Parallel Structure In Jfk Inaugural Address

Improved Essays
Alex Kaplin
From the beginning of American history, the inaugural address of the president has always been the first step in the new administration. It is the first time that the new president can tell people the plan they have in leading the country and how they will do the plan. These speeches are always extremely memorable and powerful. He was able to clearly tell to the country his plan for the nation. Kennedy's extensive use of parallelism, and sentence structure all contribute to the success of his speech.
Throughout his speech, Kennedy utilizes parallelism in order to better convey his points. In multiple sentences in his speech, Kennedy places his ideas in a parallel structure in order to emphasize what he thinks is most important.

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    John Adams once said “Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.” His words could have acted as guidance for the people in America when they were facing opposition of war and the dangerous possibility of losing the power of their freedom from foreign countries who were trying to monopolize many parts of the world. Along the same lines of Roosevelt in presidency during the World Wars or Kennedy in presidency during the threats with the Soviet Union, America seemed to be in jeopardy of losing freedom and both presidents were in office during some of the most critical moments in American history. In 1961, John F. Kennedy gave his speech during the time of conflict with the Soviet Union, and was holding the lives of…

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The inaugural address is a vital moment in any presidency. It is the first speech that is given by the president after being sworn in as president of the United States. The comparison of these speeches can help one better understand the intentions and overall message that the presidents are trying to convey. After watching and analyzing the inauguration speeches of Trump, Reagan, Kennedy, and Obama, it is clear that there are some similarities and differences among them. Trump and Regan both had a similar message in their inaugural addresses, all the presidents were able to use an anaphora, and their was a contrast between the language of Trump and Kennedy.…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On January 20, 1961 President John F. Kennedy gave his inaugural address in Washington D.C. At that time, Kennedy was the youngest man ever elected president and was a new, largely untested leader. This speech was Kennedy’s first inauguration as president, the election was not a landslide; the country was deeply divided on their opinions of Kennedy. This speech was directed to the American people, those in favor of Kennedy and those who weren't. Another subliminal audience was the international people such as leaders and allies.…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For this assignment I chose to analyze the document of Robert Kennedy’s address to the Cleveland City Club. This document was written by Robert Kennedy and the help of his speechwriters and was given on April 5th, 1968. The speech was given only a day after Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated and the country now (delete “now”) was in a state of unrest and much dismay. The main idea of this document is to address and quell the growing violence and hostilities in the nation as a whole between races and continue to search for solutions to the problems of racial injustice while holding ourselves accountable. After hearing of the King assassination and the shockwave it had sent ripping through the United States, Kennedy knew that making this speech in the interest of his political campaign would not only find himself being viewed less by his political fan base but would be a very distasteful and unsatisfactory strategy on his…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kennedy’s inaugural address makes use of a variety of rhetorical strategies in order to convince the Americans that they made the right choice for a president and he will help unify the nation. Kennedy’s speech is a textbook example of how to weave rhetorical devices into writing while staying focused. Without the use of the above mentioned strategies and many unmentioned others, Kennedy’s speech would not be effective rhetoric. Kennedy effectively persuaded his audience that his purpose, unity, should be a common goal among the American citizens through the skillful use of rhetorical…

    • 948 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Aiming to promote every American citizen’s positive participation in serving their country for the freedom of men, former president of the United States John F. Kennedy delivered one of the most memorable speeches that perfectly fulfilled his purpose and appealed to the audiences in his inaugural address. The use of metaphors, and personal pronouns in Kennedy’s address not only strengthens the speech’s main subjects about civic responsibilities and human rights, but also touches the audience’s heartstring and eventually persuades them to take Kennedy’s side. Kennedy first employs parallel structures to emphasize his arguments and appeal to the audiences by creating an intense and unify tone. In paragraph 6, Kennedy promotes the idea of…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The president John F. Kennedy had a famous speech which is about the goals and the attitude to the enemies and friends after he became the president. Kennedy’s purpose is to let people have the confidence in him. He used parallelism and clever word choice to create an influential tone to encourage the Americans to accept his opinions. In the first paragraph, Kennedy used a lot of parallelism to strengthen the grand momentum and the tone.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Jfk Inauguration Speech

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages

    His inauguration speech was powerful, and he mentioned in his speech “don't ask what your country can do for you, but think what you can do for your country.” All he wanted was peace in our country and other countries. He knew he could be the president that brings peace to earth. He was very confident in his whole speech. Next, John kennedy had a very successful presidency through…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Therefore there is no need for syntax and diction. More than that, the use of SOAPS is taken into consideration when Kennedy wrote this inaugural address. The subject of Kennedy’s inaugural address is the purpose and the obligation of the American people. The occasion it was set in was a cold day in January.…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    He spoke with inflation and infliction in his voice and did not use a monotone voice throughout the entire speech. When Kennedy showed the enthusiasm that is when the audience interacted with him the most. This was an effective way to create interest and curiosity of the fact that we could put a man on the moon. The audience reactions to the speech were for the most part in a pause or break in a line of speech. Kennedy, for the most part, made his pauses meaningful.…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abraham Lincoln, a man known for his honesty and optimism towards the future of the United States of America during the turmoil of the Civil War. A man devoted to his divided country and its suffering people. A man grounded in his Christian faith. This man, the sixteenth president of the United States of America, spoke with precision and elegance. Lincoln presented many speeches during his life, and even after his assassination scholars explore his writings.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the climax of the Cold War, newly elected United States president, John F. Kennedy, delivered his inaugural address and presented his political agenda for the upcoming years as president. Kennedy’s purpose in his inaugural address is to unite nations and peoples across world to promote worldwide peace and international security. To achieve his purpose and inspire the audience, Kennedy employed a variety of rhetorical strategies. Throughout his speech, Kennedy uses juxtaposition to develop his claims and ideas while refuting opposing ideas.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Repetition seemed to be his way of making sure his claim was clearly understood by his listeners. Towards the middle of his speech, President Kennedy begins his paragraphs with similar phrases such as, “To those old allies… To those new states… To those people…” (463). He addresses everyone whom he wants to pledge to individually, since he pledges different ideas for each group.…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Current Senatorial candidate, Barack Obama delivered the Keynote speech. In the speech, Obama introduces John Kerry as the Democratic Candidate to run against the incumbent President, George W. Bush. Obama delivers this speech to rally his fellow democrats to stand behind John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, to meet the incredibly difficult task of beating a Presidential incumbent in their second bid for office. In order to achieve the massive amounts of motivation and initiative to meet such a victory, Barack Obama develops a highly effective argument by building up his credibility before using parallel structure to create unity and ending with an appeal to hope. He does this to move his…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    On June 11, 1963, John F. Kennedy delivered the “Civil Rights Address” from the Oval Office to a camera placed in front of his desk. Americans around the country turned on their televisions to see their President deliver a powerful message about equal rights. Loaded with repetition, imagery, the use of first person pronouns, and occasional shifts in paragraph lengths enabled Kennedy to convey his message of persuasion through logos. John F. Kennedy, a Harvard graduate, adored president, and charming man, effectively used logos in the “Civil Rights Address” in efforts to persuade American people to stop prejudice against black Americans. Statistics Kennedy utilized deeply impacted the nation as a whole.…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays