On Rhetorical Features in Inaugural Address Delivered by John F. Kennedy.doc

On Rhetorical Features in Inaugural Address Delivered by John F. Kennedy 　　Abstract：John F. Kennedy delivered the well-known inaugural address on January 20th， 1961 which made a deep impression on the whole world at that time. Analyzing the speech will not merely benefit our English learning and studying， but also provides us with an efficient access to the wells of wisdom of American culture. The analysis is mainly focusing on its rhetorical features such as parallelism， repetition， antithesis， alliteration and metaphor which are worth for English learners to deliver speeches. 　　Key Words：rhetorical features； parallelism； repetition； antithesis； alliteration； metaphor 　　Great speeches with gnomic words and polished sentences， not merely reflect relative historical background， but also reveal unique and rich wisdom of the lecturers. It is worth analyzing those speeches for English learners to deliver successful speeches. Rhetorical devices are closely related to public speeches. According to Halliday， many rhetorical devices， such as parallelism， alliteration， metaphor， simile， may have some strong stylistic effects. Therefore， it is not merely necessary but also important to analyze the rhetorical features in American presidential inaugural address. 　　The object of a political speech is mainly to convince and persuade. Thus the addresses should be moving， forceful and effective. Kennedy’s inaugural address， appreciated as one of the best inaugural addresses， employed suitable rhetorical devices to create the desired emotional impact， which deeply impressed American people during the cold war as well as the whole world with worldwide influence. The author is hoping that the paper will provide profound insights into this address by means of rhetoric analysis. Through thorough analysis， the use of rhetorical devices can be fully valued in public addresses. 　　1. Parallelism 　　It is a syntactic rhetorical device， referring to a structural arrangement of parts