Question

Read the excerpt from “Speech at American University” by John F. Kennedy.

Answer 1

Answer:

Allusion.

Explanation:

Allusion is the use of figuratively referring to an image or idea, though not a direct reference to it. This technique allows an author to make a passing reference to any idea or person in his/ her attempt to try to make the readers understand more.

In his "Inaugural Address", President John Fitzgerald Kennedy used the figurative language of allusion in talking about the aims and objectives of his administration. He alludes to the verse from the Bible, to the book of Isaiah chapter 58 verse 6, where the prophet Isaiah stated

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

   and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

   and break every yoke?"

Alluding to this verse, President Kennedy talks of his aim to fight for the liberty of the oppressed, and lighten the burden of the people.

Answer 2

Read the excerpt from “Speech at American University” by John F. Kennedy.

Read the paragraph from John F. Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address.”

Let both sides unite to heed, in all corners of the earth, the command of Isaiah— to “undo the heavy burdens, and [to] let the oppressed go free.”

This paragraph is an example of allusion.

This is because the excerpt is alluding to Isaiah