Definition and examples of kenneth burkes pentad thoughtco. Dramatism recommends the use of a metalinguistic approach to stories about human action that investigates the roles and uses of five rhetorical elements common to all narratives, each of which is related to a question. Applying burkes pentad as a way to organize thoughts about the possible future has several advantages. What is the history behind the act the third category of burkes pentad is the agent. It incorporates the 5 points of dramatism and provides a complete statement behind each element of the decision0making process. In this theory, our lives are as if on a stage, setting us individuals as actors on that stage as a way to understand human motives and relations. Any complete statement about motives will offer some kind of answers to these five questions. The dramatistic pentad forms the core structure of dramatism, a method for examining. The other four parts of the pentad of course also contribute. The value of the pentad as a critical method is particularly clear when applied to reagans speech. Burkes pentad of five key terms act, agent, agency. Bushs speech the very night of the attacks on september 11, 2001.
The one i chose for our class is kenneth burkes pentad. Burke believed that by examining the first four components of the pentad, one could obtain an answer to the question posed by the fifthwhat was the purpose or motivation of the act. In his dramatistic theory burke isolates five sources of motive in the drama. The simple answer would be to follow burkes suggestion in 1972 as he reflects upon the problem. Capitol, and delivered his second inaugural address. Although ive been exposed to these terms before, i did not realize what the purpose behind dividing the characteristics of motives in this way. He also later added a sixth term, attitude, making the pentad into a hexad. Summing everything up i went through kenneth burkes pentad dramatism and how it relates to everything in life giving people the reason to do things, where things went down and the reasons behind the actions that were taken place such as the various people denying the woman help because of certain reason such as the childhood friend not. The act is an important part of the meaning, thought it is not the whole meaning, even though it may sometimes be thought to be so. The straightforwardness of terms and ideas are not so simply applied, however. The pentad is a rhetorical spin on the journalist questions that you may have been taught when you were youngthe. To understand burkes definition of the human being. Burke, 1945 in order for motives to be understood further, burke presents what is knows as the pentad.
They have turned to rhetorical theory to come to terms with this rhetorically mediated reality and to engage students as critical citizens within it. On january 21, 20, president barack obama took the oath of office at the u. The statement is bewildering even if bewilderment is the appropriate affective response to burke. The purpose of this paper is to analyze burkes pentad. Human communication chapter 711 flashcards quizlet. Jones john jay college of criminal justice author note oneil jones english 201. Acknowledging the needdesire for change in the american government. Burke explained the pentad in his book a grammar of motives originally published in 1945. This paper is an example of how to use the pentad to understand ideology. Applying burkes dramatic pentad to scenarios sciencedirect. Symbolic interactionistlanguage is symbolic action. A part of the explanation may be that the pentad is thoroughly introduced, applied, and explained in a grammar of motives, which offers compelling arguments for why the pentad is a fitting concept for analysis.
Any complete statement about motives will offer some kind of answer to these five questions. In rhetoric and composition, pentad refers to the set of five. It is very easy to understand and can be applied to the simplest scenarios or to the most complex. Kenneth burkes dramatism essay example topics and well. Tedford and herbeck note, the court in cohen narrowed the definition of.
Other theories from past rhetors, philosophers, etc. Burkes most extensive treatment of dramatism appears in. Applying burkes dramatic pentad to scenarios request pdf. Theatrics sixth element, is attitude frame the arousal of a. Pentad or hexad, the point is that wellrounded statements about human motivation will make some reference explicitly or not to act, scene, agent, agency, purpose, and attitude. This paper will address the origin of burkes pentad, a discussion of what the theory is meant to address, and how this theory can be applied to rhetoric in the future. By asking these fundamental questions, burke proposes that we can generate insights about the factors that led us to the action. Seeing new ratios by taking responsibility in a grammar of motives, burke introduces the pentad of motives using dramatism. Human beingsare a symbolcreating, symbolusing, and symbol misusing animal. In a dramatic and rhetorical situation, motivation is a matter of the relationships the ratios between terms. The act of the speech was the acknowledgement of the needdesire for change. Burke s most extensive treatment of dramatism appears in his book a grammar of motives. Basically, burkes pentad can be applied to any situation, and it does not assume that any persuasion occurred in any given situation. Interest in the interaction of language and action.
