Amna Mansha Mrs. Hoffman AP Language and Composition 27 September 2017 Rhetorical analysis of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural address In his inaugural address, John F. Kennedy not only reassures America’s existing allies of his support, but through his use of unique sentence structure, repetitive diction, and rhetorical strategies, Kennedy also helps inspire Americans to feel a sense of unity and patriotism. Kennedy’s purpose is to get Americans to rise up to a new level of commitment to the nation. He appeals to the citizens of America, as well as the citizens of the world, with his compassionate and powerful tone. Kennedy begins his speech by establishing that this is a new beginning for America and by acknowledging that this is the time to make peace, not chaos. He appeals to the audience’s fear of war and communism to prove that humanity itself is the biggest threat to people by saying, “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 of human life” (Kennedy). Although he stirs fear in the people, he eases their worries with hopeful connotations like “celebration of …show more content…
Through the use of an anaphora, “to those,” he pledges to “old allies,” “new states,” “people in the huts and villages,” “our sister republic,” “that world assembly,” and “to those nations who would make themselves our adversary” (Kennedy). He uses another anaphora, “let both sides” (Kennedy), to refer to the icy relationship that the U.S. had with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and recommend that both superpowers should work together. In order to convince the audience that they have to start somewhere to achieve success, Kennedy states, “All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days” (Kennedy). These contribute to his unique sentence structure which adds emphasis to his