A Comparison of the Speeches of President Kennedy and of Obama from the Perspective of Pragmatics

慶凌

摘要：President Obama is often compared with President Kennedy by many people for his excellent speech. This paper will make a comparison on their inauguration speeches from perspective of pragmatics.

關鍵詞：speeches; President Kennedy and President Obama; pragmatics

It is a necessary skill in the American presidential election for those who wants to be the leader because of the rules of the election. During the process， they have to make many public speeches in order to persuade the publics to vote for them. As a matter of fact， many candidates are good at speech. In 2008， Obama is added to the list and he is so passionate that he ignited people’s belief in him and Party. Thanks to his perfect speeches， at the end of the election， his votes are greatly ahead of his rival.

Kennedy was elected in the cold war period. The world was divided into two great groups， i.e... The capitalist countries led by U. S.A. and the socialist countries led by the Soviet Union. From time to time， there were conflicts， which at a time almost developed into a third world war. He was the youngest President in American history. People were still doubt of him. But after the inauguration， people respected him， adored him. His speeches were alive， passionate. Represented his government， he expressed the basis of his principles and policies. In order to achieve these effects， he uses many figures of speech， takes care of the use of sentence pattern.

Rhetoric is the art of conveying a point in a convincing， eloquent， and effective way. Rhetoric is what makes some writing beautiful and other writing bland. Pragmatics studies the use of language in human communication as determined by the conditions of society. In this paper， comparison will be made between two speeches， one from former President Kennedy’s inauguration speech， and the other from President Obama’s inauguration speech.

A. Alliteration

The word “Alliteration” originates from the Latin word “Lettera” which means repeating and playing upon the same letter. It is a very often used device. If it is properly used， it will bring language the beauty of tempo， music， it will also create atmosphere， strengthen emotions， and reinforce the language expressive force. For example：

1.t 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 （from Kennedy）

In this ample， he first words of pay and price， bear and burden are the same; the pronunciation is the same. When the sentence is read， it runs smoothly， and the emotions become strong. Thus it well expressed the determination that the new government will meet any hardship， support any friend， and oppose any foe to assure the survival.

B. Antithesis

This kind of rhetoric device will not only put the two sentences or ideas in to sharp contrast， but also give the reader or the audience the impression the well-shaped beauty. For example：

2. ?so， my fellow Americans ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. （from Kennedy）

In this famous sentence， the writer puts “ask not” and “ask” into contrast， “your country” and “you” into contrast， the different position of the words well reveal and disclose the contradiction between the two. Besides， it makes the language terse， and the sound of it is of musical harmony， just like the horn is chiming： ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. Thus， it encourages people to go forward， be brave to pursue their dream.

3...United; there is little we can not do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided， there is little we can do. （From Kennedy）

In the sentence above， the writer put “united” and “divided” into contrast， “little we cannot do” and “little we can do” into contrast. The strong contrast illustrates the two different effects that the “united” and “divided” will brings. The writer calls for hands in hands with other nations that share the same cultural and spiritual origin， developing together， facing their common enemies together.

C. Paregnenon

Paregnenon is also from Greek. It means to bring side by side. The definition in the Encyclopedia of English is the use of several words of similar origin close together. The function of it is that it will bring structural beauty， and it also makes harmony in the sound， mutually echo in the meaning， and produces the beauty of artistic context. For example：

4.…not as a call to battle， though embattled we are… （From Kennedy）

D.Oxymoron

“Oxymoron” puts two antonyms which is obviously contradictory together. The contradiction in surface level will get breakthrough therefore. The signified meaning and the significance of the rhetoric make the combination possible. It is not logical from the semantic view， but people can understand the deep meaning with no difficulty， because there is context. Context gives reasonable meaning space， and it thus， produces pragmatic meaning. After a careful thinking， reader will find that this rhetoric device is not illogical， but it creates a strong effect. For example：

5. Born in this century， tempered by war， disciplined by a hard and bitter peace （from Kennedy）

Reference：

1.President Obama’s Inauguration Speech

2.張漢熙. Advanced English [M]. 北京：外語教學與研究出版社，2001.

3.Jacob L. Mey. Pragmatics： An Introduction BLACKWELL publishers second edition 2001