One early example of the communication through narrative discourse is. Kenneth burke himself used the pentad on many kinds of. Purpose august 3, 2016 august 20, 2016 by author sstanley2 what 12 sentences would you underline in the research writing you are annotating that suggests to you this is the big idea, the purpose behind this scholarship. Using kenneth burkes pentad teaching text rhetorically.
Burke introduced the pentad in his 1945 book a grammar of motives. The dramatistic pentad forms the core structure of dramatism, a method for examining motivations that the renowned literary critic kenneth burke developed. The testimonies offered by physicians and midwives at the trial of abigail odam clearly demonstrate that obstetricians and midwives attend different symbolic events and these disparate symbolisms elicit disparate observations about the reality of the birth eventwhat burke referred to as a terministic. Many basic writers, who are virtually unable to create a coherent paragraph, are nonetheless capable of presenting orally wellconstructed narratives of depth and feeling. Within burkes theory he gives 5 different steps to follow such as, the act which is states the person who committed the act, what is going on. Dramatism is a metaphor introduced by 20thcentury rhetorician kenneth burke to describe his critical method, which includes study of the various relations among the five qualities that comprise the pentad. The pentad, in my opinion, is the backbone of burkes dramatism. Burkes dramatistic approach emphasizes the performance aspect of persuasion as opposed to the scientific orientation larson, 2012, pg. Burke intended the pentad to be a form of rhetorical analysis, a method readers can use to identify the rhetorical nature of any text, group of texts, or statements that explain or represent human motivation. The thing that i like most about the pentad, which i feel is the backbone of burkes dramatism, is its simplicity. This is the instrument that is used to create the set of principles, either relational or functional, to understand the motive behind the decisions that are made. Your readers do not need to know that you have used burkes pentad to.
Eric ed354508 burkes method of dramatism and its use. Should be noted that burkes own definition of rhetoric isnt the art of persuasion. Burkes pentad rhetoric the nature of writing youtube. For more information about referencing sources in apa, see also. Using kenneth burkes pentad as a means for analyzing president bushs speech content allows for better understanding who he places blame on and how he intends to deal with this unexpected problem. Such an analysis, combining burkes fiveelement dramatistic pentad with freytags analysis of fiveact dramatic structure, suggests the extent of the use of each of burkes elements, their interrelation to one another, and the way in which nonhuman techniques that is, cinematographic agencies can take the role, as it were, of agents. Updated 11818 with additional literary examples from the great. Thus, teachers must try to get students to harness the strength of their oral abilities to improve their writing skills, and kenneth burkes pentad may provide a key.
Learn how to format the references page of your paper in apa style. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. In the epigraph to a grammar of motives, kenneth burke wrote that he wanted to purifynot exactly endwar. To understand the function of the pentad and how it relates to dramatism. For example, our chapter 12 hypothetical study of substance use in comic strips could be ana lyzed using burkes pentad. The paper kenneth burke s dramatism is an excellent example of an essay on performing arts. According to burke, the act is basically what took place.
