Public Rhetoric

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PUBLIC RHETORIC:

DRAMATISM

By:

CERLINDA MUIN (2010980657)

FATIN MAHIRAH SOLLEH (2010979243)

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WHO IS KENNETH BURKE?

NAME: Kenneth Duva Burke (May 5, 1897

Nov 19, 1993)

BORN :Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Vocations: Editor, Essayist, Literary Critic,

Novelist, Philosopher, Poet, Professor,

Reviewer, Rhetorician, Social Commentator,

Translator

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HIS WORKS

The White Oxen. New York: A. & C. Boni, 1924.

Counter-Statement. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1931.

Towards a Better Life, Being a Series of Epistles, or Declamations. New York:

Harcourt, Brace, 1932.

Permanence and Change: An Anatomy of Purpose. New York: New Republic, 1935.

The Philosophy of Literary Form: Studies in Symbolic Action. Baton Rouge: Louisiana

State UP, 1941; revised and abridged edition, New York: Vintage, 1957.

A Grammar of Motives. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1945.

A Rhetoric of Motives. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1950.

Books of Moments: Poems 1915-1954. Los Altos, CA: Hermes Publications, 1955.

The Rhetoric of Religion: Studies in Logology. Boston: Beacon Press, 1961.

Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: U of

California P, 1966.

Dramatism and Development. Worcester, MA: Clark UP, 1972.4


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CONTEXT Rhetoric is the art of effective or

persuasive speaking or writing.

For example the use of figures of

speech and compositional

techniques.

At its best, rhetoric is a thoughtful,

reflective activity leading toeffective communication.

Rhetoric typically provide

heuristics for understanding,

discovering, and developing

arguments for particular situations,such as Aristotle's three

persuasive audience appeals:

LOGOS

(LOGICAL)

ETHOS

(ETHICAL)

PATHOS

(EMOTIONAL)

The line ofargument in thespeech.

The way thespeakers character

is revealed viamessage.

The feeling thespeech draws outthe listeners.


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THE DEVELOPMENT OF RHETORIC

Since Homer in the 8th century BC, wisdom ('sophos') and skill were

prized. The Sophistswere originally itinerant poets and teachers who

spread learning and culture .

The Sophistswere the effective lawyers and advised on governance

and the new Athenian democracy.

Over time, the Sophistsfocused more on eloquent speech and rhetoric,

making grand claims about their ability to answer all questions.

Aristotle also helped separate out philosophy as a separate school,

leaving sophism as being largely about the techniques of rhetoric.


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Whilst Aristotle denounced the sophists, he also refined rhetoric in 'The Art of

Rhetoric', documenting and defining its rules and methods in the various forms of

Aristotelian argument.

In Rome, Cicero, with his 'Rhetorica ad Herennium'and Quintilian developed rhetoric

further and the five canons of rhetoric was very influential for centuries.

Across the centuries from the Greeks and Romans, various writers continued to

explore, refine and re-define rhetoric, including:

1. St. Augustine (354-430), in 'De Doctrina Christiana.'

2. Boethius (~480-524), in his 'Overview of the Structure of Rhetoric.'

3. Erasmus (~1466-1536)in 'De Duplici Copia Verborum et Rerum.'

4. Juan Luis Vives (1492-1540) in 'Rhetoricae' and other works.

5. Thomas Wilson's 'The Arte of Rhetorique' (1553)

Eloquent persuasion became a mainstay of the civilized intellectual as well as the

courtier's preferred mode of speech. From the Romans to the Middle Ages, rhetoric

was taught as a liberal art alongside logic and grammar.


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Rhetoric thus became a mainstay of priests, lawyers,

politicians, writers and all who would persuade, in

particular those who addressed a wide audience.

From the Greek 'rhetor' who addressed juries to modern

leaders who address global audiences, rhetoric is a

indeed a powerful tool.

Today, the use of the word 'rhetoric' sometimes

approaches a derogatory form, implying the use of fancylanguage to persuade, much as sophism lost credibility

amongst the Greeks, and much for the same reason.


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DEVELOPMENT OF DRAMATISM

-Burke is a symbolic theorist who pays attention to language

as a strategic human response to a specific situation.

-He considered clusters of words as dances of attitudes.

-Thus, the critic's should focuses on why a writer or speaker

selected the words that were choreographed into specific

message.

-Burke suggests the word dramatism to describe what he saw

going on when people start communicate.

-Dramatism was influenced by Aristotle's Rhetoric but was

less concerned with the persuasion but more on identication.


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-Burke used the word "substance" as the key term to describe a person's physical

characteristics, talents, occupation, experiences, personality, beliefs, and

attitudes.

-The more overlap between the substance of the speaker and the listener,

the greater the identification is.

-Burke was influenced by religious description of Martin Luther King's that was

based on Old Testament and further perceived identification as

'consubstantiation.'

-The main idea of dramatism lays on identification, without it, no persuasion

happen.

