AGENDA
 Burke’s
Dramatistic Pentad
 Uncertainty Reduction Theory
 Motives
 Values
Kenneth Burke’s
Dramatistic Pentad
 Assumption:
all people are pretty
much the same
 where there is identification, there
is communication
 where there is communication,
there is persuasion
The Dramatistic Pentad
 Scene
 Act
 Agent
 Agency
 Purpose
AGENDA
 Burke’s
Dramatistic Pentad
 Uncertainty Reduction Theory
 Motives
 Values
Uncertainty Reduction Theory
 Basic
Assumption: when stranger meet,
their primary concern is one of
uncertainty reduction or increasing
predictability about the behavior of both
themselves and others in the interaction
 behavioral questions
 cognitive questions
Criticisms
 Theorems
attacked: one states that the
more you like a person the less
information you seek about him or her
 Wanting knowledge motives behavior,
not just “not knowing”
 Predicted outcome value (rewards) are
superior predictors of communication
behavior
AGENDA
 Burke’s
Dramatistic Pentad
 Uncertainty Reduction Theory
 Motives
 Values
Motives of Communicators
Physiological
Motives of Communicators
Safety
Physiological
Motives of Communicators
Belongingness
Safety
Physiological
Motives of Communicators
Recognition/Esteem
Belongingness
Safety
Physiological
Motives of Communicators
Self Actualization
Recognition/Esteem
Belongingness
Safety
Physiological
Exercise
Application of
Motives
AGENDA
 Burke’s
Dramatistic Pentad
 Uncertainty Reduction Theory
 Motives
 Values
Values in Communication
 Isolating
Values
 Determining
Values in
Messages
Methods to Extract Values







Listen for words that openly state values
Listen for negative words
Find unstated values behind stated beliefs
Look for unexpected omissions
Look for connotative language
Look at evidence sources
Note proportions
Background



September 15, 1962 Birmingham, Alabama:
– 4 children killed in Sunday School bombing
January 1963:
– Governors Orville Faubus and George Wallace oppose
integration of public schools arguing for nullification,
interposition, and interdiction
March 1963:
– Sheriff Bull Conner turns fire hoses turned on young people to
prevent their registering to vote

July 1963:
– FBI spreads rumor of planned riots during the march on
Washington planned for August 28
Values Analysis of the
“I Have a Dream” Speech
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Look for words
actually used
 Compare to
expectations for such
a message

Positively Stated Values
Negatively Stated Values
Freedom , free
Not free, oppression
3
25
Exile, discord
7
14
Pursuit of happiness 6
Poverty, default
6
12
Life
1
Physical violence
10
11
Justice
6
Injustice
3
9
6
8
Brotherhood
22
7
Equality
2
Faith, pray, God
7
Segregation
Total
Take a Break!