ion is the “scene”; What is the history behind the “act”? The third category of Burke’s Pentad is the “agent”; Who is the source of the message? How the “agent” accomplishes its “act” is defined as the “agency” in the fourth term of the Pentad. The final piece to Burke’s analysis is to the define the “purpose” of the action.After applying the Pentad to the “dramatic action” performed by the Statue of Liberty, I identified the following five aspects as the elements of the Burkian Pentad: Act: The act performed by the statue is the representation of the “American Dream”Scene: The scene of the action is the historical struggle our the United States endued to achieve political freedomAgent: The agent of the act is the government of the United StatesAgency: The agency, or means of executing this act is visual representation of the statue herself, and the location it hasPurpose: The purpose of the statue is to inspire the hope of freedom and a better life, and a reminder to all of her citizens what they are entitle to, all thanks to the struggles of the men who founded her great nationThe most dominant theme of the Pentad, when applied to the Statue of Liberty is the “act” itself. All of the other parts of the Pentad are grounded in the “act”. The significance of the “act” is defined by the historical struggle of creating a nation founded upon the pursuit of independence. The statue, itself, communicates this message to the world, and at the same time carries out the “purpose” she performs in the representation of our deeply grounded belief in the preservation of freedom.She performs the rhetorical act of persuading people around the world into remember the ideals our nation was founded upon, while at the same time providing hope...
