Textual Analysis: Ich bin ein Berliner - Essay Example

Kennedy addressed not only West Berliners but also the entire world in an elegant and artful manner that inspired unity for democracy. John Kennedy’s appearance in Germany began as a trip to Europe, which later included visits to Italy, Great Britain, Ireland, and Vatican City. Despite the numerous destinations, this was the most important stop of the trip. Since the Berlin wall construction, Berlin had been the centre of the cold war struggle between the Soviet Union and the United State. Therefore, this speech served as s symbol from the U.

S and Kennedy himself, for Berlin’s freedom and democracy. John F Kennedy’s employed several literal acts to create and display his themes in the speech. It was symbolic for the President of the U.S to communicate to West Germany himself to make his audiences aware that he is one of them. This symbolic act reinforced the solidarity theme in the speech. Kennedy’s use of the plural pronoun “we” illustrates his assumption of the crowd’s attitudes. He creates a sense of shared attitudes and values with his audience regarding democracy and freedom.

Through this, he brings out his second theme; identification. It was easier for the president to persuade his audiences as well as bond with them by identifying with them. In the ethopoeia, the president positions himself as a German to make it possible for him to understand and express his sentiments vividly. Kennedy also uses language as a tool to deliver his speech successfully and create a meaningful rapport with the audience. He uses the sentence: “Ich bin ein Berliner”, which makes his audiences go wild with cheers and applauses.

He uses the sentence at the start of speech and reiterates it at the end too. This way, he employed diacope, which increases his listener’s ability to recall the sentence. Using actions and words, Kennedy