None Provided17, Art, College Term Papers.com


		Data Bases
		• Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism?

		Links
		• Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com

		Free Essays
		• Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers

Search Lots of Essays

Back to Subjects - Art

None Provided17

None Provided17 The Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognized artifacts of freedom in the world. It has the ability to create emotions that range from happiness to anger all at one time. The best way to analyze such a powerful image is to use Kenneth Burke’s idea of pentadic analysis. By using this method of the analysis, we will be able to answer the rhetorical question: How does the Statue of Liberty lend credence to the word “freedom” in America? To begin with, it is necessary to obtain some background on the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States in 1886 as a gift from France and dedicated as a national monument in 1924 (1). Standing at approximately 46.50 meters and weighing 225 tons it was the largest structure, at the time, to have entered the United States via Ellis Island, New York (1). Before the entrance of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island was used as a border for immigrants who wanted to be a part of “the land of the free and the home of the brave (2).” With the coming of the Statue, there was something tangible for new Americans to see when they entered the country. With its newfound fame as the first visual representation of the immigrants, the Statue also soon became a link to the idea of freedom and a brighter future. In 1976, a renovation project began to fix some mistakes made in its initial transport to the United States. Lee Iacocca, CEO of the Chrysler Motor Corporation at the time (3), led this renovation. Iacocca began calling the Statue of Liberty, “Lady Liberty”, as he was fixing the crown, torch and replacing the copper with bronze (3). This new title also shed some light on the significance of the Statue because now liberty and justice had taken over the form of a woman, tasked to watch over the United States like a mother does her children (3). With the background of the Statue of Liberty, we can move on to the importance of the application of Burke’s pentad model in this artifact. Burke’s initial idea of pentadic analysis stems from his view of dramatism (4). According to Burke, dramatism is a way of analyzing material with the desire to form a direct link between human motives and clusters of terminology (4). Foss (1996) points out that dramatism has two fundamental assumptions. The first assumption is that “language constitutes action, not motion (4)” and the second assumption is that “humans develop and present messages in much the same way that a play is presented (4).” Burke took the idea of action being at the heart of drama a step further, by establishing three conditions for action (4). The first requirement is that any action taken must be by choice (4). This is due to the fact that if we are made to do something, then it is really just a matter of acting mechanically (4). Second is notion that action has to have a purpose (4). This purpose can be conscious or unconscious, but it has to be present (4). Finally, action has to have motion (4). The only way to understand this is to reiterate that motion can exist without action, but action cannot exist without motion (4).” From Burke’s explanation of dramatism comes the pentad. The pentad is made up of five major dimensions: act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose (4). It is a requirement that all of these areas be addressed when describing any symbolic act (4). The easiest way to approach each of these areas of the pentad is to associate them with the questions that they aim to answer. Burke clearly identifies what their specific goals are: You must have some word that names the act (names what took place, in thought or deed), and another that names the scene (the background of the act, the situation in which it occurred); also you must indicate what person or kind of person (agent) performed the act, what means or instruments he used (agency), and the purpose (4). This can also be thought of as simply answering the who, what, when, where and why set of questions (4). An important note that Burke made was that there is a sixth element of the pentad, attitude (4). Attitude, which is often coupled with agent, answers the how question and deals with the manner in which the presentation is made (4). After applying the pentad to the dramatic action of the Statue of Liberty, there are five aspects that coincide with the five elements: Act: The representation of the American Dream of freedom Scene: The historical struggle that took place to achieve this political freedom. Agent: The United States Government. Agency: The visual representation of the Statue herself. Purpose: Inspire the hope of freedom and prosperity to outsiders and remind citizens of how fortunate they are. Burke says that once each element of the pentad has been identified, that it is helpful to form a ratio (4). This ratio determines the most important elements and details their relevance and effect on each other (4). The ratios that may be formed are: Scene-act, scene-agent, scene-agency, scene-purpose, act-scene, act-agent, act-agency, act-purpose, agent-scene, agent-act, agent-agency, agent-purpose, agency-scene, agency-act, agency-agent, agency-purpose, purpose-scene, purpose-act, purpose-agent, and purpose-agency (4). For the purposes of this analysis, the ratio of act-purpose will be used. By ordering the ratio in this manner, we are stressing the fact that the act and the purpose have the most influential effects on the pentad. However the dominant factor in all of this is the act – the representation of the American Dream and freedom. The significance of the act is defined by the historical struggle of creating a nation of independence and freedom, also referred to as the scene. The statue itself, the agency, communicates this message to the world and at the same time aims to carry out the underlined purpose, by persuading people to remember the ideals that our nation was founded upon. This is where the element attitude can enter the picture. As mentioned earlier, attitude deals with the manner in which the purpose is portrayed. The Statue of Liberty is an object and therefore does not have the ability to verbalize, however, the attitude seen in her towering presence and the stern look on her face reinforce the purpose and allow the message to be effective. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1074