A hero, an Pulitzer prize winner, a U.S senator, the youngest America president, John．F. Kennedy ，gave a great speech: the Presidential inaugural address of John．F. Kennedy. Through this speech, he used parallelism and repetition to talk to the Americans and the Soviets that he wanted to solve the problem with Soviet Union through a peaceful and noble way, however, he did not fear military force that America was strong and powerful enough to fight against the Soviet Union. JFK stated that the right thing had to be done just because it is right. According to the eighth paragraph of the speech: “not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right,” which JFK used parallelism to express his opinion.
His diction is very inclusive; he commences his speech with several uses of the words ‘we’ and ‘our’, which makes way for inclusivity. JFK is blurring the distinction between citizen and superior governor by including the people in his proclamation. While describing the hardships and challenges that the country is facing, Kennedy mentions how imperative the occasion is on a global level; in the midst of the Cold War, he reminds his audience of the importance of uniting. Through the use of the lexical field of danger — words such as: ‘defiance’, ‘serious’, ‘risk’, and ‘sacrifice’ — he creates a feeling of tension and urgency, and engages his audience to the concern. To conclude his speech, the President mentions self-guilt on the part of the country on how they had not displayed the “sense of business responsibility” that they should have, a rhetorical strategy that approximates the audience to the government.
Kennedy can see that the country is afraid of the future that will present itself after the Cold War and beyond. It is clear that with war and chaos, it is easy for citizens of the world to turn into their own beliefs and stray away from each other. When using antithesis, Kennedy juxtaposes what being divided or united can do for all citizens. Starting his speech, JFK states, “United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do (Kennedy 1)…”
In his inaugural speech, Kennedy emphasizes the idea that we should unite and become a world full of peace and freedom through the seriousness of his tone towards this topic. To reveal his serious tone, Kennedy states, “Divided there is little we can do—for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.” Basically, Kennedy is saying that if we were to become divided, then there would be little that we could do, so, no matter what odds we face, we shall never split apart. His use of the word asunder and the phrase “we dare not” highlights his seriousness towards his ideas for the future of the country and possibly the fate of the world. In the Clift article, Clift celebrates the fact that Kennedy had displayed his legacy as being a period in time when happiness was rapid by use of nostalgia built upon ethos.
Kennedy tells Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” which would imply that if you are not a loyal patriot giving for the United States, than you are the problem. Chiasmus, the technical name for Kennedy’s literary device in the previous example, is often used to create the sense of opposition that is present throughout his address. Kennedy wants you to know that you can do something because “the Communist may be doing it” or you can do what “is right.” You can help “the success of liberty” or you can oppose “the hand of God.” You can stand with America and “abolish all forms of human poverty [or] all forms of human
Kennedy uses many rhetorical devices in his speech to help ease the citizen’s minds while maintaining a conversational tone a well as a clear and compelling structure. One example of a rhetorical device that JFK uses is anaphora. The purpose of his use of anaphora is to add significance to his message. He begins numerous paragraphs with the phrases “To those old allies…. To those new states….
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.
They are an attempt to clearly establish a peace plan that would leave no room for wonder. He calls each nation on earth to “never negotiate out of fear… [and] never fear to negotiate” (Kennedy 805). In this statement, Kennedy is building trust with foreign leaders by using an ethical appeal to invite them to come together. He promises them that there is no need to fear negotiations and then solidifies his intent by announcing the need for both sides to, “explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us” (Kennedy 805). His tone in this proclamation puts a hard emphasis on leaving the problems aside and centering our attention towards those things that unite one another.
Although America’s thirty-fifth president’s name became memorable primarily through his assassination, John F. Kennedy gave a powerful inaugural speech through his use of rhetoric. The essence of his speech nurtured the idea that the country will only flourish if everyone works to construct “a grand and global alliance” (23). To evoke emotions from his listeners, Kennedy used pathos-- the rhetorical device that purposely grasps resonating feelings and highlights them. Allusions to the Bible connected to ethos, giving credibility where needed; whereas his use of anaphora stressed the essence of his message. Kennedy’s message to America was that coming together to “lead the land we love” (27) will make our country, and the entire world, a better place.
Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms-- and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.” Kennedy continues to use “ Let both sides” grab the attention of the audience and show how important this subject is. Another literary device Kennedy uses is symbolism. For example, “ The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of
But let us never fear to negotiate.” President Kennedy wanted to insure the people of our country that by being a unified whole we can be stronger and use that strength to help others. By using anaphora in this section of the speech, he creates a sense of unity amongst not only Americans, however, between
He also says, “…United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder” (Kennedy 7). Similar to the last quote, Kennedy implies that all nations need to work together and not apart. Kennedy has another line in the speech where he make a reference from Isaiah 58:6 from the Bible, he again, talks about uniting on earth (Kennedy 19). It is clear what Kennedy’s intention and meaning in his speech.
The Inaugural speech by John F. Kennedy is a landmark type of speech that was given to the American populace in order to inspire confidence and to provoke them to take immediate action. His speech made extensive use of rhetorical devices in order to successfully express his goals. His stylistic devices include antithesis, parallelism, and varying structure flows in order to attract attention and to show what his service will accomplish. Kennedy details “a new generation of Americans” by contrasting old and new with his antithesis. He states, “Symbolizes an end as well as a beginning” and “signifies renewal as well as change” in order to do so.
Robert F Kennedy, in Remarks on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (April 4th, 1968), argues that through tough times, no matter the color of one 's skin the nation needs to come together and support each other. He supports his claim by using repetition, allusion, and presentation skills. Kennedy’s purpose is to inform the audience of Martin Luther King Junior’s assassination and to convey the importance of coming together as a nation in order to get through the tragedy. Kennedy was advised not to attend the speech due to concerns of safety in the neighborhood, yet proceeded even when his security team did not. The speech was, other than a few notes, improvised.
Former President Barack Obama was known for being a good speaker, but was he actually a good speaker or did was he just a very intelligent man? Public speaking is one of the hardest things to do and Barack Obama does a great job of it. He does have a few tendencies that I picked up on such as hand motion and pauses. Barack Obama gives his speech in Washington D.C. in front of thousands of eager people waiting to hear what the president had planned for the country. Obama was clearly using a teleprompter to help recite his speech, which can be very dangerous as far as communication goes.
