John F. Kennedy’s inauguration speech, a speech that gave his plans for the next four years of presidency, and unified all american citizens under one idea. Fifty years later, writer Eleanor Clift published an essay about her beliefs which she meant to show how the united states as a whole failed to carry on JFK’s legacy. JFK’s inaugural speech was very hopeful and positive, while Clift’s essay, “Inside Kennedy’s Inauguration, 50 years on”, was very rueful and somber. Although their purposes and tones contrast, the way that they both use different rhetorical devices makes it so they share one comparison, they both speak to the same audience.…
John F Kennedy delivered one of the finest speeches on January 20, 1961 after being sworn into office. His inauguration speech was so powerful that it captured the entire nation attention, and quotes from it are still remembered by people today. It is one of the finest speeches ever written. It provides a strong appeal to pathos, ethos and logos, and it is because of this that people who never heard the speech can quote lines from it.…
Equally important, Kennedy effectively uses rhetorical devices such as parallelism, alliteration, and repetition in his Inaugural Address to successfully express his goal for his presidency. For example, Kenney uses parallelism in perhaps his most memorable line of his Inaugural Address, “Ask not what you can do for your country- ask what you can do for your country” (Kennedy). Through parallelism, John F. Kennedy dramatically symbolizes his entire speech into one sentence. By reversing the order of the sentences, the president challenges mankind to withhold personal desires and instead focus on the needs of others. By using parallelism, President Kennedy is able to keep his audience interested. For instance, the president illustrates “power…
In the summer of 1969, Edward M. Kennedy proposed a speech to the American citizens to “apologize” for his actions and unsuccessful attempt at trying to rescue his dear friend Mary Jo. On July 18th, Edward Kennedy, the current president, hosted an annual cookout on Chappaquiddick Island, inviting Kennedy campaign secretaries, one of them being Mary Jo Kopechne. Around 11:15 P.M., Edward offered to drive Mary Jo home, despite the “possible” alcoholic drinks he may have had. She accepted, and not soon after, Edward drove off a bridge into a lake, killing Mary Jo. While the events of the night ended tragically, Edward did have one advantage, saving him throughout all of this, his last name.…
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. 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…
President John F. Kennedy, in his news conference speech to the nation and steel company, appeals to a sense of community sacrifice and responsibility in an effort to establish his outrage of the rise in steel prices after the recession. Kennedy’s purpose is to address how action should be taken to provide the best interest of success for the United States. He adopts a sharp tone and includes very strong, clear diction which appeals to pathos on order to convey a sense of guilt or harshness that the steel companies are doing because of all the sacrifices the Americans have done.…
There is a young man sitting in front of the television staring into the eyes of the viewers before he glances down to start speaking. Edward Kennedy’s speaks on the tragedy that happened on July 18, 1969 on Chappaquiddick Island, that resulted in the death of a young woman named Mary Jo Kopechne. Mary Jo was a secretary of the late Robert Kennedy and was still working with the Kennedy family. He begins his speech to communicate that he has “entered a plea of guilty to the charge of leaving the scene of an accident.” (paragraph 1, line 2-3) This confession of the proceedings he has gone through is an example of Bitzer theory on exigence based on the fact that he is not only admitting his crime but stating that there are more proceedings to…
I was successful in detecting the purpose of the essay. I also did a good job of finding the literary and rhetorical terms. I struggled a little bit when it came to describing the reason why John F. Kennedy incorporated those rhetorical elements. I basically described the context of the sentence, not really the story as a whole. After finding out the purpose of the story from Mr. Nelsons perspective everything makes a lot more sense.…
During Kennedy’s speech, he addresses the audience of the news conference, and he tries to inform the public about the inflation of steel prices and the effect on the public because of it. Throughout President Kennedy’s speech about the rise of inflation on steel prices he puts all of the blame on the companies to attempt to make them feel sympathy. In Kennedy’s speech he first explains to the public how these companies are practically taking the money right out of the public’s pockets. President Kennedy explains this to the public by reporting “If this rise in the cost of steel is imitated by the rest of the industry, instead… it would increase the cost of homes, autos, appliances, and most other things for every American family”. Being…
The development of Robert F. Kennedy's argument to me is very effective. He actually really supports his claims and relates his life to what is happening. He uses good persuasion by putting out his brother's assassination and comparing his pain to the crowds pain, but he also talks about what MLK said to calm the crowd and that makes his speech more emotional because not only is he relating his life with what is happening, but he is also using MLK words and the things he fought for to persuade the audience. For example when he says "Martin Lither King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort."…
The speech often echoes the mood of the country at the time the speech is made. Kennedy decided to use two main elements in his speech; fear and hope. He intended for people to be hopeful for the future, but he also wants people to know they will have to work towards the future. He notes that this will not be easy to achieve, but it is attainable. Now in 2016, we have a new president-elect. Our president-elect’s speech, like Kennedy, will echo the issues of today’s world and today’s…
Ever since the establishment of America, great men have instilled wisdom to the future generations. Over the course of various time periods, different men of all backgrounds have come out to speak against the evils and injustices in society. Among these men include Martin Luther King, Jr., a Civil Rights Leader in the 1950s; John Fitzgerald Kennedy, president of the United States during the Cold War; and Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States during the Civil War. All three men have written scores of speeches concentrating on human equality and the rights of individuals. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and Abraham Lincoln suggest that mankind should live in unity because the cooperation between peoples will help a nation stand strong.…
Although John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address is one of the briefest documents in history, it perfectly describes what he plans to do in his time in being president. This speech goes over the period of the Cold War and other matters going on in the world in the early sixties. This was a period in which most Americans were worried about the planet, goals that need to be achieved to ensure the safety of the people of the U.S. and also the new technological advances that were being made. The United States was torn between racism in the 1960’s and Kennedy had to address that in his time in being the president. The Cold War was also at its peak during that time (Bragdon) and the people of the U.S. knew that Kennedy was a young and inexperienced president and were worried about how he was going to lead the nation in times of crisis.…
Despite extreme weather conditions the night before, on January 20th, 1961, John F. Kennedy gave his inaugural speech in Georgetown, Washington D.C. after a very close presidential race. JFK addressed a celebration of freedom, how the world was had changed, the survival and success of liberty, countries need to join together and work through differences; the obligation to help those less fortunate, even if not American citizens; and doing away with the suppression of slavery. John F. Kennedy addressed his presidential election as a day to celebrate freedom because it stood for a beginning of change. He said that the world was very different, that the current generation were heirs of the first revolution (2). And to let the word go out to all manner…
The moment John F. Kennedy died on November 22, 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson became the new president of the United States. Johnson was officially inaugurated the same day on Air Force One before take off in Dallas, Texas (Swanson 146). From that moment forward, it was Johnson’s responsibility to fill the shoes of Kennedy. Johnson spoke to the American people for the first time as President since the assassination and explained, “I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help - and God’s” (Swanson 158). President Johnson had filled the shoes of Kennedy by finishing what he had started and kept Kennedy’s legacy alive.…