Sauqy,Muhammad Rifat

2/28/17
Period 6
Mr. Oh
Expo Comp

On Sept. 12, 1962, in front of a large crowd, President John F. Kennedy gave this

motivating and inspiring speech that is known as the We Choose to go to the Moon speech, at

Rice University in Houston, Texas. Though President Kennedy never stating directly, he strongly

suggested the U.S. needed to make it to the moon before the Soviet Union, due to the fact that

they were engaged in Cold War. Kennedys purpose of delivering this speech is to persuade the

audience to invest in the NASA exploration and to inform everyone on how the program is doing

and the advancements thus far.

President John F. Kennedy uses Logos appeal to show the American people and the

rest of the world that even though it is expensive and dangerous to go into space, it is

worthwhile to do so in order to gain more knowledge, promote peace and cooperation and also

to further our understanding of the universe around us. According to his speech, We set sail on

this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won. And they

must be won and used for the progress of all people. Space science, like nuclear science and

all technology, has no conscience of its own. Only if the United states occupies a position of pre-

eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying

theater of war.(3), and also he said 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 many never come again.(3). Many nations want to

conquer the space, but for Kennedy, that is part of his responsibility as a president of the United

States, to be the one who can help this new ocean (space) to be a sea of peace, instead of
terrifying theater of war. During that time, there was no national conflict and war in outer space

as yet; the only nation that capable of holding this peaceful situation throughout space is United

States. It was once in a lifetime opportunity for Kennedy and for United States to take the lead

and promote peaceful cooperation among the space.

President John F. Kennedy also uses Pathos appeal to instill pride in the U.S. audience

by telling them that they were headed to the moon because it was a worthy challenge for the

American people and they could not be left behind in the space race, otherwise they would lose

their position of one of the leading countries in the world. Kennedy said This is a breathtaking

pace, and such a pace cannot help but create new ills as it dispels old, new ignorance, new

problems, new dangers. Surely the opening vistas of space promise high costs and hardships,

as well as high reward.(2), he continued this country of the United States was not built by

those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by

those who moved forward --- and so will space.(2). He also added No nation that expects to be

the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space.(2). The risks of

failure are high, the stakes that Kennedy put on the line of choosing moon are really high, but all

those things didnt matter to President Kennedy because he was so ambitious, so optimist that

made him choose this extremely hard and dangerous mission, the race for space. Kennedy

didnt want U.S. to be left behind on the race to the moon. For their pride, for Americans pride,

President Kennedy putted so much effort on this mission and putted anything on the line in

order to make United States is the first country who landed on the surface of the moon. The

stakes are not only be the first country who can land on the moon, but also if United States

didnt participate for this race, they could possibly lose their position as one of the leading

countries in terms of technology. And the reason why United States is still a superpower country

until now and will last forever is because their previous generation,their todays generation and
their future generation will never ever sit back and relax; they will always take one step ahead

than other nations.

There are a lot of literary devices that President Kennedy uses for this speech and one

of them is anaphora, possibly the oldest literary device. This is used to lay emphasis on ideas

made by the United States and the space program. This literary device, anaphora, engages the

audience by a driving rhythm, emphasis and how easy the words can be remembered. There

are some lines that he said on his speech, We meet at a college noted for knowledge, in a city

noted for progress, in a state noted for strength.(1). The other lines will be new ignorance, new

problems, new dangers.(2). He also said Those who came before us made certain that this

country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions. They rode the first waves of modern

invention, and the first wave of nuclear power.(3). Those lines deliberate repetition of the first

sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect. Anaphora also has the effect of engaging or

persuade the audience in a particular experience. Due to the fact that anaphora is easy to be

remembered, anaphora easily catches audiences attention and make the speech memorable.

In conclusion, the overall effectiveness of President John F. Kennedys We choose to go

to the moon speech is inspiring. His speech was written and spoken to inform Americans of the

ideas and mission of the space program and United States government. The people of America

love the ideas and are very excited to be the first people to put a man on the moon. The ideas

and missions mentioned in this speech were conducted and very effective, because United

States won the space race and United States succeeded their goals as a country.
Work Cited