...In the height of the Cold War, the newly elected president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, had come to up the eastern portico of the US capitol in Washington DC on a cold January afternoon to deliver his first address in presidency about his plans and goals for the future of the United States. He announced his plan to relieve political tensions with enemies, and improve the way that America was headed for. All of America was listening in on Kennedy’s words, as well as people across the world. President Kennedy, through the use of rhetoric and diction, had one of the most well-constructed, influential, and important speeches ever given. As a result of the anxiety amongst the American population because of the Cold War, Kennedy used many action words...
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...this day although some have been altered to better fit modern day. Despite an uneasy relationship with Congress, President Kennedy managed to get parts of his domestic agenda passed. Kennedy mentioned in his inaugural address that citizens should get involved and take an active role in making the nation better. He exclaimed, “ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.” When President Kennedy entered the office, he set out to implement a legislative agenda that became known as the New Frontier. He strived to increase aid to education, provide health insurance to the elderly, and create a Department of Urban Affairs. He would soon figure out that transforming his ideas into real legislation was a difficult task on Capitol Hill. Even though the Democrats had majorities in both houses, it was hard for Kennedy to push his programs. In an effort to...
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...Inauguration Speeches are a custom that has existed since the very first inauguration featuring the United States first president, George Washington. During Washington’s second inauguration, after his re-election, Washington gave the shortest Inaugural address on record. This address was just 135 words. Nonetheless, every president since Washington has delivered an Inaugural address. The purpose of this address is for presidents to present their vision of the country (United States) and to set forth their goals for the nation. With that being said, this paper will use the strategy of genre analysis to critique to examine Barack Obama’s second Inaugural Address and John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech. Genre analysis is a type of rhetorical analysis that examines speeches based on the artifacts or commonalities that contain. The artifacts of speech are created by the rhetor as a response to a specific exigency. So as Bitzer’s essay, The Rhetorical Situation, saw it, in order for a text to be rhetorical, it must come in response to a rhetorical situation. Furthermore a rhetorical situation has three characteristics, an audience, an existence of constraints, and as mentioned above, an exigency. One manner, in which we can analyze an artifact, is through...
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...Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy were very strong American leaders in the 1900s. They both delivered strong, compelling speeches during their presidencies, that were especially important . In both Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech, and Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, the world is in an unstable state, and a fight for freedom is being waged. In Roosevelt’s speech however, the words spoken are meant to bring people together to fight against a common enemy, it is a call to arms, whereas Kennedy’s speech is meant to promote peace between the countries of the world, and to unite Americans. As with most presidents, the ideas of freedom are similar in both of the speeches, the freedoms that need protecting are the ones given at birth. These speeches were...
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...Ashley Freeman Dr. Earnest United States History II 1302 December 3, 2013 Analyzing John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address Even though we are not sure if John F. Kennedy wrote his own speeches or not, what we can tell from his Inaugural Address, is that the person was well educated and was definitely a political individual. At first, the audience was just the citizens that had ended up showing up for the speech and the ones who watched the address on the television, but then he starts his speech. He was not just talking to everyone in America but also everyone in the world. In the address, President Kennedy talks about the conflict with Russia and weapons during his speech. This speech was written because John wanted other countries, mainly Russia, what to expect with his years while he was a president. The key points of his speech had a lot to do with the growing troubles that the country was having with Russia. John F. Kennedy talked about how he did not only want to help people who lived in America but also the ones over the sea, who had wanted to get rid of the iron tyranny that plague their colonies. He then talks to Mexico, saying how he wanted to help set them free of poverty and that we would always have an alliance for the progress. Not only did President Kennedy support the United Nations, he wanted to renew our support. After that, he goes on to talk about how the countries that were against the United States and others, should take a pledge for peace, instead of...
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...On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy gave one of the most memorable speeches when he gave his inaugural address. That day, the people of the United States observed him in person, as well as on television. This speech’s goal was to persuade Americans to be active in their country. The address was so influential, people still remember quotes from it today. Kennedy appealed to a large amount of people through the use of ethos, pathos, and logos. In addition, he created a certain compelling rhythm by including parallelism throughout his speech. Kennedy’s inaugural speech assured and convinced citizens, and in return made them realize that with a new president comes a new beginning. One of the devices Kennedy used that assisted in persuading citizens through his structure is parallelism. During his speech, he created a flowing tempo in which presented that each topic was extremely important. For example, to emphasize how significant pledging the country's loyalty is, Kennedy opened each concerning paragraph with “to those.” By doing this, he created a large scale, parallel structure. On a smaller stance, Kennedy states, “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate” (3). Therefore, he produced an unforgettable quote by simply using...
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...Within the four writings, John Kennedy’s inaugural speech ranks second and he deserves a bonus of $1500. Kennedy’s central point is that as Americans or citizens of any country all over the world, it is imperative the we cooperate and move forward to improve the condition of ourselves and others. Similar to Levin, Kennedy uses multiple awesome rhetorical devices, including: enumeration, polysyndeton, and chiasmus. Kennedy’s rhetoric ranks above Levin’s in quality though. In paragraph twenty-five, for example, Kennedy gives one of the most famous quotes in U.S. history: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” A patriotic tone is emphasized by this chiasmus. Kennedy implies that as U.S. citizens, we should not look to our country to provide for us, rather we should do all we can as individuals to help our country continue to thrive....
