APPLYING BURKE’S PENTAD PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH’S ADDRESS
Applying Burke’s Pentad to President George W Bush’s Address
Given The Night Of September 11, 2001
Chad W. Berry
Arizona State University
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APPLYING BURKE’S PENTAD PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH’S ADDRESS
Kenneth Burke, a literary critic, revolutionized a relatively simple method that has
deterred from the classical focus on literary modes of analyzing rhetoric and instead, he
concentrates on the identification and symbolic action that takes place through an array of fields,
including poetics, science, philosophy, and of course, rhetoric (Foss, p. 190). His definition of
rhetoric centers on persuasion in the traditional sense. He introduces new characteristics through
a set of five structured elements. These make up what is called a dramatistic pentad, which is a
theory or tool that is used to analyze motivation in symbolic action(s) (Shearer, 2004). This is
done through verbal and nonverbal elements that are naturally mediated within language for a
common understanding. The pentad contains who, what, where, when, why, and how of any
artifact. Although Burke’s structure of the pentad is far from unique, it does hold purpose and
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