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Understanding Burke's Pentad Elements

Mar 10, 2025

Lecture on Burke's Pentad

Introduction

  • Focus: Elements of the pentad in Kenneth Burke's theory.
  • Importance: Understand and apply these to any rhetorical artifact.
  • Five Elements: Act, Agent, Agency, Scene, Purpose.

Detailed Breakdown of the Pentad

1. Act

  • Definition: What is happening in thought or deed.
    • Example: An event, change of thoughts, internal state (sorrow, joy).
  • Importance: Central element; other parts interpreted in light of the act.

2. Agent

  • Definition: The one performing the act.
  • Consistency: Must align with the act.
  • Note: Not a quiz with right answers; heuristic tool for analysis.

3. Agency

  • Definition: How the act was accomplished.
  • Tools: Means used by the agent to perform the act.
  • Consistency: Must align with both act and agent.

4. Scene

  • Definition: Background or setting where the act occurs.
  • Importance: Provides context for understanding the act.
  • Note: Scene can be specific or generic (e.g., tension, chaos).

5. Purpose

  • Definition: Goal of the act.
  • Note: Not motive but specific aim of the act.

Application of the Pentad

Example Analysis 1

  • Artifact: New Yorker Magazine Cover
    • Act: Getting noticed by big rich people.
    • Agent: Little people protesting.
    • Agency: Annoyance and protest.
    • Scene: Luxurious excess of the rich.
    • Purpose: Stop being walked over.

Example Analysis 2

  • Artifact: Perfume Advertisement
    • Act: Seduction and surrender.
    • Agent: The beautiful people.
    • Agency: Magic perfume.
    • Scene: Black and white setting (timeless, anywhere).
    • Purpose: Romance and intimacy.

Conclusion

  • The pentad provides a framework for understanding the drama in rhetorical artifacts.
  • Understanding is deepened by interpretation through pentatic ratios, which will be discussed in the next lesson.

Key Takeaways

  • The pentad is a heuristic tool for analyzing and understanding rhetorical artifacts.
  • Five elements are interconnected and provide insight into the drama presented by the artifact.
  • Interpretation of the pentad's findings (pentatic ratios) is a further step in the analysis process.

Full transcript