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Rhetorical Analysis Of Jfk Speech

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During the 1960s the United States (U.S.) was facing many problems. At that time the U.S. was recovering from a recession, there were problems with civil rights, and tensions were rising because of the Cold War with Russia and Cuba. On April 10, 1962, large steel companies raised the price of steel by 3.5 percent. On April 11, 1962, President John F. Kennedy held a press conference about the steel companies’ recent changes. In “JFK’s Speech,” John F. Kennedy used changing tone, word choice, and repetition to get the American people at that time to rally together to tell steel companies to stop raising steel prices to six dollars a ton. In Kennedy’s speech he used changing tone to express his anger towards the large steel companies. When Kennedy …show more content…

“The facts of the matter are that there is no justification for an increase in the steel prices” (31). “Justification” is a powerful word, Kennedy could have used many other words, yet he used “justification”. When he used “justification” in the sentence, it means that there is absolutely no explanation for the price increase. He also included the phrase “facts of the matter,” when he could have used any other phrase. “Facts of the matter” means that it’s the truth and Kennedy used it to his advantage to help argue his statement about steel companies raising prices on steel. “A few gigantic corporations have decided to increase prices in ruthless disregard of their public responsibilities” (50-51). He used the word “ruthless” to describe corporations as showing no sympathy towards their public duties as corporations. He then used disregard right after the word “ruthless”, meaning companies do not care about others at all. He also used the word gigantic, to describe the scale of these steel companies and to describe how big of an impact each companies has in the U.S. economy. Kennedy used all three words together to voice his anger to every steel company that raised its prices and denied workers’ wage request. Kennedy used word choice to tell the American people at that time how he felt about what the steel companies did. He knew that if he expressed his emotions, the American people would mimic and would agree with what he said. Eventually he wanted the American people to come together and demand change from large steel companies after they raised its prices to six dollars a ton and denied workers’ wage

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353 Words | 2 Pages

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy, a strong advocate for secure prices and wages, held a news conference regarding the inflation of steel prices and how it has impacted the American people. In order to achieve his purpose of convincing steel companies to reduce prices, JFK utilizes the rhetorical devices of anaphora, logos and pathos. During his speech, Kennedy appealed mostly to the logos by furnishing statistics to persuade the companies to stop elevating the prices of steel. An example of this is in line fifty five where he states, "Steel output per man is rising so fast that labor costs per ton of steel can actually be expected to decline in the next twelve months. " This indicates how significantly the prices of steel were raised and

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802 Words | 4 Pages

Kennedy says in his news conference," If this rise in the cost of steel is imitated by the rest of the industry, instead of rescinded, it would increase the cost of homes, autos, appliances, and most other items for every American family. It would increase the cost of machinery and tools to every American businessman and farmer. It would seriously handicap our efforts to prevent an inflationary spiral from eating up the pensions of our older citizens, and our new gains in purchasing power"(line 23-31) This shows that when the decline of the companies it will seriously handicap the American people due to the large increase in prices. This is also shown in, "And it would surely handicap our efforts to induce other industries and unions adopt responsible price and wage policies"(line 43-45)

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706 Words | 3 Pages

John F. Kennedy was a United States president during an economic recession in the early 1960s. During this crisis, steel companies significantly increased steel prices, prompting Kennedy to publicize his response in a news conference on April 11th, 1962. In his speech, President Kennedy uses repetition and logos to declare to Americans that he is outraged by and taking action against these steel companies. Kennedy uses repetition to emphasize why people should be upset by the steel price increase. Repetition is the use of a word or phrase multiple times for dramatic effect, applied first in lines 6-9 through the phrase “when we are,” followed by the tense international and economic circumstances of the time.

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1817 Words | 8 Pages

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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1223 Words | 5 Pages

Her accusing statements are like knives threatening the safety of a comfortable existence. Many of her eye-opening declarations are directed towards the audience itself, not “them”. Kennedy, on the contrary, had a much more diplomatic tone towards his audience, the American citizens. His diction and tone each developed this sense of wisdom emanated by his piece of writing by having sophisticated language, which wasn’t inflammatory, and by having a slightly invested tone. “When poor, ill-educated and frightened people disembarked in a strange land, they often fell prey to native racketeers, unscrupulous businessmen and cynical politicians.”

