Kennedy's Inaugural Address Analysis

Improved Essays
Although 100 years apart, both Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy helped to heal a divided nation through moving and inspiring speeches that vigorously employed literary devices. Lincoln grew up in the country, with nothing more than a second-grade education to carry him through, having to make his own way in life; Kennedy grew up as the son of a rich stockbroker and politician private schools before attending Harvard and traveling the world, and yet, they both became two of the best presidents this country has seen. Through the use of rhetorical devices, such as antithesis, restatement, parallelism, similes and metaphors, in Lincoln 's “Second Inaugural Address” and John.F. Kennedy 's “Inaugural speech”, these men helped to reunite a divided …show more content…
Parallelism is where the grammatical structure of a phrase repeats itself, such as where Lincoln writes in his “Second Inaugural Address”, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right…”, where he repeats the structure of the first phrase three times, or in Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address” where he says, “...will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1000 days, nor the life of this administration, nor in our lifetime on this planet.” Repeating the grammatical structure as well as the word “nor” help to convey a more powerful message. More often than not, sentences which contain anthesis also contain parallelism. For example, in Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address” he says, “United, there is little we can’t do, divided there is little we can do.”, he repeats the grammatical structure, however, he changes the ideas in each part of the sentence. Lincoln uses a similar technique in his “Second Inaugural Address” where he states, “ ...devoted altogether to saving the union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war…”. He uses antithesis to compare the two sides of the war, both with different hopes on the outcome of the war, however he uses parallelism to give the statement better flow. Some other examples of antithesis used in these speeches also include this example from Kennedy’s “Inaugural address”, “...Abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life”, obviously two completely different ideas. Lincoln also uses it again in his “Second Inaugural Address”, contradicting himself by saying “With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Jfk Ethos Pathos Logos

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In John F. Kennedy's speech on April 11, 1962, he asserts that the American people have been wronged by the actions of the nation's largest steel companies and he explains why this action was unnecessary and harmful. John F. Kennedy used the rhetorical strategies of anaphora in the beginning, then logos in the middle, and finally appeals to the authority of the United States government at the end of his speech. Kennedy is writing this in order to express his outrage and comfort the American people. His intended audience is the American people. He begins by using anaphora while describing the entire nation.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    President John F. Kennedy's Speech As the United States was emerging from recession, President John F. Kennedy held a news conference to articulate the involvement of steel corporations and their effect on stable prices and wages. As stated by Kennedy, citizens of America were told they have a right to expect “a higher sense of business responsibility” (103-105) for their country. To enhance his ideas for America’s steel prices, Kennedy uses a variety of rhetorical strategies including: repetition and formal diction, an allusion towards his earlier speech, and using forlorn facts to ridicule steel corporations. In order to articulate his need for stable prices and wages, Kennedy uses repetition and statistics to convey a logical viewpoint for the reader, while using formal diction and long syntax to establish credibility.…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Additionally, the obstinacy of humans refuses to change their plans and most importantly, their values that they preserved their whole life. As presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln supported similar ideas for their nation. The style in Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address” and Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” effectively outlines their intentions as President of the United States. The ideas in their inaugural speeches focus on changing the way people think of them and bringing the nation together. The similarities in their speeches fight the obstinacy of the people and bring them together as a nation.…

