The Statue of Liberty Lending Credence to the Word Freedom in America E

The Statue of Liberty Lending Credence to the Word Freedom in America The Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognized artifacts of freedom in the world. It has the ability to create emotions that range from happiness to anger all at one time. The best way to analyze such a powerful image is to use Kenneth Burke’s idea of pentadic analysis. By using this method of the analysis, we will be able to answer the rhetorical question: How does the Statue of Liberty lend credence to the word â€Å"freedom† in America? To begin with, it is necessary to obtain some background on the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States in 1886 as a gift from France and dedicated as a national monument in 1924 (1). Standing at approximately 46.50 meters and weighing 225 tons it was the largest structure, at the time, to have entered the United States via Ellis Island, New York (1). Before the entrance of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island was used as a border for immigrants who wanted to be a part of â€Å"the land of the free and the home of the brave (2).† With the coming of the Statue, there was something tangible for new Americans to see when they entered the country. With its newfound fame as the first visual representation of the immigrants, the Statue also soon became a link to the idea of freedom and a brighter future. In 1976, a renovation project began to fix some mistakes made in its initial transport to the United States. Lee Iacocca, CEO of the Chrysler Motor Corporation at the time (3), led this renovation. Iacocca began calling the Statue of Liberty, â€Å"Lady Liberty†, as he was fixing the crown, torch and replacing the copper with bronze (3). This new title also shed some light on the significance of the Statue because now liberty and justice had taken over the form of a woman, tasked to watch over the United States like a mother does her children (3). With the background of the Statue of Liberty, we can move on to the importance of the application of Burke’s pentad model in this artifact. Burke’s initial idea of pentadic analysis stems from his view of dramatism (4). According to Burke, dramatism is a way of analyzing material with the desire to form a direct link between human motives and clusters of terminology (4). Foss (1996) points out that dramatism has two fundamental assumptions. The first assumption is t... ...-act, agency-agent, agency-purpose, purpose-scene, purpose-act, purpose-agent, and purpose-agency (4). For the purposes of this analysis, the ratio of act-purpose will be used. By ordering the ratio in this manner, we are stressing the fact that the act and the purpose have the most influential effects on the pentad. However the dominant factor in all of this is the act – the representation of the American Dream and freedom. The significance of the act is defined by the historical struggle of creating a nation of independence and freedom, also referred to as the scene. The statue itself, the agency, communicates this message to the world and at the same time aims to carry out the underlined purpose, by persuading people to remember the ideals that our nation was founded upon. This is where the element attitude can enter the picture. As mentioned earlier, attitude deals with the manner in which the purpose is portrayed. The Statue of Liberty is an object and therefore does not have the ability to verbalize, however, the attitude seen in her towering presence and the stern look on her face reinforce the purpose and allow the message to be effective. The Statue of Liberty Lending Credence to the Word Freedom in America E The Statue of Liberty Lending Credence to the Word Freedom in America The Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognized artifacts of freedom in the world. It has the ability to create emotions that range from happiness to anger all at one time. The best way to analyze such a powerful image is to use Kenneth Burke’s idea of pentadic analysis. By using this method of the analysis, we will be able to answer the rhetorical question: How does the Statue of Liberty lend credence to the word â€Å"freedom† in America? To begin with, it is necessary to obtain some background on the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States in 1886 as a gift from France and dedicated as a national monument in 1924 (1). Standing at approximately 46.50 meters and weighing 225 tons it was the largest structure, at the time, to have entered the United States via Ellis Island, New York (1). Before the entrance of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island was used as a border for immigrants who wanted to be a part of â€Å"the land of the free and the home of the brave (2).† With the coming of the Statue, there was something tangible for new Americans to see when they entered the country. With its newfound fame as the first visual representation of the immigrants, the Statue also soon became a link to the idea of freedom and a brighter future. In 1976, a renovation project began to fix some mistakes made in its initial transport to the United States. Lee Iacocca, CEO of the Chrysler Motor Corporation at the time (3), led this renovation. Iacocca began calling the Statue of Liberty, â€Å"Lady Liberty†, as he was fixing the crown, torch and replacing the copper with bronze (3). This new title also shed some light on the significance of the Statue because now liberty and justice had taken over the form of a woman, tasked to watch over the United States like a mother does her children (3). With the background of the Statue of Liberty, we can move on to the importance of the application of Burke’s pentad model in this artifact. Burke’s initial idea of pentadic analysis stems from his view of dramatism (4). According to Burke, dramatism is a way of analyzing material with the desire to form a direct link between human motives and clusters of terminology (4). Foss (1996) points out that dramatism has two fundamental assumptions. The first assumption is t... ...-act, agency-agent, agency-purpose, purpose-scene, purpose-act, purpose-agent, and purpose-agency (4). For the purposes of this analysis, the ratio of act-purpose will be used. By ordering the ratio in this manner, we are stressing the fact that the act and the purpose have the most influential effects on the pentad. However the dominant factor in all of this is the act – the representation of the American Dream and freedom. The significance of the act is defined by the historical struggle of creating a nation of independence and freedom, also referred to as the scene. The statue itself, the agency, communicates this message to the world and at the same time aims to carry out the underlined purpose, by persuading people to remember the ideals that our nation was founded upon. This is where the element attitude can enter the picture. As mentioned earlier, attitude deals with the manner in which the purpose is portrayed. The Statue of Liberty is an object and therefore does not have the ability to verbalize, however, the attitude seen in her towering presence and the stern look on her face reinforce the purpose and allow the message to be effective.