Rhetorical Analysis Of Robert Kennedy's Speech

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On one of the saddest days in U.S. history, Robert Kennedy uses literary strategies in his speech about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in hopes of consolidating the American public. Martin Luther King, Jr., was an activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by many riots in the United States.
To begin, Robert Kennedy steps up to the podium dreading this speech more than any speech he has ever delivered. By starting the speech with “Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m only going to talk to you for just a minute or so this evening, because I have some—some very sad news for all of you…” it immediately gives the prose a melancholy tone. The emotional appeal of this statement is very strong, therefore the audience is drawn in. Kennedy uses an anaphora by saying “In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it’s perhaps well to ask what kind of nation we are and what direction we want to move in.’’ By repeating that he was able to draw the audience’s attention in and get the point across better.
Notably, the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., was a tragic time, but it was also a time of …show more content…
In his speech he says, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness….” When Kennedy says this, he is trying to get the point across to the audience that unity is a key factor to continue life together. Robert Kennedy continues with, “We will have difficult times. We’ve had difficult times in the past, but we – and we will have difficult times in the future.’’ The logical appeal of this statement is showing the audience that the future will not be as easy as they think and there will be troubling
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