-Burke's idea of dramatism get attention after Marie Hochmuth Nichols, arhetorician from University of Illinois shown the significant contribution of the

theory to the field of communication.

-Since that, thousand of communication scholars have used his persepctives as a

methodology to analyze public adress and other forms of symbolic action.


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Burkesperspectives

Identification

Thedramatic

pentad

Guiltredemption

cycle

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IDENTIFICATION

Identification isconsubstantial.

Effective

communicator canshow

consubstantiality bygiving sign inlanguage and

delivery that his orher properties arethe same as theirs

Speaker couldalter the linguisticstrategy to match

the hearerssophisticated

style

Identificationworks in both

ways: audience

adaption not onlygives the

evangelist achance to swaythe audience, italso helps the

preacher fit intothe culturalmainstream.

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BURKES DRAMATISM:

Life is drama. The dramatistic pentad of , and

is the tool for discovering

a speakers motives.

Without audience identification with the speaker, there is

no persuasion.

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How the speaker talk what their talk about are based on 5

elements:

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ACT: whatwas done

SCENE:

Where andwhen theact was

performed

AGENT:Person

whoperformed

the act.

AGENCY:stimulus,the agent

used to dothe deed.

PURPOSE:the goal.


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GUILT REDEMPTION CYCLE

MORTIFICATION Confession of guilt and

request for forgiveness.

VICTIMAGE

Scapegoating the processof naming an externalenemy as the source of allpersonal or public ills.

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APPLICATION

Rhetorical theory is a way in which persuasion can be

used successfully.

The most common use of rhetorical theory is used within

political speeches.

Dramatism theory may be used widely in persuasive

speech, political speeches, or attention-grabbing tools.

Other than that, this theory also might be practically use

in theatre, acting, selling or may be in advertising.16


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STRENGTHS

Rhetoric and dramatism skill are used widely in

order to grab peoples attention, to make them

understand, and apply it.

Its more than to persuade and to convince

people. It is the art of making people think

what the speaker has thought and practice. History has proven, a powerful speech has

changed the world and the whole content. 18


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WEAKNESSES

Aristotle discussion of emotional proof does not really deal

with the power of speakers who rely on shock, charisma,

dynamism. His discussion may really have been targeted at

elites rather than the average people.

He promises analysis in terms of logical ethical and emotional

appeals, but actually structure his argument in terms of

speakers, speech and audience.

Lecture note form leaves many holes , lack of precision in

terms. 19

CO S C Q S


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COMMENTS AND CRITIQUES

Burkes ideas was closely tied to symbolic interactionism

Burkes tends to flood his text with literary allusions

His writing invite active reader participation as he surrounds an idea.

He also has done us all a favor by celebrating the life-giving quality of

language.

The integrated procedure offers five artistic element tools for the critic to use

in analyzing human interaction.

It is very helpful for pinpointing a speakers motivation and the way the

speech serves that need or desire.

Burkes concept of rhetoric as identification was a major advance in a field of

knowledge that many scholars had thought complete.

He gave it contemporary luster by showing that common ground is the

foundation of emotional appeal.

His ethical stands; he refuse to let desirable ends justify unfair meaning


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CONCLUSION

Dramatism is a very complex theory with a very

interpretive perspective. The basic idea is that

everything in life can be viewed as drama, complete

with a plot, actors, setting etc.

It also describes three lenses with which we can

view life: identification, dramatistic pentad, and

guild-redemption cycle. Dramatism focuses on the

role of the critic and their responsibility of

uncovering a speakers motives.


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SUMMARY

Burkes theory has teaches us to analyze the social movements,

using a simple dramatic ratios like the dramatic pentad, he

give us the tools to understand and critique speech, a

campaign, a social movement or a revolution. Lastly, Burkes

method is infused with the idea of moral choice and good in

unmasking hidden meaning and coded phrases.

Rhetoric is a thoughtful, reflective activity leading to effective

communication or writing and use of figure speech ,

compositional techniques and language designer to have a

persuasive or impressive effect.22


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KEY TERMS

Identification Guilt redemption cycle

Dramatic pentad

Rhetoric

Mortification

Victimage

Logical

Ethical

Emotional

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REFERENCES

Chambers, S. (2009). Has Deliberative Democracy Abandoned Mass

Democracy. Rhetoric and Public Sphere, 323-350.

Fulford, R. L. (1976). Platonism and Dramatism. Kenneth Burke's Dialectic,

n/a.

Griffin, E. (2008). A First Look at Communication Theory. New York: McGraw

Hill.

Kuypers, J. A. (2005). The Art of Rhetorical Criticism. USA: Pearson.

Smith, R. M. (2008). The Case of George W. Bush. Religious Rhetoric and

Ethic of Public Discourse, 272-300.

Weisberg, E. (1984). Kenneth Burke's Dramatism. The Rhetoric of Criticism,

n/a.

Weiser, M. E. (2004). The Development of Kenneth Burke's Dramatism.

Word Man at War, n/a.


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THE END

THANK YOU

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Public Rhetoric

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