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Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Ethos

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As the 35th President of the United States of America during the year 1961, John F. Kennedy was an effective speaker regarding his rhetorical use of ethos. This alone gives John F. Kennedy credibility as he was the President of the United States. Before Kennedy became president, he obtained a college education at Harvard University. All the while Kennedy managed to serve in the United States Navy only to enter the field of politics after WWII. This significantly affects Kennedy’s ethos because he developed a greater education through means of college as well as a military proficiency in his time of service during WWII. Undoubtedly, the speaker’s background makes his messages more credible as John F. Kennedy performs the role of the President of the United States. …show more content…

Kennedy lays emphasis on his role in the space missions, stating that it is “among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the Presidency.” This quote contributes to President Kennedy’s ethos because it states his primary goal to the regarding traveling to the moon which shows that he will use his position as a president to take higher steps to do what its best for the country. It demonstrates the sign of solidarity with the audience, claiming the importance in his decision which will require the US to come together to achieve an extensive goal. The audience is impacted through his determination in terms of following a leader with high morals and ideologies to improve the country.” To be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for some time in manned flight. But we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead.” This is one of the quotes where Kennedy utilizes the pronoun ‘we’ to establish a sense of cooperation. Kennedy is reflecting upon the failures made in the process of this complicated

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In his news conference, John F. Kennedy utilizes juxtaposition and parallelism to support his idea that with the decline of huge companies, the price of things is going to start to increase significantly for Americans. The first rhetorical strategy Kennedy uses in his news conference is juxtaposition to show that with the decline in workers and the decline in profit will create an increase in prices around the country. This is shown when he says "when we are devoting our energies to economic recovery and stability, when we are asking Reservists to leave their homes and families for months on end, and servicemen to risk their lives- and four were killed in the last two days in Viet Nam- and asking union members to hold down their wage requests,

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J.F Kennedy, the president of United States wanted to put the first Americans to the moon-America exploring the moon, so he directed his speech to the people of taxes and Rice University to promote his space exploration program that will help America to be the first country to explore the moon. He believes that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. Throughout J.F Kennedy's speech, the speaker makes effective use of evidence, reasoning, rhetorical elements, and rhetorical devices that together form his argument to gain people support for his space exploration program. J.F Kennedy was trying to prove his point of view by giving examples and using a lot of Rhetorical devices and appeals that would grab the reader's attention

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By using we, us and our he includes everyone and unifies the citizens of the United States and the world. Kennedy says “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 of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed...” He is saying that the old generation had passed their ideas on to the new generation who are willing to sacrifice so that their rights are not taken from them. By saying “friend and foe alike” he is bringing everyone together and not letting them be different just because they are a friend or a foe. Additionally by describing traits of all the Americans, he unifies the citizens of America because all were tempered by war and proud of their heritage so it allows citizens to bond of common history.

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John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Junior’s, speech at his inaugural address in 1961 is undeniably a masterpiece of the persuasive arts. Although the speech is short as such speeches go, and although its main persuasive device is pathos alone, the masterful skill with which Kennedy’s speech is written makes it one of the most moving and effective political speeches to date. Kennedy’s vivid use of diction and metaphor, as well as his extremely memorable syntax, are particularly strong and successful. Every intelligent debater, speech-writer, and generally argumentative person knows that there are three main techniques which can be used to manipulate an audience and engage them in the speaker’s topic and purpose: ethos, logos, and pathos.

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This connects the younger generation of Americans and the older generation. He unites them under one goal and one purpose by using antithesis, ignoring their differences, and prepares them for what’s there to come in the future. He uses ethos quite effectively to re-establish his personal character. It was well known that Kennedy was a very religious man, and he reinforces this concept by citing the Lord’s name several times, as well as alluding to

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In fact, Kennedy accomplished his goal and is still remembered today, as the best speech ever written and delivered. Kennedy presents his speech with strong Aristotelian appeals of ethos, pathos and the stylistic devices of alliteration and antithesis. Kennedy accomplished what every speaker strives for and surpassed it by capturing the hearts of the audience and inspiring the people’s trust. Ethos is a very important rhetorical device in speeches because it establishes a sense of credibility and trustworthiness with the audience. Ethos permits the audience to feel a sense of trust that is missing in some people’s speeches.

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Kennedy starts off by telling us how the world and freedom is in major danger, being close to a nuclear war, telling us that it has the power to end the human species (3). The next point made is that we should “... never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate” (Kennedy 15). This means that we should negotiate to make a means with that someone not because we have to negotiate to stay safe from that someone. Kennedy then says that the goal would to have the world work together to explore problems, have a common arm control and be equal in weaponry power, and work together to unlock new sciences (16-18).

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On April 10, 1962, steel companies raised the prices by 3.5 percent of their products. President John F. Kennedy had tried to maintain steel prices at a stable rate. President John F. Kennedy, known for his diligence and persuasion, held a news conference about the hikes in steel prices. President John F. Kennedy, in his speech, uses rhetorical strategies such as diction, emotional appeals, and a persuasive tone to convince Americans that steel companies are declining the standards to maintain stable prices. Kennedy states that the steel companies are a national problem due to the increase of steel prices.

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John F. Kennedy discusses and analyzes on how the nation differs from the past and present day in that time period. Kennedy narrators on the division and war in the the world to appeal to the audience patriotism by using pathos and logos. In this speech President Kennedy states “to thoses who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request; that both sides begin the quest for peace, before the dark power of destruction unleashed.” He uses this quote to obtain a logical appeal to the appeal to the people. Kennedy uses logos to show that he wants the nation to come together and be humble together in one peace.

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He begins his speech by acknowledging the significance and importance of the state of Massachusetts to the history and development of this country, stating “Its leaders have shaped our destiny long before the great republic was born. Its principles have guided our footsteps in times of crisis as well as in times of calm”. Kennedy goes on to argue that “Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us—and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill—constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities”. With with the eyes of the world watching us for example and guidance in the new era of war, technology, and globalization, the U.S. needed to be governed by a higher standard, as they are looked at as the standard to strive

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The series of essays in the novel “Profiles in Courage” by John F. Kennedy all demonstrate the single, truly rare character trait of courage through the actions of senators. The story of Edmund G. Ross undoubtedly portrays courage by his collected and determined demeanor in voting to avoid national corruption through a single phrase. Kennedy, through writing, is able to tell the brave story of Ross in the role of the shy, weak, underdog senator who makes a single decision that would destroy his political life, but save America from corruption. In “Profiles in Courage”, John F. Kennedy successfully uses his structures of his ideas and his detail placement of descriptive phrases, and words which set the tone and rhetorical devices that persuades the

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In 1962 President John F. Kennedy held a press conference in which he informed the audience on his stance for the rising steel prices. Kennedy not only wanted to inform the audience, he wanted to get them on his side of the argument. He wanted to show the audience that the rising steel prices were going to have a negative impact on the nation. To do this Kennedy used some of the rhetoric strategies and tools. He used periodic sentences, anaphora, and diction.

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Robert Kennedy’s speech was given during a campaign rally in 1968, he broke the news to a crowd of supporters that MLK had been killed. This speech was analyzed through a PDF copy of the text. The purpose of RFK’s speech is to inform the audience of MLK’s death, create a sense of comfort and calmness. RFK includes a quote from the poet Aeschylus

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Rhetorical analyst Omair Khan states that Kennedy “had an enormous level of credibility as well as the authority and experience that comes with being the president of the United States” which is true because as the president, he had a huge amount of good will and was to be believed to turn the circumstances around

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Therefore, when you listen to any speech, listen for rhetorical components. Kennedy describes situations and talks to the

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