“Burke's perspective on perspectives: Grounding dramatism in the representative anecdote”

Abstract

Rhetorical scholars have taken Burke's discussions of the “representative anecdote” in A Grammar of Motives, and have devised from them a systematic procedure for use in criticism. However, I believe that we can read the representative anecdote in a different way‐by examining the work the term does for Burke himself. I suggest that Burke is not offering a method as much as justifying dramatism dramatistically. Ultimately, based upon my reading of the Grammar, I argue that the representative anecdote‐taken in conjunction with the pentad‐supports Burke's claim to provide the most adequate vocabulary for the study of motives.

Key words:

• Kenneth Burke
• Representative Anecdote
• Pentad
• Dialectic
• Master Tropes