Tone and Rhetoric in Speech

President Kennedy chose his location well. mostly young college students who held an interest in engineering and aerospace research. repeatedly places emphasis on learning and knowledge--became the rationale for the space race. who can argue against spending money on learning and knowledge? Certainly, the audience of university students was not going to disagree.

Kennedy strikes at the counter-claim. Because President Kennedy addresses his opposition, he eliminates a call for a more moderate approach right from the beginning. “Man in his quest for knowledge is determined and cannot be deterred. The exploration of space will go ahead whether we join it or not.” Listen to parts of his speech

Tone presented his information in a comfortable manner, making it sound natural and easy. goal was to sound unrehearsed. tone was comfortable and relaxed. addressed the young population as equal contributors to his ambitious goals. achieves his relaxed tone by addressing the audience in the first person.

Tone “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

chatty familiarity - analogy between the race to the moon and the students' need to play a football game. "There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?"

How does he support his claim that space exploration is possible How does he support his claim that space exploration is possible? How does he support the idea that this exploration will benefit the American public? Does he address a counterclaim? It is for these reasons that I regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in space from low to high gear as among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the Presidency. …read – discuss in groups and write down your answers to these questions

informal tone builds rapport. He does not shy away from faults informal tone builds rapport. He does not shy away from faults. Instead, he includes the audience as a vital part of the solution. "We have had our failures, but so have others, even if they do not admit them. And they may be less public." "To be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for some time in manned flight. But we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead."

When you listen to the last section of President Kennedy’s speech, reflect on his reasoning, use of evidence and rhetorical devices. Can you identify his evidence? Can you hear his reasoning? Did he address a counterclaim? Did he use exaggeration? Houston, your City of Houston, with its Manned Spacecraft Center, will become the heart of a large scientific and engineering community. During the next 5 years the National Aeronautics and Space Administration expects to double the number of scientists and engineers in this area… Read, answer the questions and discuss with your group

Inflection – a change of pitch in one’s voice vernacular – common or everyday language "I'm the one who is doing all the work, so we just want you to stay cool for a minute." [laughter] Speaks in vernacular Many speaking occasions require a more formal tone. Kennedy’s optimistic and friendly tone would be inappropriate for international addresses. tone can be flexed by the speaker depending on the topic, intent, and audience. The key is to know your audience and your purpose, and to match your tone accordingly.

Rhetorical features and tone are separate President Abraham Lincoln used a serious, somber tone in his Gettysburg Address because he wanted to connect with an audience that had lost much Martin Luther King, Jr. used an inspirational tone to encourage his audience to join him in dreaming of a new social order, a new world. reinforced his point through inflection and the deep timbre of his voice. Rhetorical features and tone are separate despite the varying purposes and tones, speakers rely on rhetorical features to add interest and engage the audience. Listen to a section of the speech again and identify at least one line in which President Kennedy uses one of the following features.

Type of Language Definition allusion a brief reference to a person, or event assumed to be sufficiently recognizable by the audience rhetorical question question asked without an expectation of an answer imagery the use of language that encourages the formation of a mental picture metaphor the comparison of two unlike things parallelism the use of similar construction in either sound, meaning or meter antithesis extreme opposite ideas are expressed within the same phrase to produce a contrasting effect