The Tragedy of Chappaquiddick

The passage describes a tragic event where John F. Kennedy Jr., son of former US President John F. Kennedy, was involved in an accident that resulted in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. After the incident, Kennedy suffered from concussion and shock, which led to disoriented thoughts and irrational behavior. He eventually reported the accident to the police and pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of the accident. The passage also touches on the idea of Kennedy resigning his seat in the US Senate due to the public scrutiny surrounding the event.

Below is the text of the late Senator Edward Kennedy’s famous “Chappaquiddick Speech”. The Speech
was broadcast nationally on July 25, 1969. For those of you not familiar with the incident, Edward (Ted)
Kennedy was accused of leaving the scene of an accident where a young woman, Mary Jo Kopechne,
died by drowning after a car driven by Kennedy overturned into a deep pond on Chappaquiddick Island
(off Martha’s Vineyard). This is the speech where he explains what happened to the people of
Massachusetts.
Please read the speech and analyze it using Burke’s Pentad. You may also listen to and/or watch the
speech at http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/tedkennedychappaquiddick.htm.
NOTE: If you choose to listen to or watch the speech, please note that the broadcast is incomplete.
You will have to read the first couple of paragraphs before you can hear him speaking. Likewise, you will
have to read the last couple of paragraphs, after the sound ends.
Answer the following questions regarding Ted Kennedy’s Speech, and upload your answers to ELMS.
1. What is the act?
2. What is the scene?
3. Who is the agent?
4. What is the agency?
5. What is the purpose of the speech? Remember that the answer to this question lies in Kennedy’s
words. What does he say is his reason for giving the speech?
6. Which element of the pentad stands out the most in this speech?
7. Where does Kennedy place the blame for the incident?
8. How did your view of Kennedy’s apology change from the first time you read/listened to/watched it
to after you did the pentadic analysis?

Edward (Ted) Kennedy: Chappaquiddick Speech
(Broadcast Nationally from Joseph P. Kennedy’s Home on July 25, 1969)
My fellow citizens:
I have requested this opportunity to talk to the people of Massachusetts about the tragedy which
happened last Friday evening. This morning I entered a plea of guilty to the charge of leaving the scene
of an accident. Prior to my appearance in court it would have been improper for me to comment on
these matters. But tonight I am free to tell you what happened and to say what it means to me.
On the weekend of July 18th, I was on Martha's Vineyard Island participating with my nephew, Joe
Kennedy -- as for thirty years my family has participated -- in the annual Edgartown Sailing Regatta. Only
reasons of health prevented my wife from accompanying me.
On Chappaquiddick Island, off Martha's Vineyard, I attended, on Friday evening, July 18th, a cook-out I
had encouraged and helped sponsor for a devoted group of Kennedy campaign secretaries. When I left
the party, around 11:15pm, I was accompanied by one of these girls, Miss Mary Jo Kopechne. Mary Jo
was one of the most devoted members of the staff of Senator Robert Kennedy. She worked for him for
four years and was broken up over his death. For this reason, and because she was such a gentle, kind,
and idealistic person, all of us tried to help her feel that she still had a home with the Kennedy family.
There is no truth, no truth whatever, to the widely circulated suspicions of immoral conduct that have
been leveled at my behavior and hers regarding that evening. There has never been a private
relationship between us of any kind. I know of nothing in Mary Jo's conduct on that or any other
occasion -- and the same is true of the other girls at that party -- that would lend any substance to such
ugly speculation about their character. Nor was I driving under the influence of liquor.
Little over one mile away, the car that I was driving on an unlit road went off a narrow bridge which had
no guard rails and was built on a left angle to the road. The car overturned in a deep pond and
immediately filled with water. I remember thinking as the cold water rushed in around my head that I
was for certain drowning. Then water entered my lungs and I actual felt the sensation of drowning. But
somehow I struggled to the surface alive.
I made immediate and repeated efforts to save Mary Jo by diving into the strong and murky current, but
succeeded only in increasing my state of utter exhaustion and alarm. My conduct and conversations
during the next several hours, to the extent that I can remember them, make no sense to me at all.
Although my doctors informed me that I suffered a cerebral concussion, as well as shock, I do not seek
to escape responsibility for my actions by placing the blame either on the physical and emotional
trauma brought on by the accident, or on anyone else.
I regard as indefensible the fact that I did not report the accident to the police immediately.
Instead of looking directly for a telephone after lying exhausted in the grass for an undetermined time, I
walked back to the cottage where the party was being held and requested the help of two friends, my
cousin, Joseph Gargan and Phil Markham, and directed them to return immediately to the scene with
me -- this was sometime after midnight -- in order to undertake a new effort to dive down and locate
Miss Kopechne. Their strenuous efforts, undertaken at some risk to their own lives, also proved futile.

All kinds of scrambled thoughts -- all of them confused, some of them irrational, many of them which I
cannot recall, and some of which I would not have seriously entertained under normal circumstances --
went through my mind during this period. They were reflected in the various inexplicable, inconsistent,
and inconclusive things I said and did, including such questions as whether the girl might still be alive
somewhere out of that immediate area, whether some awful curse did actually hang over all the
Kennedys, whether there was some justifiable reason for me to doubt what had happened and to delay
my report, whether somehow the awful weight of this incredible incident might in some way pass from
my shoulders. I was overcome, I'm frank to say, by a jumble of emotions: grief, fear, doubt, exhaustion,
panic, confusion, and shock.
Instructing Gargan and Markham not to alarm Mary Jo's friends that night, I had them take me to the
ferry crossing. The ferry having shut down for the night, I suddenly jumped into the water and
impulsively swam across, nearly drowning once again in the effort, and returned to my hotel about
2:00am -- and collapsed in my room. I remember going out at one point and saying something to the
room clerk.
In the morning, with my mind somewhat more lucid, I made an effort to call a family legal advisor, Burke
Marshall, from a public telephone on the Chappaquiddick side of the ferry and then belatedly reported
the accident to the Martha['s] Vineyard police.
Today, as I mentioned, I felt morally obligated to plead guilty to the charge of leaving the scene of an
accident. No words on my part can possibly express the terrible pain and suffering I feel over this tragic
incident. This last week has been an agonizing one for me and for the members of my family. And the
grief we feel over the loss of a wonderful friend will remain with us the rest of our lives.
These events, the publicity, innuendo, and whispers which have surrounded them and my admission of
guilt this morning raises the question in my mind of whether my standing among the people of my State
has been so impaired that I should resign my seat in the United States Senate. If at any time the citizens
of Massachusetts should lack confidence in their Senator's character, or his ability -- with or without
justification -- he could not in my opinion adequately perform his duties and should not continue in
office.
The people of this State, the State which sent John Quincy Adams, and Daniel Webster, and Charles
Sumner, and Henry Cabot Lodge, and John Kennedy to the United States Senate are entitled to
representation in that body by men who inspire their utmost confidence. For this reason, I would
understand full well why some might think it right for me to resign. For me, this will be a difficult
decision to make.
It has been seven years since my first election to the Senate. You and I share many memories -- some of
them have been glorious, some have been very sad. The opportunity to work with you and serve
Massachusetts has made my life worthwhile.
And so I ask you tonight, the people of Massachusetts, to think this through with me. In facing this
decision, I seek your advice and opinion. In making it, I seek your prayers -- for this is a decision that I
will have finally to make on my own.
It has been written:

A man does what he must -- in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles, and dangers, and
pressures -- and that is the basis of all human morality.1
...whatever may be the sacrifices he faces, if he follows his conscience -- the loss of his friends, his
fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow man -- each man must decide for himself the
course he will follow. The stories of the past courage cannot supply courage itself. For this, each man
must look into his own soul.2
I pray that I can have the courage to make the right decision. Whatever is decided, whatever the future
holds for me, I hope that I shall have -- be able to put this most recent tragedy behind me and make
some further contribution to our state and mankind -- whether it be in public or private life.
Thank you and good night.
1 Winston Churchill, source uncertain and pending confirmation; quotation also ascribed to John F. Kennedy (see below)
2 John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage
IMPORTANT: Please find the grading rubric that will be used to grade this assignment on the following
page.

GRADING RUBRIC FOR WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
The following rubric will be used to grade your assignment:
90 to 100 points 80 to 89 points 70 to 79 points 50 to 69 points 0 points
The student
demonstrates a
thorough
understanding (i.e.,
mastery) of the
class concepts
covered in the
assignment. The
student answers all
questions on the
assignment; the
student’s answers
are complete,
correct, and
appropriate for the
questions.
Arguments are
convincing, and the
student supports
his/her points using
examples from the
readings, lectures,
and/or material
provided for the
assignment (e.g.,
the student backs
up his or her claims
with direct quotes
from a speech).
The student demonstrates
a solid understanding of
the class concepts covered
in the assignment. The
student answers all
questions on the
assignment; the student’s
answers are complete,
generally correct, and
appropriate for the
question. Arguments are
generally convincing and
the student uses a number
of examples and quotes to
support his/her claims, but
his/her response is
sometimes generic. Most
supporting evidence comes
from the readings,
lectures, and/or materials
provided for the
assignment (e.g., the
student backs up his or her
claims with direct quotes
from a speech).
The student
demonstrates an
adequate understanding
of the class concepts
covered in the
assignment. The student
answers all questions on
the assignment; the
student’s answers are
complete, but the
answers are sporadically
correct and not always
appropriate for the
question. Arguments are
not convincing and the
student uses insufficient
or general evidence to
support his/her claims.
Little supporting
evidence comes from the
readings, lectures,
and/or materials
provided for the
assignment.
The student does not
demonstrate and
adequate understanding
of the class concept
covered in the
assignment. The student
does not answer all the
questions asked or the
student’s answers are
incomplete. The student’s
answers are not
appropriate for the
question, are too vague,
too short, or otherwise
ineffective at
demonstrating
understanding or
engagement with course
material. Little to no
supporting material from
the readings, lectures,
and/or materials provided
for the assignment is
provided.
Student
does not
turn in
assignment.