Question

How does Kennedy’s word choice affect the tone and meaning of this excerpt from the passage?

Answer 1

The excerpt provided in the question belongs to a speech President Kennedy gave in West Berlin on June 26th, 1963. The President's word choices such as "failures", "world to see", "obvious", "offense against humanity" "dividing" help to set the tone and meaning of his speech. Kennedy addressed the audience in Berlin, but also the world, to express the support given by the United States to West Berlin against the wall that the Soviet Union had built. He uses repetition, for example with the word offense, to give a clear message on how the communist system is attacking the freedom of the world and of all of Berlin's citizens, and how democracy is the only solution to the separation of families and communities that want to be together.