John F. Kennedy’s inauguration speech was considered one of the most inspirational speeches in American history. He gave the speech to bolster the fighting spirit and act as an inspiration for the Americans. The reason for this is quite simple actually. He used stylistic devices extensively in his speech to boldly proclaim his intentions. He has proven himself resourceful in his usage of stylistic devices such as antithesis, parallelism, pathos, and ethos. He uses them to fully express his message and to gain the attention and the support of his people in a patriotic fashion. One of the examples of his use of antithesis is when Kennedy is referring to “a new generation of Americans” where he vividly shows the separation between the old and …show more content…
As well as, “signifies renewal as well as change….” for the same reasons as stated previously. This antithesis is used to band the new and the old breed together, and help them work together to achieve Kennedy’s ambition of creating the perfect nation, where his people would be united with brotherhood under one purpose, seeing themselves as equal beings, setting their differences aside and this would prepare them for the challenges the Americans would face in the future. All of this was done by his effective use of antithesis which is one of the reasons why this speech was so revered as one of the most powerful and patriotic speeches. Whether his cause was for the best is another story however. Now, we talk about his effective uses of the older methods of public speaking. More specifically, pathos and ethos. He uses ethos in the lines where he says “explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.”In Kennedy’s background, it was known that he was a zealous follower of Christianity and this is evident when he cites God and the Bible in some of his lines. This was done to fabricate an imagery of his personal character and that to show he was just as zealous of supporting the nation as he is zealous into following his …show more content…
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
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.
There are many things that a speech must contain to make it a well written and spoken speech. John F. Kennedy 's speech he gave on September 12th 1962, titled “Address at Rice University on the Nation 's Space Efforts”, better known as “We Choose to go to the Moon” contains many of the important factors of a successful speech. Kennedy used rhetorical strategies and skills to help him influence the American people to help accomplish the major goal of reaching the moon. Kennedy did not only want to reach the moon, but he wanted to be the first country to do so. President Kennedy effectively told the objective he found important by using ethos, pathos and kairos throughout his speech to help get the support of the people. By using these three rhetorical strategies Kennedy gave a moving speech.
Throughout Kennedy’s speech you can see many different types of these devices first off, I would like to bring your attention to parallelism. The definition of Parallelism is “Uses of words or phrases in a similar structure”. In his speech he come right out of the gate in the first 5-6 paragraphs and begins to show this. For example on Page (283) Kennedy says, “To those who old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty for old faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of co-operative (SAS) ventures. Divided, there is little we can do, for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder”. Furthermore he then directly goes into his next statement by saying “To those”. I also think that one of the man reasons his speech captivated not only America's people but many other nations, was due to how he connected with the audience.
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.
This previous knowledge and image of JFK builds up his ethos before the address was even given. The speech has many quotes that are still well remembered and hold a deep impact in many American lives today. Most notably was the qoute, “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”(JFK Library). This quote is a prime example of how JFK bridges appeals, pathos and logos, it creates a middle ground and commonality between JFK and the citizens. Also the sense of patriotism brought from this quote is a great example of pathos.
Kennedy's speech so successful was his use of Anaphora. By using anaphora he made sure to repeat common words to not only keep the attention of the crowd, but to also emphasize the point he was trying to get across. An example of Anaphora can be found in the eleventh paragraph of Kennedy’s speech, “We will have difficult times. We’ve had difficult times in the past, but we -- and we will have difficult times in the future.” His use of the word “difficult” shows that there will never be a time without a struggle and the public should become comfortable with struggles and that it is nothing that as a united nation we can not overcome.
One of the most influential presidents in United States history, John F. Kennedy was a brilliant politician and public speaker. In his inaugural address, he sparked hope around the world by discussing the hardships faced by all of society in the present time and then leaving them with a message of freedom, power, and hope. This measure of impact is not achieved easily; Kennedy masterfully utilized the art of rhetoric to emphasize his message and win the hearts of his people. In the middle of the speech, he discusses the dangers of the modern world and his drive toward international peace and cooperation. These messages are stressed through his use of charismatic language to signify his vision of a new and better world.
