Burke's Dramatistic Pentad Critique

Act, Scene, Agent, Agency, Purpose. These are the five main parts of Kenneth Burke's "pentad," which make up his drama oriented critical methodology. Simple yet effective, these five parts are an effective way to understand and explain rhetorical situations.
This methodology is centered around the critical technique developed by Burke, dramatism, and is essentially based off the concept of motive; i.e. the reasons why people do the things they do. According to Burke in his book, "Grammar of Motives," published in 1945, "Motives are the particular way people understand events and the recommendations for response inherent to the discourse that it presents for its audience. Burke's theory and understanding that our life is essentially drama teaches us about persuasion and rhetoric and their effect on our lives as well as, effectiveness within them.
Understanding how to apply Burke's pentad to rhetorical situations can be an efficient way to identify persuasion and it's effectiveness and help us to inevitably understand particular rhetorical events. More generally speaking, the pentad can be used to explain and analyze almost any thing that happens in the world, whether it is a physical action or even what someone would say or think.
For this assignment we will examine, Dr. Jane Elmes-Crahall's discussion/ lecture on "What America's First Woman President Should Learn from the 2008 Campaign" and use Burke's drama oriented critical methodology to determine the overall effectiveness of this rhetorical situation and understand the basic concepts of this rhetorical situation.
First and foremost, we'll identify the Agent. In this case it is clear that there is one person mainly driving this rhetorical situation and communicating with the audience, which would be Dr. Jane Elmes-Crahall. All the ideas and topics discussed come from her own opinion and knowledge of the situation as well as her intellect on the subject matter. In some instances however, the act can identify more than one person and/or a group of people, such as the examples of women in history who have sought the position of commander in chief Dr. Elmes-Crahall provided throughout the discussion.
Second, we will identify the Scene. Dr. Elmes-Crahall gave her lecture in a rather spacious room that was similar to that of a classroom. There were long tables lined with chairs at which were a group of roughly 20 to 30 people. Amongst her audience were students, peers and colleagues. There was a decent mix of men and women however, the women did outnumber the men, which could possibly be in direct correlation to the topic of her discussion. Although the men were outnumbered, they seemed to more fully engage in the Q&A section of the lecture.
Considering she was talking about a "future female President," males may not have been as open or interested in the idea as females were, therefore causing the turnout to be more saturated with women. Given the amount of men that were there did possibly affect the nature of the speaker's need to persuade the audience. Although this was not prevalent in the Agent's rhetoric, it is something to be considered.
Next is Agency, or how the agent acted and/or by what means did they act. In this particular rhetorical situation, the Agent used a predetermined, yet subtly structured and free flowing speech style to speak to her audience. While it was apparent that preparation measures were taken to formulate the basic organization and fluency of the lecture, it still maintained a conversational tone, even without the open exchange of dialogue until the very end.
The Agent used video clips to strengthen her persuasion tactics and reinforce her main points. Also, the visual aspect of the videos broke up the monotony of hearing the message portrayed only by the Agent. Verbal as well as non-verbal communication were both key in portraying the message in this rhetorical situation.
Also, her main ideas and argument which she emphasized with the examples of the potential female presidential candidates in the history of our country, spoke within itself about her message. Women are becoming more and more prevalent in major roles of leadership and it’s only a matter of time before we have one in the head of the white house.
Followed by Agency, there is Act. In this lecture style discussion, the audience intently listened to the speaker without interruption or participation, until the end where the floor was open to discussion for questions and feedback. This particular style of rhetoric controlled the interaction and gave the Agent the chance to send her message uninterrupted yet still engage in dialogue with her audience.
Speaking on the topic of female Presidential candidates and what they can learn from the most recent election, the Agent reflected on how the candidates incorporated new technology and the internet to promote a more effective campaign. The main lesson pointed out here was that the Internet will now frame future elections. Privacy will be almost completely diminished and everything you do and have done is public domain.
She also talked about the likelihood of a future female President based on women in the past who have ran and been in positions of leadership, such as Victoria Woodhull and Belva Ann Lockwood. Citing examples of how over time the odds of females in roles of leadership, especially one of the most supreme importance, is becoming more and more likely and widely accepted.
Now before we continue, the relationship between the Agent and the Act must be addressed. Identifying a ratio here shows how the act flows from the nature or qualities of the agent, who may then, in turn, be modified by the act. In this instance, being that the Agent is a prominent and respected female within her field, this fuels her passion to speak on the topic and on behalf of other respected women in leadership positions, essentially performing the Act.
Due to the nature of the Act, her language was more emotional and her style a bit formal as to demand attention respectably from some of the males in the audience. In this ration, it can be seen that the act is indeed shaped by the Agent, and had the Agent been someone else it may not have been as effective.
Lastly, we will discuss Purpose. The purpose of this particular act was to inform and enlighten everyone about women in prominent leadership positions and what they need to recognize and embrace in the future to be effective in their campaigns. It was a way of recognizing those who have paved the way and how far females have come in the role of leadership, specifically emphasizing the 2008 campaign as a benchmark for females in today's society.
By analyzing this rhetorical situation through Burke's pentad, we can better identify the motives behind it and thus understand the rhetoric and means of persuasion more effectively. In this case it is clear that bringing light to females as prominent leaders is becoming more and more important and being the agent is a prominent leader herself, her means of portraying this message was bridged by the logic of her knowledge and the persuasive intent of her strong emotional and gender based appeal.
Her ability to impress with the use of examples and the analysis of the progress of women in leadership, shows her passion about the topic and the desire to inform and empower the movement. All in all, this rhetorical situation was successful in it's own light, and on a grander scale would be interesting to see it's effect against the lingering inequality in genders.

Allison Kulik
Wilkes University, '09
Communications