John F. Kennedy is one of the nation’s most popular and recognizable presidents of the 20th century. Kennedy is most famous in his presidency for his powerful and inspiring speeches. His positive energy and young yet wise personality made him easy to listen to for all audiences. In fact, on January 20th, 1961 John F. Kennedy delivered one of the most remembered speeches of all time; his inaugural address. At a time of racial tensions, economic hardships, and lingering fears of war, he strived to bring comfort and confidence to the American people.
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In order to achieve this, Kennedy understood and addressed the need for dire changes to be made for the good of the country, through the involvement of the people. Therefore, Kennedy used many rhetorical devices and strategies to convince the citizens of the United States of America to become involved with their country, and begin to take the drastic steps needed to help their country become a firm, confident, and unified nation. With the power of effective speech and well used rhetoric devises, he accomplished this goal and brought hope and faith to a panicked America.
He used many different rhetoric devises such as appeal to pathos, parallelism, anaphora, and rhetoric questions that made his speech one of the most inspiring speeches of all time. Since it was a very emotional time for the American people, President Kennedy appealed to these emotions with the strong use of pathos in his speech. He did this in one way by showing religious faith and references to God, “And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe — the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God. (Kennedy).
He says this to get the attention of his audience away from political matters and to more positive matters of hope and faith. Kennedy also appealed to the people’s emotions saying in the beginning of his speech: “We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom — symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning — signifying renewal, as well as change. ” (Kennedy). Kennedy says this to reassure them of an end of the bad and a beginning of the good, which was very pleasing for the country to hear.
This is done effectively with the use of antithesis when he states“…end as well as a beginning” and also “…renewal, as well as change. ” President Kennedy very effectively used pathos in his inaugural speech, and ultimately grabbed the attention and hearts of his audience. JFK uses parallelism to create a rhythm that evokes his audience’s attention. He understood that in order to nudge the U. S. forward on the path towards unification, he would need to assure them that he would create a gratifying nation that they can preside in.
But, in order to arouse them, he would have to help his audience see that he was an accomplished and astute man, and he did this by using parallel structure. From the very beginning, JFK uses parallel structure by creating a list of verbs followed by a prepositional phrase. He states, “Born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness…” (Kennedy). Shortly following this list of parallel structure is another, “Pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, and oppose any foe…” (Kennedy).
All the parts in this list share the same grammatical format; a verb, the word any, and a noun. This gave his speech a more pleasing flow for his listeners and really helped things to stick. By using parallelism, Kennedy presented his purpose in a way, so as to attract the reader’s attention. The use of rhetorical questions is another one of the many devices that Kennedy uses to create his argument. These questions also act as a call to action by compelling the audience to desire to want to answer the question, and by sparking an interest in the audience’s mind to want to act on that desire. Kennedy uses two rhetorical questions.
An example would be, ”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? ” (Kennedy) This question is an exact example of JFK’s desire for the nation to become unified. When he mentions North, South, East, and West, he is illustrating how important each section of the United States is to the nation as a whole. If each section participates in the cause to unify the country, then the nation will become stronger than ever before. Directly following his first rhetorical question is another, “Will you join in that historic effort? (Kennedy)
This is a call to action. He directly asks his audience to combine efforts and join the movement towards unification. JFK did a great job engaging with his audience through rhetorical questions. Repetition, or anaphora, is one of the copious rhetorical devices that Kennedy uses in his speech. At one point, many of his lines began with “Let both sides…” which was then succeeded by a suggestion or warning. By using the repetition of this phrase, he was able to emphasize the need for each side of the nation to coalesce together. When these phrases are constantly repeated, the audience can better understand JFK’s purpose.
Kennedy uses repetition again, when he repeats the phrase “To those…” After this phrase he states a noun such as allies, new states, people, sister republics, world assembly, and nations. Each time he uses a different noun to introduce a new part of his argument. In one instance, he uses anaphora in an attempt to appeal to the patriotic emotions of his audience: “…we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends… we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. … we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required. (Kennedy).
Emphasizing “we pledge” shows the proudness and vigor he had for his country and also the importance for the nation to work together as one. The use of repetition kept an echo of the important words JFK wanted his audience to embrace and remember. Kennedy used repetition well to further demonstrate his purpose to unify the country. When reading JFK’s inaugural address, it is quite easy to notice his various uses of rhetorical devices and strategies. He appealed to the wants and needs of his country and addressed them in such a way, so as to sway the nation towards becoming more as one.
His strong tone confident stature made him a leader American really wanted to listen too. People will always remember one of his most famous quotes from his speech: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. ” (Kennedy). The impact his speech made that day is truly changed people perspectives, outlooks on the future, and overall lives in general. Through the use of many strategies and devices, he was able to actualize his purpose and win the hearts of the American people, making his inaugural address one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century.
