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John F Kennedy Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis

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John F. Kennedy became the thirty fifth president of the United States. He was inaugurated in 1960 during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and America. Kennedy's inaugural address inspired hope in a nation that so desperately needed it. “in your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty” (para. 22). This like the rest of his speech uses rhetoric to inspire the Nation and band them together. By using rhetorical devices such as parallelism, pathos, and ethos, Kennedy is more persuasive. First, Kennedy uses parallelism throughout the speech to persuade the american public to our united front as a nation. “Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation …show more content…

“To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. . . and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside” (para. 8). Kennedy reminds the populace of their beginnings when they were still just thirteen small colonies, and how those thirteen colonies banded together and rose to defeat the British. This brings a strong feeling of nationalism to the american public through his use of history. “In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the world of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger” (para. 25). Kennedy reminds the citizens of America of their ancestors, and what they did for this country years ago. Kennedy claims that it is this generation's time to rise and follow the path our grandparents took, and become and stronger, united,

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