JFK: Establishing Unity and Peace

I chose to analyze John F. Kennedy's 1961 Inaugural Address. At this time in the country, many significant events were going on including the civil rights movement, space exploration with new technology, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the cold war. As a new president, Kennedy had to give a speech that would comfort people and let them know they were in good hands. So, Kennedy's purpose in this speech is to establish a sense of unity and peace among not only the United States, but also the whole world. He also convinces his audience to work together, each citizen doing his or her part, to reach this goal. I think Kennedy was successful in achieving this purpose through his use of rhetorical strategies including historical allusion, metaphor, chiasmus, and repetition. For historical allusion, he referred a few times to the American revolution and the founding of our country. This helped as a reminder that he has the same goal as the nation's founders and that he is just like the first presidents that are so well respected. Next, he used metaphors such as, "the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans" and "those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside." These are ways that Kennedy helped convey some of his points in a more understandable way that is interesting to listen to. Kennedy also uses chiasmus in a couple of instances. For example,  he says, "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate," and "ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." These are clever ways that Kennedy also used to get his point across. The first use of chiasmus shows how what citizens and the countries together can do to help establish peace: to negotiate. The latter use of chiasmus encourages citizens to do their part and work together to help accomplish the goals of the whole country. Lastly, Kennedy uses repetition to help effectively convey his purpose. He repeats "to those" many times in the beginning to explicitly address each group in his audience and then tell them what they can do to help. He later repeats, "let both sides" a few times followed by ways for two groups to negotiate and resolve conflict, therefor helping to establish peace. These are all ways that Kennedy uses rhetorical devices to help achieve his goal of establishing peace and unity in the country as well as the whole world.