Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika: An analysis of Kennedy and Reagan’s speeches on the Berlin Wall

The present paper offers a content and pragmatic analysis of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan’s speeches on the Berlin Wall with the aim of providing the reader with a complete investigation on the meaning. As far as the content analysis is concerned, this study compares the seduction strategies and rhetorical means as well as the main themes and lexemes recurring in these speeches. With respect to pragmatic analysis, the investigation focuses on linguistic implicitating strategies conveying debatable notions. Results show that both presidents frequently employed such strategies in their speeches.