肯尼迪就职演讲修辞分析

[Taking the oath of Office]

1.Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower,

Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens:

2.We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom --

symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning -- signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.

❖修辞分析：运用了Antithesis 的修辞手法，前后结构一致，语义相反，容易吸引观众的注意，达到演讲词开篇引人入胜的目的。这里“a victory of party”和“a celebration of freedom”，“an end”和“a beginning”等等分别构成对照，强调这不是一个政党的胜利，而是自由的胜利，是结束也是开端，是更新也是变革。

3.The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to

abolish①all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come ②not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

❖修辞分析：该段子划线部分都运用了Repetition的修辞手法。这里重复的使用主要是为了分清层次，加强演讲词的节奏感和音律美，使读起来朗朗上口。

4.We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the

word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, -- ①born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, ②proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights ③to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

❖修辞分析：该段落划线部分运用了Parallelism 的修辞手法。总共包括三组排比句，如段中所示，第一组是过去分词引起的短语，第二组是形容词引起的短语，第三组是定语从句。

排比句结构平衡,音韵和谐,语义紧凑,高潮迭起,极富感召力与鼓动性。排比的大量使用既能起到突出演讲主题的作用,又能令句子流畅,读起来朗朗上口,极富音乐般的节奏和感染力。

5.Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any

price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

❖修辞分析：这句话运用了Repetition和Alliteration双重的修辞手法。首先是头韵法，如段中阴影部分，“p ay price”“b ear burden”“s urvival s uccess”“f riend f oe”等这些头韵法的合理使用不仅使演说朗朗上口,富于乐感,从而抓住听众的注意力,而且通过在词首重复使用相同的辅音,使得音韵悠扬,节奏明快,增强了表现力,给人以深刻的印象,为演说增添了光彩。其二段中“any”的重复使用使演讲者观点紧凑，重点突出，有能很有效

的调动听众的情感，从而达到演讲的目的。

6.This much we pledge -- and more.

7.To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge

the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet

a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

❖修辞分析：段中划线部分运用了Antithesis的修辞手法。这里主要是“united”和“divided”

的对照，一方面使得两句话对称整齐，音律和谐，读起来脍炙人口。另一方面强调了语义的对立，突出了“如果团结一致，我们就能在许多合作事业中无往而不胜，如果分歧对立，我们便会一事无成”这个主要观点。

8.To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, ①we pledge

our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom -- and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by ②riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

❖修辞分析：该段划线部分①运用了Repetition的修辞手法，“shall”的重复使用使句式结构紧凑，重点突出，同时调动听众的情感，引起共鸣，很好得表达了美国政府的决心和信念。

❖②运用了Metaphor的修辞手法。用比喻来阐述道理，使听众于生动的形象中得到启发，受到感染，折服于演说家。这一句既表明演说家的态度，同时也是对本段上文的形象化总结，这远比讲美国今后不会对加入自由国家行列的其他国家进行奴役之类的承诺有说服力得多。

9.To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break

the ①bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required -- not because the Communists may be doing it, ②not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. ③If

a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few

who are rich.

❖修辞分析：该段落划线部分中①运用了Metaphor的修辞手法。该短语将“mass misery”对世界各地人民的折磨隐喻为“bonds”，即枷锁，形象生动地将抽象的事物变得简单易懂，使听众易于接受和理解，并使能够引起听众的共鸣，达到演讲的效果。

❖②运用了Repetition的修辞手法。该句中“because”的重复使用一方面产生了音律美，使句式整齐匀称，另一方面突出了演讲者所要表达的观点，调动了听众的情绪。

❖③运用了Antithesis的修辞手法。该句中句式非常对称整齐，读起来朗朗上口，简洁明了，音律和谐。同时通过语义上的对立突出强调了“如果不能帮助处在贫困中的人们，美国也就不能拯救少数的富人”这一观点。