Essay on John F. Kennedy Inaugural Speech Analysis

John F. Kennedy will always be remembered for two things; his triumphant inauguration and his tragic assassination. After being sworn in, Kennedy gave the traditional inaugural speech. He addressed America, as well as the rest of the world, to inform them what his intentions were during his presidency. By referencing current events such as the Cold War, he was able to identify dilemmas in need of a remedy. Kennedy's overall message was meant to inspire his nation and convey strength and hope to the world abroad. At the beginning of his speech, Kennedy condensed his message. He stated the problems in need of fixing during his presidency while also proposing solutions for them. By doing this, Kennedy was able to evoke confidence from Americans that he will follow through with his claims. Kennedy used anaphora, allusions, and emotional appeal to create an effective argument in the first half of his inaugural speech.

This was one of his favorite weapons in his arsenal. It is because, through his use of parallelism, he is able to express his perspective in a smooth manner. He is also able to skillfully manipulate the audience into cementing their attention into his speech. He can even add a strong foundation for his speech and he can easily follow up and build his case further through his resourcefulness with parallelism. Parallelism might be the best tool John F Kennedy has mastered when building a speech. He is so resourceful with it, that he is able to construct powerful statements to attract and cement attention. This is clearly evident when he describes science as “power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life”, using powerful words that strikes fear into his audience, therefore further cementing their attention to him. He also does this when he proclaims his plans for conserving power for goals associated in achieving more freedom for his nation, and perhaps this is one of the biggest reasons for the fame for his speech. As one can see, it easily engages the audience to his

In John F Kennedy’s “Inaugural address”, he tries to bring the nation together by speaking confidently and powerful. Kennedy’s vigorous use of rhetorical devices including Antithesis, Reasoning, Emotional Appeal, Allusion, and Anaphora that contribute to the success of his speech. JFK uses these rhetorical devices to convey his ambitions and hopes for america as a nation in a whole. Also hoping for a pledge of peace; that we do not show weakness. In his hopes of coming together our acts individually would make us look and be stronger. Kennedy used his speech as a way to draw all of the audience in by pulling us together.

President John F. Kennedy uses a wide range of rhetorical devices, and punctuation to make his tone clear, compelling, and friendly. Such rhetorical devices are: anaphoras, allusions, and metonymy. JFK uses these devices in his speech to establish a connection with the American people, and other international leaders.

As a person who was known for his ability to speak publicly, and communicate comprehensible meanings while inspiring the people of his nation, President John F. Kennedy (JFK) gave his inaugural address on January 20th, 1961 in Washington D.C.. JFK was widely distinguished for his ability to use rhetoric in front of the masses, and in mass media. Like many authors and penman, President Kennedy implemented huge doses of rhetorical strategies in his speech, focusing on the appeals of Aristotle: ethos, logos and pathos. Ethos is used to convince the audience of the author’s credibility, logos is an appeal through the use of logic and reasoning, while pathos is an emotional appeal (Gayle et al). JFK applied all these rhetorical appeals

The first rhetorical strategies is alliteration. Throughout Kennedy’s whole speech he uses alliteration, which is put into connotation as, multiple words in a sentence that have the same beginning sound. For example his first sentence. “Simultaneous and identical actions of the United States Steel and other leading steel corporations, increasing steel prices by some 6 dollars a ton…” (line 1-5). In his opening sentence Kennedy uses the letter “-s” about six times, in the words “simultaneous”, “state”, “steel”, and “some”. Using the same sound really emphasizes, and grabs ahold of the audiences attention. Another example is, “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…” (line 22-25). In this sentence he uses the alliterations of the “-in” sound in the words

35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy gave his inaugural speech on January 20th, 1961. In this speech, Mr. Kennedy addresses all the people in America in an emotional and logical sense in an attempt to provide hope and give a good impression of what his presidency wishes to bring during the next four years. To maintain a conversational tone and convey his message, while at the same time giving the American people a sense of hopefulness, Mr. Kennedy uses various rhetorical devices that help him get through his audience.