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kennedy uses many archaic words to add eloquence to his speech and create a presidential persona, which enhances his credibility. For example, he explains that he wants every nation to know that “we shall pay any price, bear any burden…oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” By using the archaic words “shall” and “foe,” he appears more educated and creates a formal tone. If he had chosen to use more commonly used words, such as “will” and “enemy,” his speech would not have been as effective in establishing him as a wise and refined man. 4.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    President Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address in a completely different way than the country had expected. The citizens of the United States were prepared to hear his views on politics, abolishing slavery and overall states’ rights. Instead of confirming the predictions, President Lincoln shared his thoughts on the Civil War and how our country would be changed from it, along with how he wanted to improve the country throughout his presidency. Lincoln captured the ears of his people through rhetorical devices such as allusion, inclusive diction and consequential foreshadowing.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    American president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, in his inaugural address, expressed his perspective about the ideal future of The United States. In the speech, JFK not only reflects on the characteristics of the times but also shows the permanent core value of America, which is the pursuit of freedom and human rights. In order to persuade his American philosophy supporter audience, JFK argues his idea by using repetition and rhetorical question. Repetition is an instance of using a word, phrase, or clause more than once in a short passage--dwelling on a point. Used deliberately, repetition can be an effective rhetorical strategy for achieving emphasis.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In doing so he states, “We are also convinced that nonviolence is more powerful than violence. Nonviolence supports you if you have a just and moral cause. Nonviolence provides the opportunity to stay on the offensive, and that is of crucial importance to win any contest.” By using antithesis repetition you better understand the differences between violence and nonviolence. If you choose to stay on the offensive, you state what you think is wrong, and you protest for what is…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    His use of juxtaposition strengthens the similarities between good and evil. Characteristically, the argument…

    • 1393 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Kennedy piece went from just the simple bland explanation of how he used metaphors and such to a piece that had a bigger purpose. This was all because of my change of tone I made it just as much about us a nation as the rhetoric and Kennedy’s purpose. I did a similar strategy to the George Washington synthesis I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just a boring analytical essay but in fact was one with a little oomph and patriotism to it because it is about the legacy of our founding father. Adding we the people and our nation and speaking more on the patriotic values in both pieces let me add that tone, in turn helping me change the audience to my fellow Americans and also change the outlook of the entire piece from boing to soring. I really appreciate my ability to manipulate tone because it makes a world of difference on both of my…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered a powerful and moving Inaugural Address to thousands of people across the nation. The Cold War, which divided the globe, was a leading topic from the start of the 1960 election. The United States and the Soviet Union alike threatened each other with nuclear weapons as they raced for power. People all over the world feared of intentional as well as accidental mass destruction from those nuclear weapons. President Kennedy knew people were afraid of what the nuclear age would bring and that division was a global problem, so by using compelling diction as well as anaphora, he hoped to inspire the nation to bring peace and unity during the nuclear age.…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Within the speech he suggested to the American people to “let us begin.” By alluding to Kennedy’s speech he is able to shift into his own political agenda by stating “let us continue.” Now using the appeal of ethos, he once again uses the technique of anaphora to tell the American people “not to hesitate, not to pause.” Using the credibility of a once loved President, allows for Kennedy’s supporters to also support Johnson. This contrasts to the end of the section where he tells the American people “to act wisely, to act vigorously, to act speedily. . .”…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Another example of this is when the author writes “Decline” in the first line to show neutrality when he could have written a word that is more hateful like “Reject”, this helps the author gain support from the readers to show that they were weighing both argument and that the other side of the argument isn’t wrong for believing what they do. Another example is the choice of the word “Therefore” in the first line to build on the formal tone. A forth example is the word “Joust” in the second sentence that builds a formal tone when he could’ve just written competition instead. One last example of this is the word…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    President Kennedy’s inauguration speech came at a time when the future of America was unclear. All three speeches showed Americans how to be strong and gave people hope. The avid use of rhetorical devices is why these speeches are so impactful. Rhetorical devices are techniques that an author uses to have…

    • 1745 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    American Politician from Massachusetts, Robert F. Kennedy, spoke in honor of the assassinated Martin Luther King Junior. Kennedy’s goal was to talk to American citizens about not letting this turn into violence against whites and blacks. When speaking, he created a tone of persuasion. He is trying to talk mainly towards the black US citizens to move beyond this assassination of a black man by a white man. His motive, is to keep this nation moving forward.…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the climax of the Cold War, newly elected United States president, John F. Kennedy, delivered his inaugural address and presented his political agenda for the upcoming years as president. Kennedy’s purpose in his inaugural address is to unite nations and peoples across world to promote worldwide peace and international security. To achieve his purpose and inspire the audience, Kennedy employed a variety of rhetorical strategies. Throughout his speech, Kennedy uses juxtaposition to develop his claims and ideas while refuting opposing ideas.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays