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

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