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Rhetorical Devices In Jfk Inaugural Address

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Some people believe that speeches are pointless and full of fluff and stuff that have no real bearing on life or the issues that surround it. If anyone ever tells you that speeches are meaningless, point them in the direction of influential presidential speakers such as President John F. Kennedy. His Inaugural Address, given at the height of the cold war, intended to focus not only a nation but the world out of war and into peace, it was so influential and powerful that many people remember it to this day. In his address Kennedy used rhetorical devices such as antithesis, appeals to emotion, and antimetabole to persuade his audience to the idea of peace and not war.
JFK was a man that never used a five dollar word where a ten cent one would do. He was a man of simple words and plain speaking. His inaugural speech was also fairly short and to the point. Kennedy begins by using antithesis and describes his presidential victory as “symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning - - signifying renewal, as well as change” (Kennedy 1961). This emphasizes the importance of his winning of the presidential election and his hopes of bringing peace, prosperity and liberty not only to America but to all nations. Later in his address he also uses antithesis when he …show more content…
Kennedy uses many effective choices of diction to appeal to people's emotions through the entire address. He invokes nationalistic pride in his audience when he describes the steadfastness and resilience of the U.S. and her people. He reflects on the responsibilities that they now have when he calls the people to: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty” (Kennedy 1961). He is telling every American that they have the responsibility to continue to support and uphold the ideals of freedom and liberty, not just in our nation but around the

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