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...(Kennedy 84-87) This gives an implication that it is Kennedy and the citizens of the United States against these steel companies, as Kennedy makes it sound like the worker led union and the government are together in this cause. He is trying to be perceived as a leader in a fight that him and his audience are taking together. Kennedy, using his credentials and by allying with his audience, gains the respect of the average American citizen. Kennedy also heavily focuses to convince his audience using logos. In the second and third paragraphs, which is used mainly to incite feelings, Kennedy logically presents that the current time is not suitable for increasing costs: citing the Vietnam War, wage losses, and international affairs. But Kennedy’s main evidence is the numerous facts he uses in the main body of his speech. He quotes his Secretary of War, saying the price hike on steel would cause “an estimated one billion dollars to the cost of our defenders” (Kennedy 33-34) and arguing that it that would make it harder on the US government to ensure the safety of Americans and their allies while also helping the economy. Kennedy also quotes Acting Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor, “Employment costs per unit of steel output in 1961 were essentially the same as they were in 1958” (Kennedy 60-61) and the Wall Street Journal, “The industry’s cash dividends have exceeded 600 million dollars in each of the last five years” (Kennedy 69-71) as potent evidence that the reason for increased...
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...In 1961, President John F. Kennedy made his Inaugural Address asserting that greatness is achievable when America works collectively. Kennedy uses his confidence to present his ideas of a perfect, united country. He then reassures the American people that he will make America his priority by making realistic promises that guarantee protection. He makes bold statements in order to inspire the American people to affiliate with other countries for great improvements to technology and foreign relationships. Kennedy directs his message to a vast group of hopeful people around the world by using a positive tone to maintain the ideas of peace, freedom, and unity. Kennedy references the conflict between America and the Soviet Union by acknowledging man’s ability to choose how to change the world. “For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” People must recognize that they can either benefit or destroy someone's life, but it is their choice on how to enact that responsibility. The reference towards the goal of helping all people in underprivileged neighborhoods represents the righteous power of the people, but the possession of powerful, nuclear weapons symbolize the corrupt power of nations...
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...Abraham Lincoln confidently addresses the people of America in an attempt to unify and reconstruct The United States after the Civil War through his second Inaugural Address. Lincoln creatively and tactfully assaults the topics of reunification and reconstruction by selectively introducing new ideas and claims then providing large amounts of reason to support them. He uses his specific, detailed, unique strategy in order to create an effective and powerful speech for the public. Lincoln uses a vast variety of sentence structure to maximize the effectiveness of his claims throughout his argument. His syntax differs between simple, compound, and a fairly large amount of complex sentences. He creatively inserts numerous simple sentences in unexpected places throughout his speech to provide extra emphasis on the point of reunification....
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...April 23, 2010 Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address In an attempt to garner sympathy and cooperation, for the sake of progress in southern reconstruction, from both sides of the former front, Lincoln first uses passive word choice and language, and then uses biblical allusions to conjure a moralistic tone. Initially, Lincoln's language and word choice do not appear to be antagonizing. Lincoln's statement: “All dreaded it-all sought to avert it,” referring to the “impending civil war,” avoids placing definite blame on the south. By speaking in this manor, Lincoln firmly asserts his belief that the south had no intention of bloodshed, partially relieving the conscience of many southern citizens. However, Lincoln's word choice shifts to a defensive stance. The shift can be seen when Lincoln says, “Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive.” Again, Lincoln casts aside all blame of bloodlust, but he also casts blame away from the union. His mixed language here is meant to invoke a feeling of acceptance in citizens rather than antagonizing them. Before Lincoln begins making allusions, he defends the original intent of the government, “... claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it...” It refers to slavery, and Lincoln's language serves to point out the south's own childishness in a passive, dismissing...
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...Cuba. For example, “foreign policy novice the tycoon will face far graver international question” travel issues with Cuba go back to the war that John Kennedy almost started. This ties in with my book because it shows that Cuba has hated America for a long time. Like in the start of President Kennedy's term Russia is still expanding. “Russia juggles a shrinking economy, an...
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...The inaugural address, was not Kennedy's best speech. That honor goes to his American University commencement address, June 10 1963, which he called, as no American president or other western leader had ever called, for a re-examination of the cold war, a re-examination of our country's relations with Russia, and a re-examination of the meaning of peace. Before that challenge to his country was out, the new president declared a suspension of American nuclear testing in the atmosphere. The inaugural may not even have been Kennedy's most important speech historically, in terms of its impact on our planet. That description belongs to his televised address of October 22, 1962, which revealed to the world the secret presence of Soviet intermediate-range...
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...The Inaugural Address is the most important speech in a president’s career, meaning that whatever the president discusses is going to be remembered and referred back to by the citizens. In John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, the hopes and aspirations of the country are included to remind America as well as other countries that change can occur at any given moment. The Inaugural Address was meant to serve as a model that progress can be made if the citizens are able to work with each other and that unity is what keeps a nation strong. The significance of JFK’s speech was the fact of how much hope and belief was being directed to the country as a whole, but also to the citizens individually. Throughout the speech, Kennedy expresses a strong, prideful tone. In the speech, Kennedy uses paradoxes, symbolism, and metaphors to convey the belief that no matter how the odds may look, America is united....
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...An Effort Closer to A Better Country “The Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy is considered one of the greatest speeches in twentieth-century American public address,” says Sara Ann Mehltretter from Penn State University. The 1960s was an important time during American history. In John F. Kennedy’s Inauguration Address, he used ethos, pathos and logos, to grab the audience’s full attention about the worries of communism and nuclear warfare. Historical Background During the early 1950s, the Korean War is taking place. The current president ordered makings of hydrogen bombs. In 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American, refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. Which caused a boycott, that lead to bus segregations being unconstitutional by The Federal Court. The time of the election of John F. Kennedy as president, the 1950s were known by an unpleasant tension that was ongoing between the United States and the Soviet Union, historically known as The Cold War. The Cold War...
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