Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Please provide literary devices present in John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Speech.

In his Inaugural Address in January, 1961, President John
F. Kennedy used several literary devices to make the speech impactful. Some are as
follows.


A href="http://ai.stanford.edu/~csewell/culture/litterms.htm">paradox is a
statement that seems to be, at first glance...


readability="6">

...self-contradictory or opposed to common sense
but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or
validity.



Kennedy points out
how powerful the world is, but that it has two very different
sides.



...man
holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms
of human life.



Symbolism is
also used with reference to a torch, symbolic of passion or dedication, used in this
case with the passing of a torch that represents the passing on of
responsibility.


readability="8">

Let the word go forth from this time and place,
to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of
Americans…



There is the sense
of carrying a torch—a light ignited and burning without
interruption
—as was done in the Ancient Greek games, based upon the Olympic
tradition which began in 1936—carried on still today: with a perpetual
fire
. This is the symbolic meaning that Kennedy refers to—that the quest for
freedom, in the form of the ever-burning torch, has been handed down to a new
generation.


Structural repetition is
used in this address as well. In this sense, it is a poetic device that the appeals to
the listening audience, tuning in to the list of things the United
States is willing to do to assure liberty. Note the repetitive use of the word
"any" and the repeated structure of each phrase that is
given:



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, in order to assure
the survival and the success of
liberty.



We see repetition
used again, to drive the President's points home in the paragraphs that begin with "Let
both sides…" and "To those…"


A wonderful metaphor compares
the actions of tyranny to keeping company with a
tiger:



...in
the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up
inside.



Another metaphor is
used in comparing the oppression of poverty to chains that hold one
prisoner:


readability="5">

...to assist free men and free governments in
casting off the chains of
poverty.



Finally, there is
also the Greek "peripeteia," defined as a change or "reversal of circumstances."
Generally used with regard to literature, it is known in English as
"peripety."


readability="5">

Aristotle defines it as "a change by which the
action veers round to its
opposite…"



In President
Kennedy's Inaugural Address, we see this after he lists pledge of support
by the United States to allies, new
governments, people in villages worldwide, and even the United Nations.
However—and this is the reversal—the President
now makes a "request" of those who would "make themselves our adversary." The tone of
the speech changes as Kennedy sends out an implied warning—these adversaries should look
toward peace before something terrible takes place (note: the use of "science" alludes
to the "deadly atom"—nuclear weapons)...


readability="6">

...before the dark powers of destruction
unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental
self-destruction.



The
President says that we "dare not tempt them with weakness," for if other powers perceive
the United States as weak, the country becomes a target. He says that only when the U.S.
has arms that will dissuade others from attacking, will it have no
need to use them.

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