Kenneth Burke believed that rhetoric/symbols are embedded in all human beings and events. His fundamental methodology, “The dramatistic pentad,” is used as a guide for discovering motive and uniqueness in each rhetorical event. The pentad includes act, agency, agent, scene, and purpose. This is not a “cookie cutter” method, is a flexible means of “framing” rhetorical events, and conclusions are drawn about the motive, uniqueness of the message and purpose. (Then candidate for president) Obama’s speech on Race delivered across from Constitution Hall in Philadelphia is an excellent speech to analyze using this message in order to unfold the drama happening in March 2008 and take into account the 5 major aspects of the pentad in order to have a more thorough interpretation of the speech and what it meant.
An outline of the dramatistic pentad framing the speech is as follows:
Act: Candidate Obama delivering a speech about race, March 18, 2008 in Philadelphia, PA.
Agent: Candidate Obama
Agency: A nationally televised speech
Scene: In the midst of the primary elections. People are focusing in on Obama’s race as a strength and deterrent when considering him for the presidency. Scandal involving Obama’s reverend saying anti-white comments in his sermon—thus could possibly harm his campaign because Obama “associates” with this man.
Purpose: To put the “race” issue to bed in order to move on with his campaign and also to combat the bad comments made by his reverend and spin it in order to play down the hype. Also to unify the nation regardless of race in order to better the country.
The act is rather simple, it is candidate Obama giving a speech about race in March 2008 in Philadelphia and the agency is that it was a nationally televised speech. What makes it more complex is when one examines the 4 other elements of the pentad which give the event a deeper meaning.
Starting with agent, candidate Obama is a strong-willed individual with a turbulent childhood, who persevered through the hard times coming from nothing to make a successful politician of himself. Obama, to many people, is symbolic of the “American dream”—people who come from a very modest background and achieve more than anyone could have imagined for them based on their upbringing. What was refreshing about Obama was that he set himself apart early in the race as not following the “same old Washington politics” and trying to keep his campaign from being too negative. He is straightforward, thoughtful, and smart. If he doesn’t know an answer he will admit it and also admit where his opponents are right, as he did in the debates with John McCain in the fall of 2008. He wanted to unify Washington so all parties can co-exist and work in harmony to get things done. He was a breath of fresh air to the otherwise stale politics of the past. Also being half-black/African, he had the issue of race to overcome since he would be the first African American president if elected.
Looking at the scene, it was not the best atmosphere. Obama was battling the issue of race being brought up by everyone from his opponents and reporters to average citizens. Could a man of color really be the next president of the United States? And to add fuel to the fire, his reverend had made anti-white comments in his sermons which the media took and ran with spinning it and his opposition using it against him. So there were many hurdles Obama had to clear with this speech as well as advancing himself in the primary in hopes to beat Hillary Clinton for the democratic nomination.
Obama’s overall purpose of the speech seemed to be to put the issue of race “to bed” so it was not a factor and he could be looked at for his ideas and proposals rather than his physical attributes. Also it was a great PR tactic in order to spin off the negative comments made by the reverend. He was sincere, honest, and straightforward when delivering the speech as if to say to America, “Look everyone makes mistakes and while I may not look like a typical president my ideas are valid and I can move this country forward.” It’s this straightforward, dealing with conflict head on that drove many people to support him in the primaries and in November. He built credibility by not running away from scandals and problems but addressing them and then moving on.
It was interesting to note how much Obama used narrative in his speeches and particularly in this speech as well. In the beginning of the speech he references Constitution Hall and how the Declaration of Independence was signed “unfinished.” Then he remarks how we struggled to get equality through “protests and struggle.” It was almost as if he was saying this one document did not solve all the problems our country had at the time and therefore electing him wouldn’t be a quick fix, but he was willing “to continue of long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal more free….America.” Then he launches into a quick autobiography about himself. I noticed how he mentioned he has family of “every hue,” thus saying that he is well rounded and not “black-centric.” Also at the end of his short autobiography he remarks, “…that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.” Here he builds the morale of Americans up and sets us apart while being humble and saying to the people that he realizes that this country is the reason he was able to become something great and realize the American dream.
The overarching theme of this speech was unity. He starts with remarking about forming a “more perfect union” and ends the speech with the reference to Constitution hall and our forefathers trying to form a more perfect union. In a way his speech was saying to the people that while he is a different color, we all are different and we need to band together to form a “more perfect union” in order to get through the hardships that face our country.
He directly addresses Rev. Wright’s remarks by explaining the bitterness and memories of humiliation that have not passed since he grew up during the civil rights era. Also in the speech he remarks that if all one knew about Rev. Wright were the clips of his offensive sermon played over and over by the media then it would cause them to draw fallacious conclusions too. Here he really hit the media and his competitor’s with logic and reasoning as well as a hefty dose of common sense. He does acknowledge that there is hate that still exists within the black community but also points out the white community harbors similar resentment since they are descendents of immigrants that worked hard to get ahead and seeing a black person get a good job instead of them does cause hatred and resentments over time. The he ties the two together by saying that both hatreds are counterproductive and have distracted us from the “real culprits of the middle class squeeze: a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices and short-term greed…” Here he shifts the blame and focus from race to economy and business. It is interesting to note how this unifies everyone in this one statement eradicating the race issue and focusing instead on the class issue and how it is more urgent that we take care of this problem instead of squabbling about race.
Back to the use of narrative in Obama’s speeches, he closes out this speech much like his others before and after by using a story about a 23 year old woman, Ashley Baia who organized his campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She organized an African American roundtable and shared her story about when he mom got cancer when she was 9 and how she ate mustard and relish sandwiches so they could afford her mother’s cancer treatments. When she asked an elderly black gentleman why he was there he said he was there because of Ashley. This is Obama’s punch line that hit hard and again stresses his goal of unity by dismissing racial tensions. A black man caring about a white girl is a start of what we could do as a nation to overcome the struggles that face the nation.
No other candidate could give this speech for obvious reasons. But also Obama’s life experience and who he is as a person is the driving force behind what made this speech so powerful and a pivotal turning point in the election. By looking at the major elements of Burke’s pentad it sheds light on the greater meaning behind the speech which was unity of all American regardless of race in order to solve the problems facing the nation.
Michele Flannery
Wilkes University, '10
Communication Studies
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