A pentad is a five-part scheme for analyzing a work of literature. It was first proposed by Northrop Frye in his book Anatomy of Criticism. Frye conceived of the pentad as a way of understanding how literary works function.
The pentad has five parts:
1. The Subject: What is the story about?
2. The Scene: Where does the story take place?
3. The Agent: Who is the protagonist of the story?
4. The Purpose: What is the protagonist trying to achieve?
5. The Method: How does the protagonist go about achieving their goal?
Frye believed that all works of literature could be analyzed using this scheme. He believed that the pentad was a helpful tool for understanding how literary works function because it allows us to see the work as a whole, rather than just focusing on isolated parts.
The pentad can be a helpful tool for literary analysis, but it is important to remember that it is just one tool and that there are other ways of understanding a work of literature.
Other related questions:
What is the purpose of the pentad?
The pentad is a symbol that represents the five elements of Chinese cosmology: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
Why do you use a pentad When planning a response to literature?
There is no one answer to this question – different teachers and scholars may have different reasons for using a pentad when planning a response to literature. However, some possible reasons for using a pentad might include wanting to consider all aspects of the text being studied, or wanting to generate a more complete and nuanced response.
What is the purpose of Burke’s pentad?
Burke’s pentad is a five-part analytical framework for understanding the relationships between communication, power, and social change.
What is Pentadic analysis?
Pentadic analysis is a method of analyzing communication that was developed by Kenneth Burke. It is based on the idea that communication can be analyzed in terms of the five “moves” that are typically made in any communication act: identification, division,redirection, displacement, and either/or.
Bibliography
- Burke’s Pentad | Intro to Rhetoric – The Nature of Writing
- Using Kenneth Burke’s Pentad – Teaching Text Rhetorically
- Definition and Examples of Kenneth Burke’s Pentad
- Dramatistic pentad – Wikipedia
- The Dramatistic Pentad: what it is & how it works
- What is the purpose of a pentad? – Study.com
- Kenneth Burke’s Dramatism – Zimmer Web Pages