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909 Words | 4 Pages

He appealed to the logic of the American people, proving through factual evidence that the price increase of steel was completely unfounded and driven by greed, reminding Americans that the patriotism their country was built on was not in the minds of the steel executives, and pointing out through connotation that the qualities they posses should benefit the American people but are not. With these rhetorical strategies, Kennedy made his audience realize that Americans are far smarter, more hardworking, and more deserving of fairness than the steel industry gave them credit

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1141 Words | 5 Pages

Also, he is stating to never be afraid and figure out ways to face them. By doing this, Kennedy left a greater impact on people by making his speech more

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589 Words | 3 Pages

Kennedy begins his speech by detailing just how disrespectful to the American people the rise in steel prices is. He lists the war, the soldiers that risk their lives, the international crises, and yet steel companies are still selfish enough to disregard the American people. In paragraphs 2 and 3 he uses emotions, or pathos, to connect with his audience. He shows how the rise of steel prices would affect everyone, and he uses family to arouse feelings in his audience.

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523 Words | 3 Pages

He want the Americans to realize that the steel companies are greedy and heartless and does not care about them. Kennedy is scolding the steel companies because they are irresponsible and unjustifiable. Kennedy

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587 Words | 3 Pages

As President Kennedy enters office he gives an speech on the celebration of freedom; symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning of a new nation. Kennedy rises for the opportunity for persuasion after his inauguration has been addressed and he scarcely beats nixon. President Kennedy uses his authority for persuasion to bring the american people together under his power. The president uses the experience of war,poverty,and the desire for peace to develop an emotional appeal between the U.S and the world population. In this speech Kennedy uses ethos,pathos,logos,as well as other rhetorical devices to convince the audience.

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473 Words | 2 Pages

Kennedy realized how easy it was for a country to break apart in a time that they needed to come together. Being sworn into office, he could see the fear of the future in the eyes of the nation and truly wanted to reassure them that by being willing to face change as one, success was possible. Kennedy was able to assertively get his point across by emphasizing how prioritizing unification of the country is by relying on

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593 Words | 3 Pages

Kennedy often sets himself equal to his audience, as if saying that he is no better than anybody else, gaining their respect and support. For example in Kennedy’s inaugural speech, he states, “ United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures.” In this Kennedy is placing himself in the same category as his audience and saying that he needs them, just as much as they need him. Another example of Kennedy setting himself equal to his audience is, “ In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.” In this statement, John F. Kennedy is saying that the people of America, united, have more power than him.

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580 Words | 3 Pages

In 1962, in the midst of the international space race, steel prices in the U.S. began to rise. In this speech delivered by John F. Kennedy, he claims that there is no justification for these increasing steel prices through the use of logos and pathos. Whilst attempting to convince and create reason for steel companies to reduce their prices, JFK employs the use of logic-best argumentation in order to convey his message. However, at times, because his audience isn't merely citizens of the country but also executives of the steel companies, the line between pathos and logos is subtle, for he appeals to the emotions general American public through the use of verifiable data.

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812 Words | 4 Pages

As America entered and went through dark economic tensions, President Kennedy strived for stable prices and wages. After the largest steel companies raised steel prices by 3.5 percent, Kennedy gave a speech in response. In the speech, Kennedy calls out the steel companies for actions that were “wholly unjustifiable” and “irresponsibly defiant” to the American people. He appeals to the audience’s emotion, uses repetition, and applies logic to achieve his goal in persuading the companies to lower steel prices.

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761 Words | 4 Pages

In the beginning of his speech Kennedy uses words like “unjustifiable,” and, “a responsible,” to show how he feels about the actions of the leading steel corporations. Later in his speech Kennedy uses the phrase “ruthless disregard of their public responsibilities,” to show his complete disagreement with the steel corporations and their decision to unreasonably raise the steel prices in America. By using negative words Kennedy is able to clearly get his opinion across to the audience of the press conference. In his speech there are many more examples of diction with the way he uses specific words. Most of these words happen to be negatively charged at the Steel Industries.

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