Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You...

As the president of the biggest country of the world, we can see that our president is a skillful speaker. He is the one of greatest American speakers. One of his famous speeches is "Ask not what your country can do for you" when he is in his inaugural address.

President Kennedy have used many of the tools in rhetorical or persuasive writing. He was fully aware of Aristotle's three areas of rhetorical devices such as Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. 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.”

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.

Get quality help now

RhizMan

Verified writer

Proficient in: Country

4.9 (247)

“ Rhizman is absolutely amazing at what he does . I highly recommend him if you need an assignment done ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

” We cannot literally light the world on fire, but he means that we can influence the world as an incendiary nation.

Perhaps the most famous sentence is immediately following that metaphor. It is a sentence, that was delivered with great enthusiasm, as illustrated by the fervor behind JFK’s delivery, “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.(americanrhetoric.com)” This play on words is one of the most remembered phrases of all time.

Why? Because JFK delivers it with rhythm and charisma.