Pentadic Criticism of Tim Tebow’s “Live a Life of Significance | Live for Jesus”
Tim Tebow uses the story of Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer award winning photo to highlight his point that being successful is not as fulfilling as living a life of significance. I analyze his speech using Kenneth Burke’s “Pentadic Criticism” method, which requires critics to first identify the act, agent, agency, purpose, and scene of a rhetoric and determine which of the five elements outweighs the others using a pentadic ratio. In my criticism, I argue that purpose outweighs all of the other pentadic elements on the basis that Kevin Carter blatantly ignored the cry of human suffering for the success of his career.
COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism
Doyle Srader
10 AM – Noon