John F Kennedy Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address was the speech given on January 21, 1961 when he was appointed the 35th president of the United States. However, his words are more than an acceptance speech - they are a work of literature full of rhetorical devices. Throughout his Inaugural Address, Kennedy relies on the rhetorical devices of parallelism, contrast, and imagery.
Kennedy relies on the use of parallelism throughout this Inaugural Address. The best example of this can be seen through paragraphs 6 through 10 in how each begin with the phrase “To those..”. Each of the five paragraphs begin with this phrase, showing grammatical consistency. They serve as a way to allow the audience to remember, and also to group together his calls to action around the world. Another example of parallelism can be seen in paragraphs 13 through 16 in how Kennedy begins each paragraph with the phrase “Let both sides...”. Kennedy again groups together these calls to action towards the US and USSR with the use of parallelism. They stick out due to the repeating phrases used, allowing the listener/reader to know their correlation. The final example can be seen in how Kennedy …show more content…
Imagery is used to clarify a complicated idea through detail, or an outside idea. Imagery utilizes metaphors, similes, and personification. This is seen in how Kennedy describe how “new states” are dominated by tyrannical governments as “riding the back of the tiger ended up inside” in paragraph 7. This phrase is an example of personification, and allow for a better understanding of a complex problem at hand. Another example would be how Kennedy uses the phrase “a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion” in paragraph 17. Kennedy uses metaphors to describe the words cooperation and suspicion in ways that would otherwise need long explanations. They make their point and serve as imagery in his
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John F Kennedy Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis Essay

As an American tradition, presidents give an inaugural speech to the public on behalf of their election and the start of their term. John F. Kennedy gave his iconic speech in 1960 on a cold January morning in Washington, D.C. The president asserts his intentions to build the country and unify the people to help not only the nation, but the universal community as well. The speaker begins his speech with thoughts of peace and ambitions to heal those around him and a promise to aid countries and the…

Words 737 - Pages 3