state of the union '13

7/27/2019 State of the Union '13

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Runninghead: All in This Together

All in This Together: State of the Union Address

Queens University of Charlotte

Moiah Faulkner-Wheeler


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All in This Together

In the United States Constitution it is stated that the president should from time to time

update the congress on the state of the union and advise them on what measures the president

believe to be necessary and practical (What is the purpose of the State of the Union Address?).

This address can be used as a powerful tool for leading the nation. Also can be used as a

technique to convince the congress and the nation on doing the right thingor what the

president believe is the right thing. On February 12, 2013 President Barack Obama delivered his

State of the Union address. President Obama was recently elected to run for a second term and

he used this opportunity, the state of the union address, to reinforce his belief on what are the

right things to do dealing with economy, education, social concerns, deficit reduction and the

war. His speech had over 33 million viewers (de Moraes, 2013). By using the pentad and

conducting a dramatistic analysis, this speech will be analyzed to determine what the speech is

implying what is the right thing to do and what people ought to believe.

Kenneth Burke is the creator of the dramatistic perspective. This perspective focuses on

how people make sense of the world through drama (Sellnow, 2010). This perspective can be

used to analyze text by helping the analyzers understand the motives we use to justify our

actions, particularly when those actions conflict with societys behavioral norms (Sellnow,

2010, p. 51). Not only does this perspective make it easier to understand how some text

influences some human behaviors but it illustrates that language and other symbols creates the

foundation of the perception of reality and the motives for certain human behaviors (Sellnow,

2010). Burke believed that these actions were created by terministic screens. Terministic screens

are words or symbols that represent a particular worldview (Sellnow, 2010). Humans use

terministic screens as enablers and deterrents. Enablers is when the word or symbol illustrates it

is alright to think or do certain things; while, deterrents are the opposite. In order to make easier


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to analyze texts, burke created a pentad. The pentad has five major elements; those elements

consist of act, agent(s), agency, scene, and the purpose (Sellnow, 2010). Using these elements

while conducting a dramatistic analysis on President Obamas speech well help identify what is

being argued about the appropriate and the inappropriate rules for living and justifiable motives

to break them (Sellnow, 2010, p. 57).

The Act

The act in the pentad is the rule-breaking behavior or the most pertinent event that has

taken place in the narrative (So What In The World is a Dramatistic Pentad?). The act in this

text was the thought of complete equality regardless of your nationality, social status, gender,

and legal status. This consider a rule-breaking behavior in the United States because their

society believes in working your way up and not everyone is born with the same opportunity

as of others. This is also rule-breaking because the President also spoke on holding everyone

accountable; we all have to accept certain obligations to one another. This idea goes against the

society belief in individualism.

The Agent(s) and the Agency

The agent(s) is the main character that participates in the act (Sellnow, 2010). The agent

in this text is President Barack Obama, the congress, and the rest of the nation. President Barack

is the agent because he is the one conducted the State of the Union Address. The congress and

the nation are main characters also because they were his audience. The next element is the

agency. The agency refers to the tools, means, and techniques employed to accomplish the act

(Sellnow, 2010, p. 52). The tools that are used in this text are the camera men, the speech,

microphone, televisions, internet, cameras, and the speech writer.


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The Scene

The State of the Union Address took place on February 12, 2013 at the House chamber.

In the background, the vice president and the speaker of the house is sitting behind the president.

Also there is the American flag hanging on the wall behind them. The President is also standing

behind a podium. The setting helps illustrate the importance and the power of the State of the

Union. It also portrays the seriousness of this moment and the speech. However, the audience is

occasionally shown.

The Purpose

The purpose refers to the explanation offered as to why the agent(s) engaged in the rule-

breakingbehavior (Sellnow, 2010, p. 53). President Obama engaged in the act to outline his key

priorities for this following year. He also engaged in this speech to convince the congress and the

nation whats the right things to do. The congress and the nation listened to this speech to learn

of the presidents ambitions and priorities and what they should do in order to help benefit their

government and their nation.

After considering all the elements in the pentad, the State of the Union address was

justified as being an appropriate behavior at the moment. The speech used enabling terministic

screens in order to persuade the audience that is okay to believe and to have complete equality.

Everyone deserves a chance in greater education, equal pay, job opportunities, and becoming a

citizen of the United States of America. The founding solution of the nations problem is

holding everyone accountable and working together to promote a change.


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References

de Moraes, L. (2013, Febuary 13).About 33.5 million people watch State of the Union Address.

Retrieved February 13, 2013, from The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/fox-news-channel-wins-among-

cable-ratings-for-state-of-the-union/2013/02/13/6f14926e-761c-11e2-95e4-

6148e45d7adb_blog.html

Sellnow, D. D. (2010). The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture Considering Mediated Texts.

SAGE Publications.

So What In The World is a Dramatistic Pentad? (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2013, from

Dramatistic Pentad: http://pentad.weebly.com/analysis-method.html

What is the purpose of the State of the Union Address? (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2013, from

ThisNation.com: http://www.thisnation.com/question/014.html

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