Rhetorical Analysis Of John F. Kennedy's Speech Regarding Steel Industries

808 Words4 Pages

President John F. Kennedy, in his speech, "John F. Kennedy's Speech Regarding Steel Industries," informs Americans of what is happening within the steel industry. Kennedy's purpose is to criticize the steel industry while informing American citizens about what is happening to them when steel prices are raised. He adopts an infuriated tone in order to communicate the idea of steel industries taking advantage of American citizens' will to sacrifice. John F. Kennedy uses his credentials as President of the United States to advise listeners about what is occurring within the steel industry pertaining to prices. President Kennedy begins his speech by emphasizing how the steel industries affect the lives of American citizens. He appeals to the audience by including sentences such as "...when we are confronted with grave crisis in Berlin and Southeast Asia, when we are devoting our energies to economic recovery and stability, when we are asking Reservist to leave their homes and families for months on end, and servicemen to risk their lives- and four were killed in …show more content…

Kennedy uses repetition to stress how relevant "…their unusually good labor contract, their foreign competition and their increase in production and profits..." And how these things could be more efficient if the money was rerouted from the steel companies to the economy. John F. Kennedy also presents a counterargument in the second to last paragraph of the speech to show that he understands the other point of view. In this counterargument, Kennedy expresses that he understands that price and wage decisions are left up to the companies to decide but that American citizens expect companies to show them respect. The very last sentence in the speech states "In the last 24 hours we had their answer" in this sentence Kennedy refers to himself as part of the American society in one last attempt to further his