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Rhetorical Analysis Of John Kennedy's Inaugural Address

Decent Essays

On January 20, 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy delivered a speech to the citizens of America and the world. After the end of a close, cutthroat election, he used this speech not to celebrate his victory as president, but to unite the audience. He addresses the audience with a speech that would be remembered for years to come, as its call to duty is a powerful one. A strong appeal to ethics─ not only his ethics, but our ethics as a country united through common values─ and powerful emotional and logical arguments are used to convince the audience to take a stand and make a difference. Additionally, he appeals to the rest of the world by referring to different areas and countries of the globe while also connecting all human beings together as one population. In this inaugural address, Kennedy connects Americans together as one country and humans together as one population with a call to duty that relies on a heavy appeal to the ethics and morals of himself and the audience. Additionally, the use of a structurally and logically sound argument with powerful imagery and emotions used throughout the speech allows this call to action to be so effective in uniting Americans and the human race together.
Kennedy aims for his speech to be used as a call to duty to unite all of his listeners. There were many pressing issues─ threats to freedom and liberty, existence of poverty and misery, and lack of peace and civility─ that he felt should be rectified. He states that his inauguration should be a beginning of renewal and change, and goes on to connect Americans together. He appeals to the shared background of this proud and disciplined generation of “heirs of our first revolution” and asserts that this generation will prove their patriotic loyalty by leading America to join in the effort to assure the “survival and success of liberty.” All Americans, born here or not, are members of the great American ‘melting pot.’ While we may have different ethnic or racial backgrounds, all who live in this proud country are all people who believe in values such as liberty, freedom, and justice. We are all descendants or supporters of the brave patriots who fought in the revolutionary war to stand for these same principles, and by

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