Rhetorical Devices In Jfk Speech

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.

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.

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.

In 1962 President John F. Kennedy gave a speech about the rising steel prices. Throughout his speech he uses many kinds of rhetorical strategies; some include, anaphora , alliteration, and rhetorical appeals. By using these three rhetorical strategies Kennedy's speech was able to be connected to the audience very well.

In the beginning of his speech, Kennedy utilizes diction in order to evoke a surge of emotions in his audience. Kennedy outlines the gravity of the subject, “steel executives whose pursuit of private power and profit exceeds...public responsibility...utter contempt for the interests of 185 missions.”

Kennedy calls the steel companies “irresponsible” for “increasing steel prices” because raising the prices goes against the “public interest” of Americans. The price increase is “wholly unjustifiable” because the steel companies do not need the money they will gain from this price increase to avoid laying people off or avoid going bankrupt. They simply want to make more money for their own selfish gain. The steel company’s actions disappoint Kennedy because many Americans make sacrifices to help the country rebound from the recession. Kennedy has a very indignant tone while he speaks about the steel companies “At a time when restraint and sacrifice are being asked of every citizen, the American people will find it hard, as I do, to accept a situation in which a tiny handful of steel executives whose pursuit of private power and profit exceeds their sense of public responsibility can show such utter contempt for the interests of 185 million Americans”.

Despite being a Harvard graduate and president of a nation, Kennedy associates himself with the discontented Americans as both “the American people will find it hard, as [he] do[es],” to accept the steel crisis. Throughout his speech, Kennedy’s use of dichotomous language such as “we”, “our,” “their,” and “they” allows Kennedy to vocalize that he and “185 million Americans” are facing this crisis together while painting the steel companies as their common enemy. Through his language, he adopts a wrathful yet sentimental tone in order to appeal to the shared feelings with his fellow American people. As a result, he is able to build the “us” versus “them” mentality amongst the American people to enhance the shared dissatisfaction towards the steel companies’ hike in steel prices. By employing forceful vocabulary, Kennedy elevates the “us” versus “them” mentality as he continues to pit the steel companies against “every American family.” He describes their actions as “unjustifiable and irresponsible defiance” to once again demonizes the steel companies as a threat towards American interest. By criticizing the steel companies, Kennedy removes himself and his Administration as responsible for the detriments caused by the steel companies, allowing him to further his dissociation from the greedy affluent and reassure the American people that he is on their

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.

Throughout his speech, he frequently makes comments expressing his disappointment in the steel companies, and how he feels they have betrayed the American people. In the introduction, Kennedy states, “Simultaneous actions of United States Steel and other steel corporations, increasing steel prices by some 6 dollars a ton, constitute a wholly unjustifiable and irresponsible defiance of the public interest” (1-5). This quote demonstrates how Kennedy used his tone to take a stance on the issue, and let the steel companies know that he is outraged by their price increase. During this time period, Kennedy strongly believed that the American people and big businesses needed to work together to get out of the recession. In his final words, Kennedy says, “Some time ago I asked each American to consider what he would do for his country and I asked the steel companies. In the last 24 hours we had their answer” (107-110). In this quote, Kennedy is disapprovingly implying that the steel companies’ price increase is un-American and

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.

On April 10, 1962, the United States steel companies decided to raise the price of steel by 3.5 percent during one of the nation’s most traumatic wars that affect the veterans still to this day: the Vietnam War. To put things in perspective, steel prices have effects on nearly everything, such as the cost of homes, the cost of appliances, and the cost of building infrastructures. President Kennedy had been calling for stable and affordable steel prices for a long time at this point in time; however, the steel companies still raised the price. The day after the increase in steel prices, President Kennedy held a news conference to call out the steel companies. In this news conference, President John F. Kennedy delivers a speech that employs several rhetorical devices, specifically repetition, ethos, and pathos in order to incite the audience to protest against the steel companies; which would, in turn, inflict pressure on the steel companies to lower the cost of steel.

As the United States was emerged from a recession, many of the large steel companies decided to monopolize steel prices by raising it 3.5 percent, which would lead to President Kennedy responding to the businesses actions. On April 11, 1962, Kennedy in a news conference would go onto shaming the steel prices brought by these corporations, especially after asking in a program of national sacrifice to help stable prices and wages. His usage of rhetorical strategies such as unifying diction, the literary device of pathos, and a disapproving tone in order to achieve his purpose of not only reversing the increase of steel prices to normal but also disgrace their actions.

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

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