JFK Rhetorical Analysis

JFK Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis The inaugural address ceremony is an expounding moment in a president’s career and no one knew this better than John F. Kennedy as he prepared for his inauguration on January 20, 1961. It is very vital that when a new president is inaugurated, he gives a marvelous inaugural address. This is the moment that he can attain the trust of the other half of the nation that did not vote for him. President John F. Kennedy must have understood this because his inaugural address was astonishing. He wanted his address to be short and clear, devoid of any partisan rhetoric, and focused on foreign policy. In his address, he expresses the type of nation that he believes America should be. There are many examples of rhetorical devices used in JFK’s inaugural address. He uses parallelism and repetition to make sure his speech resonated with his targeted audience, Alliteration to set a mood. Anaphora triggers an emotional response from the audience. In section one of Kennedy’s speech, he starts using parallelism. “We observe today not a victory of the party but a celebration of freedom ..symbolizing an end as well as a beginning ..signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.” Kennedy is trying to convey to his audience that his inauguration should be considered a symbol of freedom rather than a symbol of victory, “..symbolizing an end as well as a beginning ..signifying renewal as well as change.” Occasionally, people don’t like change, but contiguous change with renewal, makes the change seem enticing. In section two Kennedy continues to use parallelism, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, 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.” This sentence is influential. Preferably rather than just saying that America will ‘do anything,’ he actually lists all the things that America is ready to do. By using Parallelism like this over and over Kennedy is able to use it persuasively. In my opinion, the most meaningful part of his speech would have to be the last few paragraphs. Kennedy uses more parallelism stating, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” and then, “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.” Kennedy was challenging every American to contribute in some way to the public good. Knowing what Kennedy was saying makes this portion of the speech more appealing because it is not just what Kennedy stated in his address that made it so convincing, it was how he stated everything. A very common rhetorical device used in Kennedy’s speech is repetition. Kennedy doesn’t repeat ideas and concepts as much as he repeats specific words. In the first half of his speech, every single paragraph starts with the phrase, “to”, or “to those.” For example, “To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder” and “To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support-to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective--to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak--and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.” He addresses almost everything that there is to address. Old allies, new states, people in misery, republics south. By starting all his paragraphs with the same words, the audience is more likely to pay attention to what he is expressing. Two other common rhetorical device used in Kennedy's speech is the use of Alliteration and Anaphora. Kennedy used the rhetorical device, alliteration in his inaugural speech to help build the persuasiveness of his message. For example Kennedy used alliteration when he said, “same solemn.” This enhances the impact of the speech by creating a rhythm. For example, the “s” sound in “same solemn” sort of makes you form a tongue twister when saying the two words. Moreover, the way alliteration was used in his speech, establishes a mood. By setting the mood, the readers feelings are evoked, whereas their emotions will be based off of their perception of the speech. The mood of this speech was strong and compassionate. Kennedy used Anaphora to trigger an emotional response from the audience. He gives the audience a feeling of security under his authority, as he wants to “Let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.” Kennedy wanted to certify the people of this nation that by being a unified whole we can be stronger and use that strength to help others. By using anaphora in this section of the speech, he creates a sense of unity amongst not only Americans, however, between the world. John F. Kennedy was an admirable president. He established the peace corps, got the United States out of recession, and even helped avoid nuclear war. However, his great reign as President of the United States of America all started with his inauguration address. In this address he utilizes four main rhetorical strategies: parallelism, repetition, Alliteration and Anaphora. By using these four strategies, Kennedy was able to construct a persuasive essay that persuaded the majority of the nation to respect him as the new president.