John F. Kennedy - "Ich Bin Ein Berliner"
Argument
Argument: Communism is evil.
Reason: Because communism takes away freedom from the people.
Implicit Assumption: Whatever takes away the freedom of the people is evil.
Audience
The people of Berlin.
Goal
To convince them that communism is an evil sytem of government that does not work and will not work. The speech also serves to icononize the city of Berlin as a symbol of freedom and congratulate the people on their struggle.
How
Kennedy uses pathos in the way he repeats "Let them come to Berlin" after every positive remark about communism. This arouses an emotion of comradery and patriotism. These people have seen the dire consequences of communistic rule and they hear the lack of experience in the remarks made. Every time he repeats "Let them come to Berlin" it is a reminder of what happened there and what they survived together. While the memory may be difficult for some, it brings them solidarity. Kennedy admits that democracy is not perfect, but points out that a democratic government never created a wall separating families from their loved ones. This is another appeal to emotion as the people remember the heartache and pain they felt during this trial. The appeals and evidence he gives certainly are sufficient for the audience, most of whom likely already agree with him that communism is evil.
Effective
While Kennedy may be a little biased the argument he makes is effective. The example of Berlin certainly proves that communism can result in a lack of freedom. He uses strong evidence combined with emotional appeals to sway his audience. I think after he concluded his speech that everyone in the audience was convinced that communism was evil.
No comments:
Post a Comment