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Rhetorical Devices In Jfk Inaugural Address

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The 35th American President, John F. Kennedy, in his inaugural address, which he delivered after he just won the president seat, reclaimed his purpose as a successful and competent leader. JFK’s purpose was to not only demonstrate his amity towards the world, but also encourage his people to devote themselves to America. He used repetition and parallelism as his rhetorical strategies in order to convey to his audience, which includes both Americans and international people, the idea that America needs them to create a peaceful world in a nuclear age. After emphasizing the importance of freedom to America, JFK demonstrated his friendly attitude by using repetition to list his position toward some large or important organizations in the …show more content…

At the first place, JFK employed the large structure “not as a call...though...” to convoy his ideas that the thing he needed at that moment was peace instead of war, which continue to show his peaceful attitude. Moreover, this rhetorical device built a base for transformation from what we did not need to what we need--- “a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle”--- to trigger both emotional accumulation and audiences’ desire to listen. This rhetorical device had similar function as repetition which I just mentioned before, and it even made a more impressive image inside JFK’s audiences’ mind. Just like the second climax is always more powerful than the first one, this parallelism was more clear and obvious than the former strategy so that his people will able to follow his ideas. After having a probable goal which built in the repetition, JFK’s audience now had a path toward it. At the second place, JFK utilized two similar sentences “my fellow...ask not what...do for you...but what...can do for” to encourage Americans to contemplate what they could do for America. Besides let JFK’s words become pleasant to hear, the fluent conversion between two sentences also sublimed its level from person to society, and shifted its topic from America to the freedom

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Introducing the sentences, he uses the phrases, “Let both sides”, and, in speaking to different audiences, “My fellow …” and “To those…” The effect of the hortative sentences connotes a tone of authority and elicits a sense of encouragement, bringing a sense of unification and willingness to unify the audience with the new President. JFK exhorts his audience through the use of anaphora, the repetitions of a repeated phrase, to seek for “what problems unite” both sides. JFK proposes his resolution in resolving the “how” to unite two contending sides. The audience is encouraged by his optimistic approach in both sides coming together as one.

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JFK presents this idea by developing ideas like freedom all across his address. “The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” JFK believes that the individual freedoms of man are not supposed to be touched by and are not created by the government. Through this statement JFK is affirming that the protection of these individual rights should be a keystone to America. “The same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe” Kennedy furthers the affirmation that individual rights should be protected by referencing the founding fathers who had constructed the United States government around the idea of individualized rights.

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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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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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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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The power of persuasion is one that has proved its influence all throughout the history of humanity, convincing the masses to think as one body. This talent is not without practice or order however, even those talented with influence must be organized and eloquently sew their words together to prove a point. Only arguments that can appeal to all are able to be successful. In President John F. Kennedy’s Speech “Peace Speech”, examples of Aristotle's Modes of Persuasion are used. Kennedy uses the appeal of his credibility (Ethos), emotion (Pathos), and logic (Logos) to support his argument against war.

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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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Lastly Kennedy states, “ My fellow citizens of the world; ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.” In this famous quote from Kennedy’s inaugural speech, he says that together, the people of America can do

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His diction is very inclusive; he commences his speech with several uses of the words ‘we’ and ‘our’, which makes way for inclusivity. JFK is blurring the distinction between citizen and superior governor by including the people in his proclamation. While describing the hardships and challenges that the country is facing, Kennedy mentions how imperative the occasion is on a global level; in the midst of the Cold War, he reminds his audience of the importance of uniting. Through the use of the lexical field of danger — words such as: ‘defiance’, ‘serious’, ‘risk’, and ‘sacrifice’ — he creates a feeling of tension and urgency, and engages his audience to the concern. To conclude his speech, the President mentions self-guilt on the part of the country on how they had not displayed the “sense of business responsibility” that they should have, a rhetorical strategy that approximates the audience to the government.

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In this momentous speech, Kennedy must persuade his fellow Americans that the best way for mankind to operate is to create a sense of peace and togetherness. He asks the citizens of the United States, “Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort? “ JFK realized that if he can bring together all nations, it would be a monumental landmark in history and could bring world peace, an idea long lost in history, back to the people. Kennedy uses a rhetorical questions to call upon man’s instinct to be known and go down in

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