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Literary Devices In Jfk Inaugural Address

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JFK Speech Analysis John F. Kennedy gave his Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961. The Inaugural Address used many tropes and schemes. For that reason it was regarded as a powerful speech and studied since then. The purpose of the speech was to unite the nation to work together. Kennedy used his resources to create the best Inaugural Address he could. Ted Sorensen was assigned to figure out what made Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as powerful as it was. Many question whether Kennedy or Sorensen played the bigger part in making the speech because of the literary devices used. Some examples include contrasts and three-part lists. As compared to more recent speeches, Kennedy doesn’t use anecdote or story-telling. Although Kennedy’s speech was the first inaugural address by a US president to follow the first rule of analyzing your audience in speech preparation, this strategy could catch the people’s attention and gain his speech approval from his viewers. Kennedy didn’t use large extravagant words, rather he used simple one to get his point …show more content…

One of the devices he most often uses are cumulative sentences. They can be used to build upon ideas and explain his reasoning behind them. In addition to Kennedy’s devices, archaic diction is also used. Archaic diction gives sophistication and a feeling of high education to Kennedy’s speech. He uses hortative sentences to give to people the notion that he as the President of the United States of America, to give them a command shows that he is taking charge of the situation. The most memorable quote of his speech “And so, my fellow citizens of the world: ask not what your country will do for you-ask what you can do for your country.” is a use of an imperative sentence. Each sentence in Kennedy’s speech uses a literary device to rally the people of America to his side. It is one of the most studied speeches in American

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