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JuliaCatena
ProfessorBenHenderson
RhetoricandCivicLifeI
12October2015
ACryForPeace
Throughoutthe1960sand70sviolencewasrampantinallcornersoftheworld.
Theworldwasplaguedwithwar,racialtensionandviolentprotests.Sometriedto
combatthisviolencewithmoreviolencewhileotherscriedoutforpeace.Thispeaceful
mindsetgaverisetothemovementwenowrefertoascounterculture.Thoughtofas
oneoftheleadersofthismovementwasJohnLennon.Lennonwasabletoleadthis
movementbecauseofhismassivestarpoweranditwasalldonethroughmusic,hismost
famouscontributiontothismovementbeinghissongImagine.Afewyearspriortothis
movement,acommencementspeechwasgivenbyJohnF.KennedyatAmerican
Universityin1963addressingtheresponsibilityofthefuturegenerationstomakeittheir
goaltoachieveworldpeace.LennonandKennedyutilizeemotionalappealsand
rhetoricaldevicestocommunicatetheircriesforpeacetoaworldtornapartbyviolence.
Theirmethodsofdeliveringthismessagediffer,buttheeffectivenessisnotcompromised
ineithercase.Bothmenutilizedtheirplatformstoperformtheircivicdutiesoffighting
forwhattheybelieveisrighttosparkachange.
Thoughthesetwoleadersofthepeacemovementreachedtheirpeakofinfluence
almostadecadeapart,bothLennonandKennedycraftedanargumentforpeacethatwas
relevantintheirrespectivetimeperiods.The1960sand70swereatimeofhate,


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revengeandundyingviolence.WithtensionsstillhighfromWorldWarII,themajor
worldpowershadmuchtodobeforeanagreementcouldbereachedandashistory
reveals,theseissueswerefarfrombeingresolved.Despitethechallenge,bothLennon
andKennedyattemptedtousetheirfameandcredibilitytobringtheworldtogether
againstviolence.ImagineandKennedysspeechentitledAStrategyforPeaceboth
possessthiscommonideologyofunityandpeace.Eachofthemcrafttheirargumentto
communicatetheseideologiesandtheimportanceofimmediateactiontocombat
violence.Similarly,inbothcallstoaction,LennonandKennedyutilizecommonplaces
toconnecttotheiraudienceandmaketheproblemofviolencemorepersonal.Lennon
utilizescommonplacesinhispieceImaginebydiscussingtheabsenceof
commonplacessuchastheconceptsofgreed,hunger,possessions,thingsallhisaudience
membersarefamiliarwith,todrivehomehismessagethatourhabitsandexpectations
arethecauseofothersmisery.Kennedyutilizesasimilarrhetoricaltechniqueto
communicatehismessageoftheimportanceofendingviolencewithhisaudience.
KennedyalsoutilizestheAmericancommonplaceofworkinghardforabetterlifeto
connectwithhisaudiencewhoisnotonlythecollegestudentsthatheisstandinginfront
of,buttherestofthecountrywatchingandreading.Makingthemresponsiblefor
creatingthepeacethatwould
enablemenandnationstogrowandtohopeandtobuilda
betterlifefortheirchildren.
Heletsthemknowthatfamiliesdealingwiththisviolence
cannotbuildasafeenvironmentfortheirfamilies.LikeLennon,Kennedyutilizes
commonplacestogainsympathyfromhisaudienceandthenattemptstotakethis
sympathyandturnitintoaction.


