PentadPrism
The deed stays put. The lens changes what you can see.
A prism does not invent new light. It separates what was already in the beam. Burke's pentad works the same way. Put scene first, or the person, or the means, and the same act supports a different account. You are testing those possibilities, not uncovering a hidden motive.
1
Name the deed
The action stays put. Say what was done before you explain it.
2
Turn one term forward
That term explains the others. The relation is a ratio, not a secret motive.
3
Try another face
A second reading, from what the account already says. Not a truer one.
Not ready for the questions yet?
See the whole map first
Burke lists ten pairings on p. 15 of A Grammar of Motives. Each reverses (p. 262), so there are twenty directions. The lesson practices nine, from six of the pairings. Scene–Agency, Scene–Purpose, Agent–Agency, and Agent–Purpose are on the map, both ways. Nothing there is scored.
One page
Cheat sheet
The method, the five terms, and all twenty directions. Written to fill a page you can keep.
Download PDF
Fillable
Worksheet
Type an account into the boxes: the deed, the terms, the ratio, and a rival reading.
Download PDF
Kenneth Burke, A Grammar of Motives (1945), pp. 15 and 262. Not a plot diagram. Not a verdict.
Want to learn more? The Reclaiming Rhetoric guides.