John F Kennedy, 35th president of the United States Of America, in his inaugural speech, vocalizes his ideas for the country and its future through the use of many rhetorical devices such as diction, metaphors, ethos and rhetorical question to convince the people he is fit for the job of president. During the height of the cold war, John F. Kennedy was given the burden of solving the obstacle of the U.S.S.R. The gap between the presidential candidates was microscopic with John F Kennedy getting 49.72% of the votes and Nixon 49.55% of the votes. Most people believed that The now democratic president would get eaten alive in Russian negotiations and was unfit for the presidency. These factors made the speech that much more intense because he had to assure and calm the people who were in high doubt that JFK was the right person for the job. This is why he used these subtle but successful tactics to win the favor of the people and convince them to not only support him, but become active participants in their democracy.

The Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961, was written to notify the American people with not only the hopes and dreams that Kennedy had for the country, but how he was going to accomplish them. Inside Kennedy’s, Inauguration, 50 Years On, is the explanations of numerous people on what

I just did a short analysis about the strategies John F Kennedy used. He pays attention on not only the content and theme, but also those rhetorical devices on language. There is no doubt that those rhetorical devices are beneficial on improving the expressive and persuasion of the

John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech is certainly one to remember. It’s memorable not for its length, but for the effective content that it beholds. He entices readers by the use of strong rhetoric techniques. His inaugural analyzes style of writing, such as diction, tropes, schemes, and syntax, and applies the concept of it effectively throughout the speech. A reader performs rhetorical analysis to examine how authors attempt to persuade their audiences by looking at the various components that make up the art of persuasion. Moreover, it is most essential to be able to understand the relationship among the speaker, subject, and audience, which President Kennedy adequately exploits in his speech.

In 1961, The United States of America was gridlocked with social injustice, inequalities, and intense racial tension, while combating the “red scare” of communism and protecting the population abroad from weapons of mass destruction and otherwise harbored by enemies both foreign and domestic. Terror and incertitude had seized the minds of the American people as the Cold War drew to its zenith. Desperate for a strong, reassuring leader, they turned to the young, former naval lieutenant and Presidential candidate, John Fitzgerald Kennedy who provided the reassurance the American populous yearned for as he charismatically and confidently addressed the nation. With critical rumination to the current national and international turmoil, Kennedy sought to ignite unity and esprit de corps in the American people in an endeavor to attain a lasting resolve. Kennedy’s inaugural address is imbued with rhetorical strategies to flatter and influence the emotions of the people through the use his strategic use of the rhetorical triangle without detracting from the truth and evidence expected from a national leader.

President Kennedy utilizes rhetorical appeals and a variety of figurative language to formally express his beliefs and goals in a strong and eloquent manner.

The first document JFK talks about on how he will move the country forward with him in place. The document included a lot of style and rhetorical devices. For example he used Anastrophe when he said “This much we pledge, and more” to emphasise his contribution with everyone else. John F. Kennedy was seen a president for the people and they appraised him for it. He uses lots of rhetorical devices to his message across. It makes him sound like a true president for the people as in he wants to help out the community rather than just to do business. One of the other examples in this document was when he states “and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.” was used as a metaphor. This example showed John F. Kennedy feelings to those who choose to side with a communist way of ruling a country. When he says this it’s very clear what side he is on. Aswell he uses it as a way to inform people that communist countries aren’t the way to go and there very dangerous. As

JFK uses repetition to demonstrate his points throughout his speech. He constantly reminds the American people that they are a united and strong country that can make it through anything. He also mentions that America can solve problems with their enemies using diplomacy several times. He begins four paragraphs in a row with the same words, “Let both sides”, to illustrate that he is willing to work things out with countries America is having problems with. The use of repetition helps Kennedy to convey his message to his audience. Long, powerful sentences occasionally to keep the formality of the speech and to convey important messages to his audience. The interchanging between the simple, short sentences and the long, eloquent sentences keeps the audience listening and wondering what he is going to say next.