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Dramatism
Kenneth Burke

GROUP AND PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: PUBLIC RHETORIC

Chapter 23
 The Rhetoric
Narrative Paradigm 
Chapter 23
 The Rhetoric
Narrative Paradigm 

Chapter Outline 9th Edition

  1. Introduction.
    1. Burke believes that language is a strategic human response to a specific situation.
    2. The task of the critic is to assess motives.
    3. Burke defined dramatism as “a technique of analysis of language and thought as basically modes of action rather than as means of conveying information.”
    4. For Burke, life is not like a drama; life is drama.
    5. In 1952, Marie Hochmuth Nichols brought Burke to the speech communication field.
  2. The dramatistic pentad: A lens for interpreting verbal action.
    1. The dramatistic pentad is a tool to analyze how a speaker tries to persuade an audience to accept his or her view of reality as true.
      1. The act names what took place in thought or deed.
      2. The scene is the background of the act, the situation in which it occurred.
      3. The agent is the person or kind of person who performed the act.
      4. The agency is the means or instruments used to perform the act.
      5. The purpose is the implied or stated goal of the act.
    2. Content analysis identifies key terms on the basis of frequency and use.
      1. The “god term” is the word to which all other positive words are subservient.
      2. The “devil term” sums up all that the speaker regards as evil.
      3. Words are terministic screens that dictate interpretations of life’s drama.
    3. The five elements of the pentad usually refer to the act described                 within the speech rather than the act of giving the speech.
    4. Burke contrasts the dramatistic pentad of intentional action with scientific terms that describe motion without purpose.
    5. More than any other theorist featured in this text, Burke draws hundreds of connections between his theoretical ideas and a wide sweep of literature, history, politics, sociology, philosophy, and religion.
    6. The ratio of importance between individual pairs of terms in the dramatistic pentad indicates which element provides the best clue to the speaker’s motivation.
    7. The speaker’s worldview is revealed when one element is stressed over the other four.
      1. An emphasis on act demonstrates a commitment to realism.
      2. An emphasis on scene downplays free will and reflects an attitude of situational determinism.
      3. An emphasis on agent is consistent with idealism.
      4. An emphasis on agency springs from the mind-set of pragmatism.
      5. An emphasis on purpose suggests the concerns of mysticism.
  3. Language as the genesis of guilt
    1. Man-made language gives us the capacity to create rules and standards for behavior that Burke called the “thou shalt nots” of life.
    2. Burke uses guilt as his catchall term to cover every form of tension, anxiety, embarrassment, shame, disgust, and other noxious feelings he believed inherent in human symbol-using activity.
    3. Burke reiterates that it’s only through man-made language that the possibility of choice comes into being.
    4. The final phrase, “rotten with perfection,” is an example of what Burke called perspective by incongruity.
    5. Our  greatest strength is also our greatest weakness.
  4. The guilt-redemption cycle: A universal motive for rhetoric
    1. The ultimate motivation of all public speaking is to purge ourselves of guilt.
    2. Rhetoric is the public search for a perfect scapegoat.
    3. Burke said that the speaker or author has two possible ways of offloading guilt.
      1. Described theologically as mortification, this route requires confession of sin and a request for forgiveness.
      2. Since self-blame (or mortification) is difficult to admit publicly, it’s easier to blame someone else.
      3. Victimage is the process of designating an external enemy as the source of all our ills.
      4. Burke was not an advocate of redemption through victimage, but he recognized its prevalence.
  5. Identification: without it, there is no persuasion.
    1. Identification is the common ground that exists between speaker and audience.
      1. Substance encompasses a person’s physical characteristics, talents, occupation, background, personality, beliefs, and values.
      2. The more overlap between the substance of the speaker and the substance of the audience, the greater the identification.
      3. Although social scientists use the term homophily to describe perceived similarity between speaker and listener, Burke preferred religious allusions—identification is consubstantiation.
    2. Identification is established through style and content.
    3. Identification flows both ways between speaker and audience.
    4. Identification is never complete; division is a part of human existence.  But without some kind of division, there’s no need for identification, and consequently, for persuasion.
  6. Critique: evaluating the critic’s analysis.
    1. Burke may have been the foremost twentieth-century rhetorician.
    2. His presentation is often confusing and obscure.
      1. He employed multiple vocabularies and copious literary allusions.
      2. Burke enthusiasts enjoy the challenge of reading his work because he celebrates the life-giving quality of language.
    3. The dramatistic pentad is the most popular feature of Burke’s approach.
    4. The concept of rhetoric as identification is a major advance.
    5. Of Burke’s motivational principles, his strategies of redemption are the most controversial.
      1. Many find his religious imagery problematic.
      2. His assumption that guilt underlies all public address is questionable.
    6. Burke’s commitment to an ethical stance is commendable.

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TEXT COMPARE

Archived chapters (PDF)
from previous editions
are available in
Resources by Type.
See list

New to Theory
Resources?
Find out more in this short
video overview (3:01).


