Rhetorical Analysis Of Jfk Inaugural Address

John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis
John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address is arguably one of the most powerful speeches in American history; He calls the American people to action against violence for the sake of peace and preservation of freedom. Elected during the Cold War, Kennedy reinvigorated the American people with his patriotic attitude. The address inspires the American people to fight for liberty and peace during this time of war. His idealistic tone resonates with the American people, and his powerful diction brings importance to his goal of world peace. Kennedy’s inaugural address combines formal, abstract diction, varied sentence structure, and parallelism to create a patriotic and idealistic tone that supports

his desire for world peace.
Kennedy uses abstract and archaic diction to establish a formal and patriotic attitude. Words like freedom and loyalty appeal to the emotions of the audience, and capture their attention. These words resonate deeply within the American people, considering America was built upon the ideals of liberty and achieved through sacrifices that the colonists had to make to establish a democratic country. Kennedy’s use of abstract ideas in his speech helps him relate to his audience, by stressing the ideals of America. These abstractions also establish his patriotic tone, due to the connotations associated with the abstract words he uses. For example, “freedom” means much more than its denotation in America; freedom is a lifestyle and a principle that Americans value. When Kennedy says “to assure the survival and the success of liberty” (4), he is appealing to the American people, putting the value of liberty above all else, just like the founding fathers did. Likewise, words like “devotion” and “loyalty” actually relate to the United States’ role as a global leader, to promote peace and freedom in the world. Another strategy Kennedy uses in his speech is his inclusion of archaic, or old-fashioned words like “asunder” and “forebears”. These words establish a formal tone, and add to his credibility and trustworthiness as a speaker. His value for America’s past can be seen when he says: “I have sworn before you…the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago” (1). By relating his presidency to that of his predecessors, he is building his ethos as a new leader. By using words like “forebears” to build his credibility or “asunder” to explain how countries must work together, Kennedy is relating to his purpose. In order to explain his goal and plan for world peace, Kennedy must show his trustworthiness and credibility to the audience, which he does by making stylistic choices like archaic diction to establish a formal tone.
Another aspect that Kennedy uses to achieve his purpose is the inclusion of metaphors that form an inspirational, patriotic tone. The metaphors Kennedy includes establish powerful connections about the role of America in the 1960’s in relation to world affairs. These metaphors, like “revolution of hope” (9) create a link between America’s duty to promote peace and the duty of other nations to join in that effort for the preservation of freedom. These metaphors help the reader understand Kennedy’s purpose to inspire and persuade the American people to promote world peace. While some of his metaphors make traditional connections, like “the chains of poverty” (9), their effect is still important to the overall message of the essay. In the aforementioned example, Kennedy’s clichéd metaphor appeals to the audience because they can easily make the connection in the metaphor. In doing so, most of Kennedy’s metaphors are already familiar to the audience, which makes easier to follow. These metaphors also create a powerful, inspirational tone, like when Kennedy says: “the torch has been passed” (3) to explain the role of the new generation of American people. These powerful comparisons create an inspirational tone because Kennedy wants to speak to the American people about this issue and wants them to be called to action.
Kennedy’s use of syntax in the speech also supports his purpose and makes his speech more rhetorically effective, due to the use of a variety of sentence types.

Many of Kennedy’s sentences are short, declarative sentences, expressing a point clearly and confidently. When Kennedy explains that America must be strong in its war for peace, he only uses seven words: “We dare not tempt them with weakness” (12). The effect of these sentences stress a point Kennedy is trying to make, and the sentences are more evident to the audience because they are declarative. Kennedy also uses complex sentences to build up the main ideas that he establishes in his speech. These complex sentences, such as: “To those new states whom we welcome…we pledge our word that…” (7), address a targeted audience, and then enters into the main point that Kennedy makes. Another form Kennedy uses is the inclusion of sentences that begin with coordinating conjunctions. Some of the sentences in the speech begin with “and”, “but”, and “so” which means that Kennedy is trying to build upon his ideas. Kennedy’s logic is justified through the use of complex sentences and coordinating conjunctions, because Kennedy supports his points accurately. When addressing the world beyond America, Kennedy divides them into separate categories and talks about them in detail to support his argument. For example, when addressing the newly developed countries emerging from WWII, he uses coordinating conjunctions: “But we shall always hope to find them…” (7), along with a metaphor that warns the new countries about the dangers of communism: “in the past, those who sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside” (7). In using these syntactical devices like coordinating conjunctions, Kennedy can support his point with details and present it with conviction. His varied sentence structure contributes to his purpose as well; Kennedy uses declarative sentences to state his points that support his subject of world

peace and inspiring Americans to better the world. The structure of the sentences also contributes to the hortative, inspirational tone that is present throughout the speech, because Kennedy introduces a topic in a declarative sentence, and then he presents why the issue or idea is important, and how America can achieve those ideals.
Parallelism is prevalent throughout Kennedy’s speech; he uses antithesis, and antimetabole to appeal to the audience, establish himself as an intelligent and trustworthy speaker, and to create his tone. Kennedy’s inaugural speech contains many examples of parallelism, and he uses parallelism to make his speech more effective. By using parallelism, Kennedy emphasizes certain ideas, phrases, or sentences so that they are well understood by the audience. Kennedy uses parallelism in his speech when he starts with his pledges: “To those old allies…To those new states…To those people in the huts...” (6-11), or when he states his goals for the world: “Let both sides explore…let both sides, for the first time…let both sides seek…” (15-18). The use of parallelism in speech evokes an emotional response from the audience, because the speaker is emphasizing ideas in a pattern that is easily remembered by the audience. One of the most repeated forms of parallelism in the speech is the use of antithesis to compare ideas to emphasize the difference between them. In examples like “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich” (8), Kennedy examines the consequences of a divided nation or divided world. In doing so, Kennedy is fulfilling his purpose, because he is providing evidence for why unity is essential to have a more successful society. This has an effect on the audience, because it provides them with reasons to unite together and stand up to fight for freedom. The two opposing ideas examined in an antithesis create a lasting impact on the audience. Another use of parallelism in Kennedy’s speech is his most famous line of the speech: “ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country” (25). Kennedy’s famous quote is an example of antimetabole, a type of parallelism that he uses to appeal to his audience and contribute to his purpose. By repeating words in reverse order, Kennedy persuades the American audience to begin fighting for freedom and building a better America. This sentence is very effective, because it places emphasis on the second part of the sentence, in this case Kennedy’s call for action. As a result, the second part of the sentence resonates with the audience and Kennedy achieves his purpose.
Kennedy’s inaugural speech employs both strong diction and varied syntax to achieve the purpose and establish the tone. Considering that Kennedy barely won the election, he had a lot to prove to persuade the American audience. He establishes his credibility through the use of his diction and syntax. The inclusion of archaic diction and metaphors create a patriotic, inspirational tone that also supports his purpose. The varied sentence structure and parallelism support Kennedy’s goal to call people to action and fight for freedom. Kennedy’s speech is very effective because he appeals to the emotions of the audience and calls them to action through his motivational tone.