Why Dr. Kinney’s Lecture on Heroes Touched Listeners: A Rhetorical Analysis

Kenneth Burke believed that all of life was drama. He believed we could discover the motives behind people by watching how they motivate others in their actions and communication. He set up what he called the “pentad”, which are five questions to ask of any discourse to begin discovering the motive behind it. The five parts of the Pentad are as follows: the act, the scene, the agent, the agency and the purpose.
The act is what happened. What is the action and what exactly is going on. The scene accounts for where the act is taking place and what is the background of the situation. The agent is who is involved in this action and what roles to they play in it. Agency is how the agents act and the purpose is why do the agents act? What is their motive; what do they want from the situation?
For this paper I will specifically be concentrating my analysis on Dr. Bradford Kinney’s speech given on March 19, 2009 entitled “In Search of a Hero.” First, I will discuss the act. On that Thursday night around 6:60p.m Dr. Jane Elmes Crahall took the stage to introduce Dr. Kinney as well as to inform the audience about Dr. Kinney’s remarkable teaching career. She mentioned his impressive credentials which allowed the audience to believe that he is well informed and knowledgeable about the subject which he is lecturing. He then gave his speech in front of about twenty - twenty-five people. His speech concentrated on defining what exactly a hero is, as well as what it’s like to search for a hero in this day and age of war, trying times and the worst economic situation since the depression. He spoke about how there has been an upsurge of hero worship since September 11, 2001 because people are just looking for someone to help them deal with that tragic, life altering event. He gave many examples of real life heroes dating back to the beginning of this great nation, up to the 20th century heroes. Dr. Kinney’s speech ended in a very inspiring way that actually brought me to tears. He talked about how we all have to take that first step to becoming our own hero’s because we deserve to be. He reminded his audience that complaining will not accomplish anything, and ended by saying “let yourself become tomorrow’s hero, today.”
Although it was mentioned that Dr. Kinney had given a similar speech at the prestigious Chautauqua Institute in New York, he was giving this modified speech at the Marts Center on the campus in which he teaches, Wilkes University. As I sat in the back of the room I couldn’t help but be distracted by the numerous pictures that were hanging behind Dr. Kinney. He was very interesting and I’m not saying his speech wasn’t interesting enough to hold my attention; it just seems to me that my attention as well as others could have been more easily held had there not been a wall full of plaques hanging in the background. Like I stated above, Dr. Kinney had given this speech in 2000 at the Chautauqua Institute in New York. As part of Zebra’s 10th Anniversary, it was decided for Dr. Kinney that he would be delivering a speech to the public and so he decided to revise his old speech and update it to fit the times of today.
Because Dr. Kinney was delivering the speech, it would seem to me that he would be considered the main agent in the speech. However, I could argue that the many people he mentioned in his speech could also act as co-agents. For example, he mentioned American heroes such as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the men and women of the armed forced, and many more. At first, I didn’t necessarily agree with some of the people Dr. Kinney mentioned as heroes because in my opinion, the word “hero” is a relative term and can only be defined on a personal level. I don’t think that everyone can share one common hero because actions can be interpreted in many different ways, therefore if someone does some “act” it can be seen as heroic by some, but not by others. However, after listening to the lecture and the discussion after, I realized the point Dr. Kinney was trying to make. Although he did mention many specific heroes, I think the point he was trying to make was that we all need to be our own hero therefore even including us as agents.
Agency refers to how the person acts. Dr. Kinney has been a speech and debate teacher for many years and all his experience has lead him to be a fantastic public speaker. His performance was energetic, lively and entertaining. As far as the purpose of his speech, I think Dr. Kinney’s purpose was to inspire those to be their own hero. To take action and not only be their own hero, but try to be the best person you can possibly be and maybe one day be a hero to someone else. Overall I loved Dr. Kinney’s speech and it did everything a speech should do. It was definitely inspiring and motivational.

Maureen Iskra
Wilkes University, '10
Communications