Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Ich Bin Ein Berliner; JFK


1.  What is the author arguing?
Jonh F. Kennedys arguement was on the berlin wall that seperates the democratic west from the communist east. he exspressed his deeply resentment a man denided to make free choices and dislikes the way families were kept seperated."as long as one german out of four denide the elementry right of free men, and that is to make free choices". He also express what to me seemed that he was agenst the exspasion of Communisum.

2.  How does the author appeal to logos (logic), pathos (emotional quality), and ethos (the writer’s perceived character) with their argument?
 President Kennedy used multiple tactics a appeal to these topics. his approach toward the logistical problems was by simply mentioning no family, or peoples of the same backgroud/nationality should  not be seperated by such means. "Separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brother and sister and dividing people who wish to be joined together!". he mentions that man deserves the the right to freedom. every german deserves the rights to presue peace for there nation. the character he his talking about is the berliners. he is attempting to gain simpithy for the german people seperated and apressed by the "Evil" communist goverment.
 
3.  What is the historical significance /relevance of this document?

JFK made his ideal on the spread communisum clear. And around this time communisum was spreading all over the world. Places such as eastern europe, central and south america, asia, and even africa. which would lead to america attempting to halt its spreads, even through military actions such as the conflict's in vietnam.

4.  Do you find the author’s argument convincing?  Why or why not?
After finding more information about JFK's speech and the siutuation in berlin at that time i do find this spech convincing. the reason why is because he targeted peoples emotions. Anger, sympathy and fear were his main points and arsenal in persuading the people. He used fear by mentioning that it is rapidily spreading. He wanted the people to feel sympathetic for the plight of the Eastern Germans. He voiced his anger against what was believed to be the evil communist.

1 comment:

  1. Good job on your text analysis! I agree with you that John F. Kennedy's argument was on the berlin wall seperating the democratic west from the communist east. It seems as if he was encouraging people to come to Berlin in every sentence of his speech. Kennedy confirmed that the free nations stood for individuals having the freedom to make their own choices. Also, I agree with you that Kennedy appears to logos by mentioning that Germans deserve the right to be freemen. He appears to pathos by talking about loved ones being seperated and people who want to be together being seperated. "For it is an offense not only against humanity, seperating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters and dividing people who wished to be joined together!" He appears to ethos by talking about making the country a peaceful and hopeful globe, and having freedom everywhere. You can tell that he was a very hopeful man with good intentions. I agree with you that his argument was convincing. He used logic and his perceived character to get through to the audience. and he seemed to have supported the Germans a lot. I especially like how he ended his speech with a good quote "Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, No man is free...."

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