01.20.10
Okay, so this is super late–yeah i’m not going to make a habit of this
Alex Robertson
Giddings
AP English 2
3 November 2009
“JFK Essay”
Who was John F Kennedy? This man was one of
the many presidents of the United States. JFK, however
started his presidency smack dab in the middle of the Cold
War, the fact that he started during the middle of a war
and that he was one of the youngest presidents meant he
had a lot to prove as an aspiring leader. Kennedy was a
religious man, a catholic to be exact, because of this
many American’s were afraid that the pope would have an
influence over the states. John Kennedy had but a small
time to win over the trust and hearts of the American
people in his speech, using superb diction and other
rhetoric tools, such as imagery, he conveys his thoughts
of unity throughout his speech while reassuring the pope
that he was the best choice, and that his religion nor the
pope will influence his choices while he is in the White
House.
Kennedy wove compelling imagery throughout his
speech so fluidly it was like liquid lace. Phrases such
as “To assist free men and free governments in casting off
the chains of poverty”, draw out emotion from within
every American, whether they’re black or white. This
emotional outlet is one of defiance to those “chains of
poverty”, and a sentimental outlook at those who are less
fortunate, and who do not have what we have. JFK was
very smart—or had a very smart writer—in the sense that
he knew exactly what the people wanted to hear: that
those chains of poverty and ill power are to be
annihilated, and in the name of Lincoln, “a house divided
can not stand”, meaning unity, not just unity in American
but through out the world, countries coming together and
uniting to abolish a common enemy.
Kennedy brought the country together with a
simple phrase, one that was to be remembered for
forever, a phrase that never dies: “And so my fellow
Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you—
ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens
of the world: ask not what American can do for you, but
what together we can do for the freedom of man.”It is
with these lines of poetry that his position becomes
crystal clear, harmony through out the world is what he
was going to strive for and JFK shows this through out his
paper.
To bring my argument to a close I do not ask
what I can learn from this speech, but what we can all
learn from it, that using our imagery, and the ability to
manipulate emotions through words to our advantage can
make a compelling argument. One that can either unify
the countries across the world for a common cause or can
destroy us all, either way, words hold great power, and
JFK displayed that flawlessly
