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Eulogy For Kennedy Rhetorical Devices

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In his Eulogy of Senator Edward (Ted) M. Kennedy on August 29, 2009, in Basilicas, Boston, President Barack Obama honors Kennedy by resonating with the audience of Kennedy’s family and friends with touching and wholesome tales of his life. Obama manipulates rhetorical devices to connect with the audience. The vital rhetorical devices he uses are ethos - to show his attachment to Kennedy, somewhat humorous anecdotes of his memories of Kennedy, and appeal to the congregation by enumerating his titles and achievements. The foremost three paragraphs of Obama's Eulogy for Kennedy are brimming with instances of ethos. The first instance shown is in the first sentence, "Vicki, Kara, Edward, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, members of the Kennedy family." Obama bonds with the audience and demonstrates how tight he was with Kennedy and his family by calling them by their first names when speaking. This subject is delivered several times throughout the eulogy, disseminating a sense of familiarity and connection. Another demonstration of ethos was in the third paragraph when Obama …show more content…

One anecdote articulates how, "... he won the support of a Texas committee chairman on an immigration bill." In that anecdote, Obama uses a humorous and lighthearted method to clearly and precisely talk about Kennedy's somewhat unprofessional approach to making deals with others, pushing the audience to recall Kennedy in a more positive light, a standard part of any eulogy. An additional anecdote conveys Kennedy's slightly narcissistic side when, ".. his father-in-law told him that he and Daniel Webster just might be the two greatest senators of all time. Without missing a beat Teddy replied, 'What did Webster do?'." That anecdote helps alleviate the sadness of his death from the audience through satire. Both anecdotes help Obama to reminisce with the audience over familiar fond feelings and memories of

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John F Kennedy and all of his greatness is able to be expressed throughout the speech by the use of

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In his speech Kennedy uses different rhetorical devices to unify the citizens of both the United States and the world. Kennedy was giving this speech after winning by a very small margin of votes so he was trying to unite the people of the United States and show he was the correct choice for the president. This speech was given during the Cold War so he was trying to connect the people around the whole world and establish peace. Kennedy was able to unify the people and try to establish peace while at the same time making himself seem like a very competent leader. In his speech Kennedy tries to build his credibility as a personable leader by creating ethos.

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This makes it difficult for the audience to side against the facts stated by Kennedy. This use of diction corresponds to the diligence and indignance of Kennedy’s tone. He emotionally connects to the audience by reaching towards those families hurt by the Vietnam War “servicemen to risk their lives-and four were killed in the last two days”. By not only bringing

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In paragraph 24, Obama states “ These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.” Prior to this paragraph Obama described the levels of segregation of today, and the hate among the divisions but, in spite of that, he confesses his abiding love. Not to be forgotten, ethos is undoubtedly the most important rhetorical device employed in this speech. Barack Obama, a product of an

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Kennedy has experienced the loss of a loved one and has worked through it. This helps the audience feel as though they can do the same. Robert F. Kennedy goes light on the ethos in this circumstance because he doesn’t want the speech to be about him, but instead about Martin Luther King Jr. Robert F. Kennedy uses a large amount of logos in his speech to achieve the purpose of offering Americans a solution to moving forward in their lives.

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As he stated, “Hillary and I also come as parents, as husband and wife, as people who were your neighbors for some of the best years of our lives.” His reference to being a parental figure makes the audience feel that he is more trustworthy. Kennedy uses ethos by talking about how he can relate to the feeling because one of his family members got killed. He mentions “I can only say that i feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed.”

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In the text, it states, “Indeed, Ted was the “Happy Warrior” that the poet William Wordsworth spoke of when he wrote: As tempted more; more able to endure, As more exposed to suffering and distress; Thence, also, more alive to tenderness (Obama 6). “ This quote showcases his use of allusions in his speech clearly. He uses allusions as a means to draw comparisons to a historical figure many know as William Shakespeare as to create a means to help people understand Ted Kennedy further by comparing him to a work of Shakespeare’s and therefore relate. By comparing Ted Kennedy to a work by a well-known poet, it adds a sort of professionalism. It shows that Obama knows what he’s talking about and by comparing Kennedy to this known writer’s work paints him in a bigger spotlight and makes him sound or appear like a more interesting person.

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Kennedy wisely sticks to using pathos throughout his entire speech, rather than relying on his then-minimal ethos or allowing his stirring speech to become bogged down by logos represented by the dull facts and figures of statistics. As a very young President just starting his first term, Kennedy lacks the reputation and reliability that an older, more experienced politician might have available. While it is true that most of the nation had seen him on television during the Nixon-Kennedy Presidential debates, those debates were the near-total of the people’s exposure to the dashing young President, and a pretty face does not a solid political reputation make! However, no matter how dashing and heroic he might have appeared to be in those

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This connects the younger generation of Americans and the older generation. He unites them under one goal and one purpose by using antithesis, ignoring their differences, and prepares them for what’s there to come in the future. He uses ethos quite effectively to re-establish his personal character. It was well known that Kennedy was a very religious man, and he reinforces this concept by citing the Lord’s name several times, as well as alluding to

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For Kennedy to sway his audience, he connects to and unifies all who are listening to his address by using the rhetorical appeal of pathos. Kennedy is a favored and

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In fact, Kennedy accomplished his goal and is still remembered today, as the best speech ever written and delivered. Kennedy presents his speech with strong Aristotelian appeals of ethos, pathos and the stylistic devices of alliteration and antithesis. Kennedy accomplished what every speaker strives for and surpassed it by capturing the hearts of the audience and inspiring the people’s trust. Ethos is a very important rhetorical device in speeches because it establishes a sense of credibility and trustworthiness with the audience. Ethos permits the audience to feel a sense of trust that is missing in some people’s speeches.

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“In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our despair, against our will comes wisdom through the awful grace of God”(24-30). RFK used this quote to say people may want to stay angry and bitter, but anger will eventually be replaced with wisdom and understanding no matter how much they try to fight it. Kennedy recognizes his audience as Americans, but especially

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