The persuasive appeal of pathos is an appeal to an audience's sense of identity, their self-interest, and their emotions. Kennedy utilizes pathos when he states "We meet at a college noted for knowledge, in a city noted for progress, in a state noted for strength." By specifically stating where he is, Kennedy illicit's emotions of pride and acceptance from the audience. Also, throughout the speech JFK went through a list of substantial achievements and discoveries over the years. This appealed to the audience emotionally because it made them believe that space had endless opportunities of discovery and achievement. Lastly, when Kennedy utilized George Mallory's quote of why he climbed mount everest "because it is there", he was able to convince the audience of why this nation should explore space "Because it is there". JFK's exceptional ability to use rhetoric throughout this speech was a primary reason for the start of The Space Race.
One of JFK's goals in his speech was to ignite spark in Americans, using emotion and nationalism. I agree that he brought out a desire in Americans to explore and discover new things, which was part of his goal but he also planned to unite Americans and bring about a sense of patriotism. His use of words like “we”, and the phrase “my fellow citizens” were effective in doing so. He not only made himself relatable to the audience, but he also encompassed everyone in the country as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI like how you started off by saying that John F. Kennedy is one of the best orating presidents, but you should add how that makes him more credible of a speaker. I agree how his use of pathos helped him connect to the audience especially when he described the list of accomplishments. Throughout the post, I like how you used specific examples from the text to support your statements.
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