Rhetorical Devices In Jfk Inaugural Speech

In the first half of his talk, Kennedy started each paragraph with a parallel structure. By using “to those” as a way of directly addressing different groups of people, he could more clearly identify with whom he would like to communicate his plan. The first group that he addressed was America's “old allies” (6). Throughout this section, he told the allies that America would be “faithful friends” (6) to them and that the U.S. needed to continue to be partners if everyone sought to have peace in the world. Kennedy expresses his plan for “new states” (7) in the

President Kennedy always wanted above average and never wanted to settle for good, but for greatness. His inaugural address was his first step into greatness. He was a firm believer in unity and being together as one in this country. Throughout his short, but successful presidency, he shows how important togetherness is to make the country strong. January 1961, John F. Kennedy became the 35th president of the states and was giving his inaugural address. John F. Kennedy’s pathos, logos, and repetition in the speech allow the American people to be eager for his presidency and allow them to see the changes he foresees for the country during his term.

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

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.

JFK uses anaphoras all throughout the speech as a way to establish a connection with the common people. This intelligent approach works because anaphoras base themselves off of repetition of a beginning phrase such as we; therefore JFK's use of the repeated words we, fellow, our, and both sides causes any person listening to feel connected with the president. This only adds to JFK's purpose of trying to unite America towards a singular positive goal because the people feel as though the new president is one of them; and the new president will have their best interest at hand. Moreover, JFK proves this with his statement, "...we dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution." This not only unites the people but creates a call for action to unite like the founding fathers. This furthers the sense of equality created through anaphoras because it establishes that everyone shares a connection through their ancestors. By connecting to the founding fathers, and to people themselves, JFK keeps a

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

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.

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.

On a cold day in 1961, John F. Kennedy delivered an Inaugural speech to the citizens and peoples of both America and the world. After the end of a close and competitive election, he used this speech not to celebrate his victory as president, but to unite the audience. 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.

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

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.

If a writer wanted to appeal to the audience, what would he have to do? He is going to have to utilize some rhetorical devices of course! Rhetorical devices are key in writing persuasion papers and just any paper that is meant to be read to an audience. In the Inauguration Speech of 1961 given by President John F. Kennedy, he was able to really connect with his audience that day by using lots of different rhetorical devices. By using chiasmus, anaphoras, and metaphors, JFK was able to effectively reach and persuade people to have faith in him despite his age and religion.

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

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.

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