Rhetorical devices

Here, we will focus on a few rhetorical devices used by Kennedy in his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech…

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Repetition

The most noticeable repetition employed in Kennedy’s speech is the repetition of the sentence “Let them come to Berlin”, which appears five times – including the German translation “Lass’ sie nach Berlin kommen”. This type of repetition is also known as “epistrophe” o…

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Direct address

As we have previously mentioned, Kennedy uses direct address when he speaks directly to the audience. This is noticeable through the use of the possessive “your” and the pronoun “you”:

I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud -- And I am proud to visit…

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Antithesis and humour

Antithesis is employed when Kennedy combines opposite ideas to make a point about the contrast between democracy and the Communist system. While agreeing that democracy has its flaws, he also uses a counter-argument that would make it harder for its opponents to attack his statement: “Freedom h…