When one thinks of a well known theorist, Kenneth Burke may come to mind. Burke is
one of the most important rhetorical theorists since Aristotle. Born May 5, 1987 in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Burke came up with unorthodox critical thought. After attending both Ohio State
University and Columbia University, Burke dropped out as the classes he was interested in, were
for graduate students only. He ended up educating himself, learning multiple languages and
reading great literature. By educating himself, he came up with many ideas. Unlike previous
rhetorical theorists, Burke went beyond the surface of persuasion and meaning and viewed
rhetoric as creating realities in which people operate. Burke came up with the idea of Dramatism.
He came up with the idea that we use rhetoric to navigate our way through rhetorically created
social structures and rules. Burke being interested in the relationship between thought and words,
came up with a tool of analysis called the pentad. When people share experiences with others, we
use subjective rhetoric. Burke said that “the strategies we use to frame situations are based on
motives. Situations is but another word for motives.” The pentad is a method of analysis that lets
people trace how their worlds are constructed through rhetoric. By using the pentad, one can
understand various motives, or situations. The pentad has five elements and individuals can be
predisposed toward featuring one or two of the elements when using rhetoric. The relationship
between two pentadic terms is called a radio. Through the use of pedantic terms and ratios, many
things can be interpreted (Borchers).One example that can be interpreted is the media coverage
of the Virginia Tech Shooting.
According to Burke, rhetoric falls in the department of action because meaning is
symbolically attached to the rhetorical situation. An action differs from his concept of motion
because motion is more biological, and therefore is unintentional. Burke developed the five
elements that make up the Dramatistic Pentad in order to attach symbolic meaning to discourse,
including the act, agent, agency, scene, and purpose. These terms answer the essential questions
of who, what, where, when, why, and how surrounding a rhetorical event. The first element is
the act. The act is what happens or takes place within the rhetoric. The act is the central term of
the pentad. The most significant part is how the act is reinterpreted with how people feature the
other parts of the pentad. The second element is the scene which is the context or background of
the action. People who feature the scene see the world as a permanent type of place. When a
rhetor features scene, it is the thought to control the actions of agents. Agent is the third element
which is the person or person’s who performs the act. When people feature the agent, it is
thought that they see people as rational beings and they are capable of making their own choices.
If an agent is featured, it could be thought that the agent could overcome scenic elements that