In John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech, he worked on persuading audience or listeners for the idea which is American should do anything that should be done to assure the survival and the success of liberty. In his mind, American should hold their liberty forever, further guarantee other country freedom. Kennedy really used a lot of rhetorical strategies in his speech. Of course, he used those strategies successfully. One of the rhetorical devices he used was antithesis. Another rhetorical device that I found out was metaphor which is a good way to create a good image, further, make audience believed in his mind.
For instance, parallelism such as the statement, “whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, hear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe,” gives flavor to the speech by pointing out opposite words within a single sentence but still making it work. A few antimetaboles are used in the speech, such as “let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate” and “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” make the speech more effective by twisting around the order of the words, or syntax, to get people to realize a point. Additionally, what makes Kennedy’s speech so effective is that he can transition from a simple sentence to a more complex, meaningful one in a matter of lines of the speech. In accordance to the diction, the words in his speech (freedom, poverty, devotion, and loyalty) are considered abstract. This is because they all convey a tone of desire and significant qualities held by friends. They strengthen and add more feeling to the speech as well. However, the archaic words, such as writ and forebears, are used in a manner to bring in the old language as well as the new, therefore there is sophistication as well as understanding. Kennedy also uses juxtaposition when he says, “peaceful revolution,” and this adds spice to the speech because of the contradiction of the two powerful words. Yet
On snowy, freezing cold January morning in 1961, five hundred thousand people lined Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. The temperature was only twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit and eight inches of snow blanketed the ground in the American capitol that morning, causing even more traffic than usual, but that didn’t stop these hundreds of thousands of people from attending John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s inauguration ceremony. Little did they know, they would be hearing one of the most famous and memorable speeches of all time. Out of all forty five presidents, the inaugural address that American citizens would remember more than all the rest was that of John F. Kennedy. But what made it so memorable? After all, each president has given at least one, sometimes even two or more, inaugural address. Kennedy’s speech was neither the most elaborate nor the longest; it had one thousand three hundred and sixty four words and took thirteen minutes and fifty five seconds to read and it used relatively simple language. The importance of the address laid not in the length or the intricacy, but in the theme and the rhetoric. With figurative language, themes of unity and freedom, and appeal to Ethos, Logos, and Pathos, Kennedy’s address became not only one of the most memorable inaugural addresses, but one of the most memorable speeches of all time.
In this, Kennedy has two ideas that are seemingly different but he makes the point that him being elected is ending what was set before this day but on this day there is opportunity for a new start. The quote "Not because... not because... but because... " is also a form of antithesis because he once again using two conflicting ideas side by side.
Kennedy begins his speech expressing how “the world is very different” from what it used to be. He uses multiple rhetorical strategies that express and describe how he is going to lead their “very different” country by providing his audience with a sense of community. For example, Kennedy applies juxtaposition to his phrase, “United there is little we cannot do… Divided there is little we can do…” to compare what America can and can’t do when everyone is united. During the time when Kennedy was elected president, the Cold War was at peak of its period. He bravely announced that “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty,” using the rhetorical strategy asyndeton. He uses this particular mechanism to attract his audience and give emphasis to the ideas he wants to communicate. He starts the phrase off with “we,” as he wishes to convey to his listeners that we are going to pay any price, that we are going to bear any burden, that
JFK had many great speeches, the biggest and best arguably being his Inaugural Address. If you think that giving a speech to gather followers is easy, you’re wrong. It is an art, there are many trick to it. Some people have mastered this, and JFK has mastered this by using the ethos of ethos a lot in his speeches. The idea of teamwork is a common theme to him.
In his speech, JFK utilizes a considerate amount of diction to motivate and encourage solidarity in the midst of a separated America. Expressions, for example, “we observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom,” and “our forbearers” make a strengthened, sentiment unification. (Kennedy 1). The particular words
Similarly, Robert Kennedy’s speech also concerns with the assassination of a great man – civil activist Martin Luther King. In his speech, Kennedy, as in Mark Antony’s eulogy, also uses repetition, especially anaphora, to augment and stress the purpose of his speech – that peace and solidarity, instead of anger and division, should be the response to such a devastating event. In his speech, he describes the appropriate course of action in response the recent assassination, “What we need in the United States is not division;” urges Kennedy, “what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and