Dramatism
Kenneth Burke

GROUP AND PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: PUBLIC RHETORIC

Chapter 23
 The Rhetoric
Narrative Paradigm 
Chapter 23
 The Rhetoric
Narrative Paradigm 

Chapter Outline 9th Edition

  1. Introduction.
    1. Burke believes that language is a strategic human response to a specific situation.
    2. The task of the critic is to assess motives.
    3. Burke defined dramatism as “a technique of analysis of language and thought as basically modes of action rather than as means of conveying information.”
    4. For Burke, life is not like a drama; life is drama.
    5. In 1952, Marie Hochmuth Nichols brought Burke to the speech communication field.
  2. The dramatistic pentad: A lens for interpreting verbal action.
    1. The dramatistic pentad is a tool to analyze how a speaker tries to persuade an audience to accept his or her view of reality as true.
      1. The act names what took place in thought or deed.
      2. The scene is the background of the act, the situation in which it occurred.
      3. The agent is the person or kind of person who performed the act.
      4. The agency is the means or instruments used to perform the act.
      5. The purpose is the implied or stated goal of the act.
    2. Content analysis identifies key terms on the basis of frequency and use.
      1. The “god term” is the word to which all other positive words are subservient.
      2. The “devil term” sums up all that the speaker regards as evil.
      3. Words are terministic screens that dictate interpretations of life’s drama.
    3. The five elements of the pentad usually refer to the act described                 within the speech rather than the act of giving the speech.
    4. Burke contrasts the dramatistic pentad of intentional action with scientific terms that describe motion without purpose.
    5. More than any other theorist featured in this text, Burke draws hundreds of connections between his theoretical ideas and a wide sweep of literature, history, politics, sociology, philosophy, and religion.
    6. The ratio of importance between individual pairs of terms in the dramatistic pentad indicates which element provides the best clue to the speaker’s motivation.
    7. The speaker’s worldview is revealed when one element is stressed over the other four.
      1. An emphasis on act demonstrates a commitment to realism.
      2. An emphasis on scene downplays free will and reflects an attitude of situational determinism.
      3. An emphasis on agent is consistent with idealism.
      4. An emphasis on agency springs from the mind-set of pragmatism.
      5. An emphasis on purpose suggests the concerns of mysticism.
  3. Language as the genesis of guilt
    1. Man-made language gives us the capacity to create rules and standards for behavior that Burke called the “thou shalt nots” of life.
    2. Burke uses guilt as his catchall term to cover every form of tension, anxiety, embarrassment, shame, disgust, and other noxious feelings he believed inherent in human symbol-using activity.
    3. Burke reiterates that it’s only through man-made language that the possibility of choice comes into being.
    4. The final phrase, “rotten with perfection,” is an example of what Burke called perspective by incongruity.
    5. Our  greatest strength is also our greatest weakness.
  4. The guilt-redemption cycle: A universal motive for rhetoric
    1. The ultimate motivation of all public speaking is to purge ourselves of guilt.
    2. Rhetoric is the public search for a perfect scapegoat.
    3. Burke said that the speaker or author has two possible ways of offloading guilt.
      1. Described theologically as mortification, this route requires confession of sin and a request for forgiveness.
      2. Since self-blame (or mortification) is difficult to admit publicly, it’s easier to blame someone else.
      3. Victimage is the process of designating an external enemy as the source of all our ills.
      4. Burke was not an advocate of redemption through victimage, but he recognized its prevalence.
  5. Identification: without it, there is no persuasion.
    1. Identification is the common ground that exists between speaker and audience.
      1. Substance encompasses a person’s physical characteristics, talents, occupation, background, personality, beliefs, and values.
      2. The more overlap between the substance of the speaker and the substance of the audience, the greater the identification.
      3. Although social scientists use the term homophily to describe perceived similarity between speaker and listener, Burke preferred religious allusions—identification is consubstantiation.
    2. Identification is established through style and content.
    3. Identification flows both ways between speaker and audience.
    4. Identification is never complete; division is a part of human existence.  But without some kind of division, there’s no need for identification, and consequently, for persuasion.
  6. Critique: evaluating the critic’s analysis.
    1. Burke may have been the foremost twentieth-century rhetorician.
    2. His presentation is often confusing and obscure.
      1. He employed multiple vocabularies and copious literary allusions.
      2. Burke enthusiasts enjoy the challenge of reading his work because he celebrates the life-giving quality of language.
    3. The dramatistic pentad is the most popular feature of Burke’s approach.
    4. The concept of rhetoric as identification is a major advance.
    5. Of Burke’s motivational principles, his strategies of redemption are the most controversial.
      1. Many find his religious imagery problematic.
      2. His assumption that guilt underlies all public address is questionable.
    6. Burke’s commitment to an ethical stance is commendable.

 
 
 
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