John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK)
“Inaugural Address”
BY EMILY LIPPITT
BACKGROUND
• Took place Friday, January 20, 1961 in
Washington DC
• JFK uses Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, paired
along with other literary tools such as
repetition, rhythm, and comparison.
SUMMARY/ POINT
• This inaugural speech establishes what John F.
Kennedy’s vision is for the United States--actually it is
more of a world vision--of global unity, supporting
freedom and human rights for all humankind.
• JFK believes there are still revolutionary beliefs being
fought around the world. He does not want us to forget
that we are all apart of this revolution.
• We all need to work together as a global unit. Also, let
our neighbors know that no other countries are going
to take us over.
SPEAKER
• Speaker: JFK, president of the United states
from 1961-1963 impacted the world and
influenced the world greatly .
SUBJECT
• Subject- Essentially JFK is speaking on the
growth of our country and what he intends to
do to make this a better nation of
togetherness.
Occasion
• Occasion: JFK’s inaugural address, in which he
was speaking as the new president of the
United States on January 20,1961.
AUDIENCE
• Kennedy delivered his Inaugural Address before an
audience of twenty thousand people. The address was
televised, and eighty million Americans watched; it was
also broadcast over radios around the world. Being
aware of the extensive audience, Kennedy consciously
spoke not only to Americans but to the people around
the globe as well.
• Beyond the initial audience of people who heard the
original speech can be added those who subsequently
read it in newspapers or texts, those who heard
recordings of the speech, and those who studied the
speech in classrooms.
AUDIENCE
• JFK specifically addresses “Vice President
Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice,
President Eisenhower, Vice president Nixon,
President Truman, Reverend Clergy, and fellow
citizens”
PURPOSE
• The purpose of an inaugural address is to
outline the programs of the future (during his
administration) and to introduce himself to
America and the world.
• In which he was essentially speaking to
America to be involved and unify and work
together, “ask not what your country can do
for you but what you can do for your country”
TONE
• The tone of this speech is inspirational.
Kennedy's youthful diction is combined with
many parallelisms and anaphora's to
emphasize the idea of moving forward. The
tones are inspirational and powerful.
ETHOS
• President Kennedy opens his speech by
establishing ethos or credibility, “For I have
sworn before you and Almighty God the same
solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a
century and three-quarters ago.’’
• This excerpt tells the American people that he
has followed the rules and has a legitimate
responsibility to the American public as did
the Presidents in the past. He is official.
PATHOS
• JFK uses words such as “We” to catch the emotions of
people as if bringing everyone together as one.
• The pathos part of his speech, “the torch has been passed
to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century,
tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace,
proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or
permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which
this nation has always been committed, and to which we
are committed today at home and around the world.”
• Throughout Kennedy’s speech he uses emotionally charged
words to draw in the American public and get them to
relate to the topics at hand.
LOGOS
• JFK uses logos to convince the people.
• Example : “we pledge our best efforts to help them help
themselves, for whatever period is required -- not because
the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek
their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot
help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who
are rich. ”
• Here, JFK calls the public to join the effort to free the
people stuck in communist countries by cleverly making it
an issue of justice rather than power, and then comparing
the success of their poor society, to the prosperity of our
rich nation. This use of comparison is also a tool of rhetoric.
REPETITION
• JFK also uses repetition to persuade the
American people. He begins several sections
in the middle of his speech with the same
phrase, “Let both sides. . .” then uses very
strong verbs to call the public to action such
as “explore,” “formulate,” “seek,” and “unite.”
METAPHOR
• Kennedy also uses the literary tool, the
metaphor, “The energy, the faith, the devotion
which we bring to this endeavor will light our
country and all who serve it. And the glow
from that fire can truly light the world.”
• We cannot literally light the world on fire, but
he means that we can influence the world as
an incendiary nation.
• The most famous sentence is immediately
following that metaphor. It is a sentence, that
was delivered with great enthusiasm, “And so,
my fellow Americans, ask not what your
country can do for you; ask what you can do
for your country.”
• This play on words is one of the most
remembered phrases of all time, because JFK
delivers it with rhythm and charisma.
Analysis- Paraphrase
• “…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.” Essentially JFK is
speaking for a nation of equals. JFK would do anything for
his country, just like every other American citizen; this
being the underlying message of the sentence.
• “But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting
their own freedom- and to remember that, in the past,
those who foolishly sought power by riding the act of a
tiger ended up inside.” working together we can build a
better state and even world, but working apart, we can
accomplish close to nothing and we don’t stand a chance.
• “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what
America will do for you, but what together we
can do for the freedom of man.” Not only s
there a high importance for America as a
whole, but the working together of different
countries ad America to make the world a
whole.
• Essentially JFK stresses the importance of
working together and becoming united.
http://youtu.be/mxa4HDgfWFs