It is burke s point that any wellrounded account of human action must include some reference to the five or six elements of. What is done by the unit the second part of his evaluation is the scene. Burkes pentad imagine that one were to manipulate the terms, for the imputing of motives, in such a case as this. Kenneth burke himself used the pentad on many kinds of discourse, especially poetry and philosophy. Whether it is a physical action similar to the above example or even what someone would say or think. Burke uses a tool of analysis called the pentad that is comprised of four different parts. Obama uses burkes dramatistic pentad to identify and connect with his audience. Dramatism, an interpretive communication studies theory, was developed by kenneth burke as a tool for analyzing human relationships. The hero agent with the help of his friends coagents outwits the villain counteragent by using a file agency that enables him to break his bonds act in order to escape purpose from the room where he has been confined scene. From the aforementioned example of how to apply burkes work and the pentad to analyse a meeting, as the pentad may be used to analyse many communication events including politics speeches. Burke discusses two important ideas that life is drama, and the ultimate motive of rhetoric is the. First, used as a survey or as part of a survey it is relatively straightforward means to collect perceptions and can be presented as a table or spreadsheet and, hence, can be seen by mbas, jds, and the like to fit within the conventions. Prenticehall, inc, 1945 part 1 126 pages the grammar of motives refers to the five principles or grammars of the pentad. The following five items ask students to apply kenneth burkes dramatistic pentad to the speech.
The application of kenneth burkes pentad in rhetorical criticism can reveal ideologies at work in a controversy. To understand and be able to list burkes three conditions required for human action. Burkes pentad intro to rhetoric the nature of writing. The dramatistic pentad and obamas yes, we can speech. Burkes pentad includes five categories, which help classifying arguments as dramatic actions. Burke is a 20th century rhetorician who was asking questions about motiveswhat motivates human beings to perform atrocious acts such as the holocaust in world war ii. Ever since the rhetorical turn in education, education scholars have recognized the importance of rhetoric in constructing and mediating human society. Kenneth burkes dramatistic perspective is applied to accounts told by staff members. In his book a grammar of motives he describes what is perhaps his most. A pentad can be used to understand rhetoric, drama, and life in general. Verbal symbols are meaningful acts from which motives can be derived griffin, p. Burke defines agency as what instrument or instruments he used. Each element of the pentad corresponds to a question what, when where, who, how, why and allows for an examination of the motive of the rhetor burke, 1945, p. A pentad can be used to understand rhetoric, drama, a.
To be able to list and recognize some of burkes criticisms and some of his contributions. Scenethe background of the act, the situation in which it occurred. Five terms make up the components of burkes 1945 pentad. Request pdf applying burkes dramatic pentad to scenarios describing the. Section 22 101512 no sins go unpunished word count. Much of this work draws on rhetorical theorist kenneth burke, but much of burkes. Burkes work can even be applied to virtually any other communication event as well, to analyse actual concentrate and views. For example, to answer the question who was the agent, the pentad demands a much deeper answer than a mere statement that ronald reagan was the man who physically delivered the speech and, therefore, was. Like the journalistic questions or the common topoi and tagmemic questions, the pentad can be presented as a series of questions. Pentadic analysis is the application of kenneth burkes dramatism as a.
It is important to note that burkes pentad wasnt all that original. This essay argues that burke conceives of the pentad as a universal heuristic of motives which derives from the very conception of human action. Burkes work can also be applied to just about any other communication event as well, to analyse underlying focus and views. Huma 1780 first assignment huma 1780aanalytical bookfilm. The major focus of the assignment will be on the ways that these. Pentadic analysis is the application of kenneth burkes dramatism as a rhetorical device to understand the conflict or tensions inherent to most narrative drama. Examples are clean needles services, instructions on safe. The pentad assumes people can have ambiguous, conflicting, and complex reasons for acting. Burke said that we choose words because of their dramatic potential, and that we each have preference for particular parts of the pentad. Burke s pentad is a heuristic a tool that allows us to analyze motivation in any dramatic motivation. Burkes pentad california state university, northridge. Kenneth burkes pentad has been widely applied by rhetorical critics, though its ontological status has not been recognized. As a literary theorist, burke believed that analyzing the focus that a narrator placed on some features of a conflict over others could provide insight into the narrators perspective. From the above example of how to apply burkes work and the pentad to analyse an event, as the pentad can be used to analyse many communication events including political speeches.