Kennedy's Inaugural Speech

Superior Essays
In 1946 George Orwell wrote, ”Politics and the English Language," the essay explains the relationships between bad writing and bad thinking as well as the political effects. According to Orwell, Modern English and especially written English are full of bad habits; As a result, people imitate each other, and the bad habits spread. Orwell argues that by following the rules he presented people will stop the tendency of writing or speaking bad English. One person that follows these rules is John F. Kennedy. In 1961, John F. Kennedy, who was the United States 35th president, presented his inaugural speech. President Kennedy's inaugural speech is said to be one of the best speeches made. During his inaugural speech, he was not only talking to the people of the United States but the people of the world. He was facing numerous of issues including segregation, Cold War, and conflicts with communist countries. He did a marvelous job in telling people of the world what needs to be done and what will be done. Because John F. Kennedy speech was similar to …show more content…
In Kennedy's speech, he was straight to the point didn't use excessive words to really get his point. For instance, Kennedy says "For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life." Kennedy was straight to the point didn't try to add extra verbs or nouns he practically stated mankind has the ability to end poverty and the human race. Someone that was not to the point and adding unnecessary words would have said " the human race can play a leading part in ending all sorts of evil and happiness." This sentence is very vague and doesn't get to the point. Words in the sentence can be taken out and replaced with just a single verb. However, Kennedy said specific things mankind can do and didn't need to cut out any words because he moved towards what a man’s hand can

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Throughout his speech, Kennedy utilizes parallelism in order to better convey his points. In multiple sentences in his speech, Kennedy places his ideas in a parallel structure in order to emphasize what he thinks is most important.…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    On January 20th, 1961, war veteran, Pulitzer prize winner, and thirty-fifth president of the United States of America, John Fitzgerald Kennedy gave his Inaugural Address. An inaugural address is a combination between a ceremony where the new president is inducted into office and their first speech to the people as president. The first speech is supposed to inform the people of their intentions as a leader of the country. Kennedy’s speech was filled with strong and poetic but also simple language with a resemblance to President Lincoln. His words followed a theme of unity and peace but also self-defense.…

    • 1940 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout Kennedy’s speech, he appeals to our emotions through charged language, which gives a sense of urgency regarding the situation, and how integral unity is to the survival of humanity. One example of emotional language is when Kennedy says, “...bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations” (285). Through the use of words with strong, negative connotations in this quote, such as, “absolute power to destroy other nations”, he evokes a sense of uneasiness and concern in the listener; persuading the listener to follow Kennedy’s advice. Kennedy also appeals to the listener’s emotions through restatement; where he expresses similar ideas in different words. One example of this is when he says, “Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce” (285).…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 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

    Rhetorical Analysis of Lincoln and Kennedy Speeches Political speeches have produced some of the most organized, articulated, and aesthetic language throughout history. In their first and second inaugural addresses respectively, John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln presented to the country a beautiful collection of lines, many of them still remembered to this day. These artfully written speeches were not written in such style on accident, as the mastery of syntax, diction, and trope are used to effectively win over an audience. Both Kennedy and Lincoln unify and reassure the citizens of the United States by mastering these components of rhetoric and appealing to the society of their respective times. While both Kennedy and Lincoln speak for…