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Theuseofkairosinbothofthesesituationsspeakstotheconcernsandhopesof
theirrespectiveaudiences.Kennedygavethiscommencementaddressjustaftertheend
oftheCubanMissileCrisisandinthemidstoftheheatedColdWar.Imaginewas
releasedin1971,inthemidstofraceriotsandtheVietnamWar.Theprecisenessofthe
timeofthesecallstoactionexemplifiestheirmessagesbecauseitismorerelatabletothe
audience.Also,thecredibilityofthesourceofthiscalltoactionisconvincingtothe
audiencethatthisisaseriousissue.Alongwiththeirmessages,thetimingandsourcesof
thesetwoartifactsallowthemtobeconsideredactofcivicengagement.Civic
engagementcanbedefinedasworkingtomakeapositivedifferenceinthelivesof
communitymembersordevelopingtheknowledgeorskillsthatcouldleadtoachange.
Inboththesecases,theactofworkingtomakeapositivedifferencewasachieved.
Lennonachievedthisbywritingasongabouthisgoalofworldpeace.Lennonutilizes
repetitionofthephraseImagineallthepeopleandfollowingwithphraseslikesharing
alltheworldandlivinglifeinpeace.Lennonsuseofahypotheticalutopiaachieves
itsgoalofgettingtheaudiencetovisualizethisperfectworldandcompareittotheir
ownviolentreality.Thepresentationoftheseunattainablegoalscausedhisaudienceto
absorbLennonsopinionsandchangethemintofeasiblegoals.Thisvisualizationledto
peacefulprotests,attemptingtoturnthishypotheticalworldintoatangibleone.
Similarly,Kennedyusesemotionalappealtoaccomplishthissamegoal.
KennedycallsfortheAmericanpublictoreexamine[their]attitudestowardsthesoviet
union,claimingbothpowershaveamutualabhorrenceofwar.Kennedyutilizesa
comparisonofAmericatotheSovietUniontochangehisaudiencesperspectiveonwho


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theycurrentlythinkofastheirenemy.KennedyemphasizesthatthepeopleoftheSoviet
Unionarenotevilbutjustlikethem.IftheAmericanpeopleseetheSovietsastheir
equals,thenpeacecouldbeachieved.Bypresentinghisthoughtsinthissimpleway,
Kennedyengageshisaudiencetobegintothinkaboutsimplechangestheycouldmaketo
helpinthepeaceeffort.
Althoughthemessagesofthesetwoleadersareverysimilar,themannerinwhich
thismessageispresentedtotheirrespectiveaudiencesiscontrastingbutquite
appropriate.InLennonscase,hisfamearosefromhispartintheBeatles,so
appropriately,hismessagewasconveyedintheformofsong.Hiscalmingmelody
accentuateshispointofpeace.Asongisaveryeffectivewayofcommunicationbecause
itforcestheaudiencetolisten,theycannotbedistractedbyanythingelse.Alltheyare
leftwithisavoiceandthelyrics.Thisformatwasthemosteffectiveforhisaudienceand
fans.Ontheotherhand,KennedywasthepresidentoftheUnitedStateswhenhegave
thisspeechsoawellwritten,powerfulspeechwasexpectedandappropriate.Kennedy
usesstronginclusivelanguagesuchaswe,usandAmericanstoconveythe
importanceandpersonabilityoftheissueathand.Aspresident,thismethodof
communicationwasthemostcompellingforaworldleaderandmostpowerfulashis
positionasthepresident.Inaspeechformat,Kennedyisabletousestrongerlanguage
andtouchonmoretopicsthanLennonbutbothmethodsofcommunicationeffectively
deliverthemessagetotheintendedaudience.
Ontopofthis,LennonandKennedyhavedifferentideasofhowtoachievethis
peace.Lennonpresentsanunattainableutopia,mentioningriddingtheworldofhunger,


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greed,religionandcountries,butheknowsthisisunattainable.Hejustwantshislisteners
toimaginealifewithoutthesecommonplacesandwhatapeacefullifeitwouldbe.In
contrast,Kennedyproposesacivilapproach.Hepresentshisgoalasattainablebysaying
peace
doesnotrequirethateachmanlovehisneighboritrequiresonlythattheylive
togetherinmutualtolerance.Thisway,Kennedycommunicatestohisaudiencethat
slowlybutsurely,peacecanbeattainedifeveryoneparticipates.
Bothofthesepeacemovementleadersutilizedrhetoricalargumentstopersuade
theiraudiencestojoinintheirfightforpeacehowever,theirmethodsdifferinthe
deliveryofthismessage.WhileKennedyusesthemethodofspeech,Lennonutilizeshis
talentasasongwritertocommunicatehismessage.Theirmessagesspreadthroughoutthe
worldandmadeapositivechangeinthewakeofviolence.

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