Rhetorical Analysis of JFK's Speech on Rising Steel Prices

JFK Steel Speech Rough Draft In his speech to the people of the United States of America, president Kennedy uses repetition and offers solutions with a very imperative tone to convey his opinion that steel companies are causing harm by making their prices higher. He continues to argue that in a rising industry, they are the cause of jobs being lost, and that because of them, the country will be further in debt. Kennedy begins his speech with a major statement that grabs the reader’s attention, because it completely attacks and undermines the steel companies. “Increasing prices by some 6 dollars a ton, constitute a wholly unjustifiable and irresponsible defiance of the public interest.” This quote and opening comment states that Kennedy believes the steel corporations are doing things they shouldn’t be doing by raising steel prices, especially just after the country came out of a recession and when jobs and money are most needed. He continues to assert his point on the atrocity of steel corporations throughout the speech with the use of repetition. Kennedy constantly uses the phrase “it would” throughout his address. He is trying to show what is going to happen if the steel companies continue to be greedy and raise prices. He states that it would increase the cost of homes, machinery, automobiles, add 1 billion dollars to the deficit, and make it more difficult for American products to survive in an ever growing foreign market. After catching the reader’s attention and undermining the steel corporation’s ideas, Kennedy solidifies his speech by using imperative syntax, which adds a sense of urgency to the situation. He constantly affirms the seriousness by using “necessary” and providing solutions to solve the problem. “And it is necessary to stem it for our national security, if we are going to pay for out security communications abroad.” This quote shows that we need to take action over the steel industry for progress to come and for the