Jfk Inaugural Speech Analysis

Keeping Up with the Kennedys On January 20, 1961, one of the most renown presidents was inducted into office. John F. Kennedy was 43 years old when he swore before the people a solemn oath, and delivered one of the most famous speeches throughout history. He uses appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos to help emphasize his points. And makes use of hortatives, like used in paragraphs 26-27, to make his ideas relatable and welcoming. These rhetorical techniques serve to accomplish the purpose of unity in JFK’s inaugural speech and set the inviting, but persuasive tone. Throughout the entirety of the essay, Mr. Kennedy uses appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos a lot. In the first paragraph of the speech, JFK first establishes ethos by saying he sore an oath that was written by the by the forebears of the country centuries ago. This proves his, and his pledge’s credibility by mentioning the founding of the inauguration. He later then adds a personal element to the appeals by mentioning the need for defending freedom from danger

throughout the speech, Kennedy is persuading the people to come together and stand up to take action. One of the president’s literary devices was using extreme adjectives to emphasis his points. For example, Kennedy says “In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.” By doing this, he emphasises his points urges the people to agree with him, building a consensus rather than blatantly expressing his desire for the people to follow his course of action. Also, the use of hortative sentences offers a more inviting tone to the audience. For example, in paragraph 27 and 14 he says “let us” instead of “we will”. This helps the people feel as if they are helping to change the issues, ultimatley tying in the purpse of the essay by guiding the audience to feel more unified with their