President Clinton’s Pentad Essay -- Burke Clinton Social Action Essays

President Clintons PentadThroughout time, many theorists have studied modes of persuasion. The ancient Greeks focused on telling discourse in the public arena which allowed a democracy to function properly. However, more recently Kenneth hit, a literary critic and philosopher, has also evaluated how our language influences affable action. Yet unlike the ancient philosophers, Burke was interested in how not just public messages but all symbolic activity leads to persuasion of others. From this belief, Burke developed the surmisal of Dramatism which he defined as, The study of human relation and motives by means of a methodical inquiry into cycles or clusters of terms and their function (Hauser, 1998, October 30). He viewed manners as a drama which contained a series of accounts with interacting parts that create meaning and persuasion (Gusfield, 1989). Burke coined many terms unique to his theory that he could apply to any situation involving persuasive communication. Therefore, Burkes theory of Dramatism can be clearly illustrated by identifying his key terms and applying these to an instance of persuasive communication however, this theory does not easily apply to other forms of communication.To begin, it is important to understand Burkes main themes and the terms involved in each. Burke has three main themes in his theory the necessary elements for a foundation which leads to persuasion, the tools needed to evaluate a persuasive situation, and the involvement of guilt in the core of the persuasive situation. A sequence of these three themes appear within persuasive communication.First, Burke focused his work on the use of persuasion in the social realm. Furthermore, in accordance with what was stated befor... ...his theory provides a clear understanding of rhetoric and its effects, but does not apply to all communication scenarios. Therefore, Burkes theory of Dramatism is strong within a limited scope, but weak as an overarching theory of all communic ation.Works CitedCraig, R. (1998, November 9). Lecture in Boulder at the University of Colorado.Desilet, G. (1972). Kenneth Burkes Dramatism in Perspective. Santa Barbara.Griffin, E. (1997). A First Look at Communication Theory. New York McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.Gusfield, J. (1989). On Symbols and Society. Chicago University of Chicago Press.Hauser, G. (1986). Introduction to Rhetorical Theory. luck Heights Waveland Press, Inc.Hauser, G. (1998, November 2). Lecture in Boulder at the University of Colorado.Hauser, G. (1998, October 30). Lecture in Boulder at the University of Colorado.