I am sitting in my room writing my rhetorical analysis. Throughout the speech, analyzing, pathos, logos, and ethos are very clearly portrayed as effective rhetorical mechanisms to persuade the audience. What I wanted to know is which appeal is most effective when trying to draw the audience in and feel what the writer feels. In order to fairly assess the appeals, I decided to take a look at the JFK's Inaugural Address.
To immediately draw attention to him, he starts his speech off by calling, "Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman..." instantly appealing to ethos. I think Kennedy did this to show his relationship with these people: all important and popular figures of the time. This is kind of a way to say hey I know these people, they have contributed something to our society and so will I. Beginning any speech by incorporating ethos is important because the audience wants credibility. We want other sources that back up the persuader/speaker.
Pathos throughout the speech is most evident. Phrases such as "To those old allies...", "To those new States...", "To those peoples in the huts and villages...", "To our sister republics outside of the border...", etc. all appeal to a broad audience which is a technique of pathos. Using these phrases draws in every viewer because he points out many different groups. He also uses "...my fellow citizens", ..."...in your hand more than mine..."...but let us begin...", and many more all give everyone who is tuning in a sense of community. And if communities can feel united by one speech, then they can feel united by the changes he will enforce as President. If you look at politicians' promises, almost all of them are broken. If he can persuade the public that he is in this fight with us, that appeals to the sense of not being alone which was very affective after the Great Depression.
Finally the appeal to logic. Always, logos is strictly statistics incorporated to quantitatively make a statement stronger. Sometimes it is put in a way to reinforce something or reassure an action. JFK says, "...All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration...." This is simply logic. We all know that one person cannot change everything the people are asking for in a matter of days, weeks, months or even years ESPECIALLY after the Great Depression.
In conclusion, all devices are quite effective. But I believe that in order to reach out and gain one's attention, pathos is the way to go. It always depends on the audience and what the subject is but almost always, the audience wants to feel a connection to the speaker. They want to feel they can trust them.
What Rhetorical appeal do you deem most effective and why?
I agree with you that Kennedy uses rhetorical appeal effectively throughout his speech. Similar to you though, I also believe that pathos is the most effective rhetorical appeal. I find pathos the most effective because it does an excellent job in arousing emotions in an individual. I know for myself personally, the pathos in an object hits me the hardest because I feel that my feelings are my weakest point. I feel like that is also similar for many others that is why I believe pathos to be the most effective.
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