history or a better place, to deliver this speech. The audience consisted of students of the school partnering with the Space Program, the most distinguished scientists, and the American Public. Kennedy had the perfect platform to deliver a speech with the objective to commit incredible amounts of money to fund the Space Program. His masterful use of rhetoric and persuasion guided millions of Americans to delight in the Space Adventure.

Kennedy uses anaphora again in the twenty-second paragraph when he points out the struggle against poverty, tyranny, disease, and war, “not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are.” This example of rhetoric emphasizes that we must bear the burden of poverty, tyranny, disease, and war, rather than fight them.