PUBLIC RHETORIC:

D R A M AT I S M
By: CERLINDA MUIN (2010980657) FATIN MAHIRAH SOLLEH (2010979243)

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.
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Dramatism and Development. Worcester, MA: Clark UP, 1972.

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 to effective communication.

LOGOS (LOGICAL)

The line of argument in the speech. The way the speakers character is revealed via message. The feeling the speech draws out the listeners.

ETHOS (ETHICAL)
PATHOS (EMOTIONAL)

Rhetoric typically provide heuristics for understanding, discovering, and developing arguments for particular situations,

such as Aristotle's three

persuasive audience appeals:

THE DEVELOPMENT OF RHETORIC

Since Homer in the 8th century BC, wisdom ('sophos') and skill were prized. The Sophists were originally itinerant poets and teachers who spread learning and culture .

The Sophists were the effective lawyers and advised on governance and the new Athenian democracy.

Over time, the Sophists focused 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.

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.
3. 4. 5.

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

Erasmus (~1466-1536)in 'De Duplici Copia Verborum et Rerum.' Juan Luis Vives (1492-1540) in 'Rhetoricae' and other works. 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.

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 fancy

language to persuade, much as sophism lost credibility

amongst the Greeks, and much for the same reason.

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.

-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, a

rhetorician 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.

The dramatic pentad Identification Guilt redemption cycle

Burkes perspectives

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IDENTIFICATION

Identification is consubstantial.

Effective communicator can show consubstantiality by giving sign in language and delivery that his or her properties are the same as theirs

Speaker could alter the linguistic strategy to match the hearers sophisticated style

Identification works in both ways: audience adaption not only gives the evangelist a chance to sway the audience, it also helps the preacher fit into the cultural mainstream.

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BURKES DRAMATISM:

Life is drama. The dramatistic pentad of ACT, SCENE, AGENT, AGENCY and PURPOSE 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:
ACT: what was done

PURPOSE: the goal.

SCENE: Where and when the act was performed

AGENCY: stimulus, the agent used to do the deed.

AGENT: Person who performed the act.

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GUILT REDEMPTION CYCLE

MORTIFICATION

Confession of guilt and request for forgiveness.

VICTIMAGE

Scapegoating the process of naming an external enemy as the source of all personal 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.
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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.
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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.

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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

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.

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.
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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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