    • 1601 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In January of 1961, John F. Kennedy was elected to be the president of the United States. He expressed his ambition and pride for the future of the American people and the people across the globe as well. The audiecmce is feeling hopeful and thought provoked by Kennedy with his appeal to logic and emotion throughout his address. He calls to action the American pwople on many topics furthering his expression of pride. The purpose of his address was to renew the American spirit and bring about a collective unity among America while he is in office.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    12). Kennedy’s use of dramatic metaphors lend the audience a visual to the abstract concepts that help individuals understand the restrictive “chains of poverty” (para 10) and unrelenting “bonds of mass misery” (para 9) people around the world must face everyday. He directs the speech toward those people living in poverty, struggling to survive, offering them hope and a promise that America will help to the best of their abilities “because it is right” (para. 9), building his integrity. Kennedy reassures Americans on their decision of making him their new president, which is crucial in persuading the audience in being proactive against restrictors of democracy and liberty to meet the goal of ridding “iron tyranny” (para.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The inaugural speech by John F Kennedy, who sworn in as the President of America on 20th January 1961, is considered a best example of speech which used rhetorical strategy to effectively address the feelings of the audience (Tofel, p6). In this essay, it is discussed in detail the rhetorical strategies used by Kennedy to achieve his purpose. The purpose of this essay is to examine how the diction and syntax in the speech served the purpose of the speaker, enriched the text and affected the feelings of the audience. There are four sections for this paper. In the next section, the features of the speech are discussed.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Kennedy used many different rhetorical techniques in order to explain his political beliefs and views on the current state of the world, which in turns motivated others to join his mission to better the world, then and…

    • 1799 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    John F. Kennedy was president from 1961 to 1963, in the height of the Cold War. During his presidency, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, which was the closet that the United States and Soviet Union ever came to war. Less than a year after this event, in 1963 President Kennedy gave an impassioned commencement speech at American University. His speech was not filled with inflammatory rhetoric, like calling the Soviet Union an “evil empire” as Ronald Reagan famously would. His speech instead, called for peace, disarmament, and cooperation between the two countries.…

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    On June 11, 1963, John F. Kennedy delivered the “Civil Rights Address” from the Oval Office to a camera placed in front of his desk. Americans around the country turned on their televisions to see their President deliver a powerful message about equal rights. Loaded with repetition, imagery, the use of first person pronouns, and occasional shifts in paragraph lengths enabled Kennedy to convey his message of persuasion through logos. John F. Kennedy, a Harvard graduate, adored president, and charming man, effectively used logos in the “Civil Rights Address” in efforts to persuade American people to stop prejudice against black Americans. Statistics Kennedy utilized deeply impacted the nation as a whole.…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kennedy utilized pathos throughout his speech by evoking patriotism to elicit the emotions of his audience and by portraying his personal views. The exploitation of pathos within the speech was one aspect that had formulated the legacy he has departed from. For instance, when he encourages the nations to work together to strive for a democracy rather than tyranny, and bolsters each citizen to take a role in progress towards peace, he is illustrating his usage of pathos. Kennedy states within his speech, “ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country”. This quote empowers the people due to the emotional facet of patriotism, telling the citizens they are called to be a part of a greater solution to fight against tyranny, poverty, disease, and war.…

    • 867 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    John Adams once said “Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.” His words could have acted as guidance for the people in America when they were facing opposition of war and the dangerous possibility of losing the power of their freedom from foreign countries who were trying to monopolize many parts of the world. Along the same lines of Roosevelt in presidency during the World Wars or Kennedy in presidency during the threats with the Soviet Union, America seemed to be in jeopardy of losing freedom and both presidents were in office during some of the most critical moments in American history. In 1961, John F. Kennedy gave his speech during the time of conflict with the Soviet Union, and was holding the lives of…

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior 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
  • Improved Essays

    A saying to get his chance at being the President of the United States, to gain the trust of all the American citizens, and to put his foot down and place a mark to any other country that he isn’t joking, but he only means business and solutions. He stayed cool, calm, and collected, John F. Kennedy ends his speech announcing, “Knowing that here on Earth, God’s work must truly be our own.” he declares this to notify the citizens of the United States that the quest for peace won’t start or solve the planet’s problems, meaning Kennedy would not like to go to war with Russia, or anyone at all. He only plans to look for peace and solutions and he is the true definition of trying to make the world better, but making America Greater while doing so. In my opinion, Kennedy puts on an amazing show for his inaugural speech, and it will light a spark of greatness to his although short, but his great presidency and will be a role-model for the following presidents to come.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays