Burke's Pentad

"As rhetors describe their situations, they do so using the five basic elements of drama- act, agent, agency, scene, and purpose. These five terms constitute what Burke called the pentad, and they are used as principles or a "grammar" for describing any symbolic act fully" (Foss, 2004, p.457). Above is a commercial from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The purpose of this ad is to get people to stop smoking and prevent people from starting. It is a very powerful message that is delivered in a way that really persuades and informs the audience through the voice of Terrie.

The act is a public health announcement from the CDC. Terrie is a former smoker and also the agent in this ad. Through the narration of this ad, she tells her own personal story of smoking and the effects that it has had on her body. A fear tactic is used as the agency in this ad. Terrie tells her personal story and the audience can truly see how smoking has effected her. This instrument is effective because Terrie doesn't want others to end up how she did and neither does the CDC.

The scene of this ad takes place in a hospital bed. The background is that Terrie is a former smoker and started smoking when she was young. Decades of smoking took a toll on Terrie's body. As the audience can see, she lost her hair and has to have a plug in her trachea in order to talk. Terrie passes away when she is just 53. 53 is a young age to pass away at, but by smoking cartons of cigarettes every day your life span shortens with each puff you take.


Foss, S. (2004). Pentadic criticism. Rhetorical criticism: exploration and practice. (p.455-477).

Social Movement Theory- The Anti-Bully Movement

The anti-bullying movement was created because of the increased rates of bullying all across the globe. Many countries are now implementing anti-bullying workshops and plans of action. The anti-bullying movement gives a voice to those who normally aren't heard. Bullying has become more common and much more cruel within the past few years. With new technology emerging, bullying is happening outside of school. "Bullies have taken to digital platforms like the Internet and text messages to harm their targets. For some kids, it seems like there is no escaping these bullies" (No Bullying, 2014). Cyber bullying is on the rise and can be more extreme than regular bullying.

"Anti bullying efforts constitute a proactive response on behalf of the bullied along with their parents, teachers and the general public. The goal of anti bullying is to stop bullying before it happens by make potential bullies aware that mistreating another person is not acceptable" (No Bullying, 2014). The main principle of the anti-bullying movement is the golden rule: treat others the way you would want to be treated. It is important for bullies to understand that what they're doing is wrong and to give help to those who are being bullied. It is also important to find the underlying reason as to why someone is being a bully in the first place. There are also bully prevention groups that train teachers students, and parents how to prevent bullying from happening and also how to take appropriate action if it occurs. 

Contagion theory states that people in a crowd act emotionally and irrationally because of the crowd's influence on them."...Social influence can have catastrophic consequences for group decisions too" (Hertz, Romand-Monnier, Kyriakopoulou, & Bahrami, 2016, p. 164). A lot of times it is more than one person bullying someone. By forming a group of bullies, people feel dominant and invincible. If a kid in the hallway is getting bullied by three people, it is likely that more people might join in or act how those three bullies are acting, due to contagion theory. 

Bullying is a bigger problem now than it has ever been. Although, as a society, we are taking steps in the right direction, bullies are increasing the intensity of their game. A documentary came out in 2011 called Bully. The documentary follows a few students across the U.S. around their schools and shows the interactions that they have with bullies. I cry every time I watch that documentary. It is so heartbreaking how cruel kids are to other kids. There is even a story in the documentary about a student who committed suicide because being bullied at school every single day took such a toll on him that it was too much to handle. No child or adult should ever be bullied to the point of taking their own life. Take a stand against bullying. 

Hertz, U., Romand-Monnier, M., Kyriakopoulou, K., & Bahrami, B. (2016). Social Influence Protects Collective Decision Making From Equality Bias. Journal Of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception & Performance, 42(2), 164-172. doi:10.1037/xhp0000145

No Bullying. 2014. What is anti bullying?: the anti bullying movement. No Bullying: The Movement Against Bullying. Retrieved from https://nobullying.com/what-is-anti-bullying/

Invitational Rhetoric

Invitational rhetoric helps people to understand perspectives that are different that their own. "Invitational rhetoric is a means of sharing one’s point of view, an invitation rather than an expectation marked by a commitment to parity, respect, and choice regarding one’s audience" (Kirtley, S., 2014, p.340). Invitational rhetoric focuses on equality, immanent value, and self-determination. There are three external conditions when it comes to invitational rhetoric. These conditions include safety, value, and freedom.

This Dove ad is a way of lashing back at Victoria's Secret. Victoria's Secret released a love my body ad showing tall, thin, models. This ad had a negative message because it seems that the only women who should love their bodies are those who are in shape and look like models. Dove decided to fire back with this real beauty campaign. This Dove ad shows equality in two ways. This ad shows a diverse group of women. There are different races and different body types portrayed in this ad. Every woman in this ad has immanent value. This ad shows that every woman with any body type is truly perfect. The Victoria's Secret ad shows only a narrow definition of what beauty is. The Dove ad makes every woman feel like they have value, regardless of what they look like on the outside. Self-determination means living your life the way you want to and making your own decisions. The real beauty campaign emphasizes that you're beautiful how you are. This encourages women to live their lives how they want to and not feel pressured to work out at the gym and go on crazy diets to look like models.

The first external condition of invitational rhetoric is safety. This means feeling safe and free of danger from the audience. The Dove ad shows this by expressing their message how they did. The message is free of judgement from the audience because you don't necessarily need to be a size 2 to be beautiful. You should be able to feel comfortable in your own skin. The next external condition is value, meaning the audience knows they have worth. As mentioned previously, the Dove ad is promoting women to feel confident with how their body is. Every woman is worthy of real beauty regardless of their body type. The final external condition is freedom, the power to choose or decide. Everyone has their own definition of beauty. Victoria's Secret is promoting tall, thin models while Dove is promoting everyday people. It is the viewer's choice of how he or she defines beauty and self love. Invitational rhetoric is all about understanding other people's perspectives. When Victoria's Secret created this campaign, they probably didn't think that there would be so much back lash. Dove had an opposing viewpoint and decided to do something about it. Although Dove is trying to create a positive self image for everyday women, it seems that they exclude skinny women from this campaign. Some might argue that Dove is promoting beauty for only those women who aren't model-like and are body shaming women who don't look like those in the campaign.


Kirtley, S. (2014). Considering the Alternative in Composition Pedagogy: Teaching Invitational Rhetoric With Lynda Barry's What It Is. Women's Studies in Communication, 37(3), 339-359. doi:10.1080/07491409.2014.946166

Motivational Appeals

Motivational appeals are used in advertising to get the consumer to use their product or service. Motivational appeals are meant to make the audience feel a certain emotion(s) to persuade them to buy their product. Pathos is the base of motivational appeals. It is based on emotions.

This Amazon Prime ad uses sympathy, love, and a warmth appeal in order to persuade the audience to use Amazon Prime's services. This ad shows sympathy through the dog's interaction with the baby. "Sympathy is fundamentally a way of thinking about others" (Greiner, R., 2010, p.896). When the dog first approaches the baby, the baby starts to cry. The dog walks away and has a sad look on his face because he feels unwanted by the baby. The viewer is sympathetic towards the dog because the dog just wanted to be loved by the baby, but instead was rejected by the baby crying. Dogs are very loving creatures and just want that same love in return. 

This ad also uses love and warmth appeals. There is a lot of love in this ad. The husband loves his family and his dog and thought of a creative solution so they can all interact together as a happy family. This is what some people would call a "feel good" commercial. There is a wholesome family with a dog. A lot of couples in the United States are divorced and don't have the ideal family situation according to social norms. This is the perfect example of the warmth appeal because the ad shows a happy couple with a baby and a dog. The ad is meant to warm the hearts of the viewers by showing a happy ending. In the end, the dog and baby get to interact because the husband bought a lion's mane on Amazon Prime. 

Greiner, R. 2010. The art of knowing your own nothingness. ELH, 77(4), 893-914. 

Elaboration Likelihood Model

The Elaboration Likelihood Model is how likely you are to make a decision. "ELM asserts that there are two different ways in which people process communication. These ways are called 'routes' and they stimulate our mental processes in distinct main roads" (Durmaz, Suher, & Bir, 2016, p.45). There is central route thinking and peripheral route thinking.

Central route thinking deals with the logistics. Facts, science, and evidence play a key role in making a decision via central route thinking. This is typically the best route to choose when it comes to decision making. Central route thinking isn't present in this ad. If people want to drink milk, then they will. They don't need science to persuade them to buy a common household item.

The other element of the Elaboration Likelihood Model is peripheral route thinking. The peripheral route thinking involves making a decision without considering important details. This Got Milk? ad uses celebrity, Hayden Panettiere. This appeals to the audience because if a celebrity is drinking milk, then they are more likely to drink milk. This ad purposely poses Hayden sideways to show off her slim figure. Peripheral route thinkers would be more likely to drink milk because they think it will make them slim, like Hayden.


Durmaz, G., Suher, H., Bir, C. 2016. Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) In Press Advertisements: A Content Analysis of Advertisements Which Is Positioned In Special and General Interest Magazines. Journal of Yasar University, 11(41), 45-55. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.19168/jyu.00944

Rank's Model

Rank's Model consists of two concepts, which include intensify and downplay. Each concept is broken down into three elements.

The three elements of intensify include repetition, association, and composition. McDonald's iconic golden arches and the word McDonald's can be seen three times in this ad, showing repetition. This strategy is used to help promote the restaurant. The slogan in this ad also shows repetition. The slogan is only four words, but has two words on each line, showing repetition. Association is present in this ad through the use of the gas nozzle. There is a nozzle that is pouring soda into the glass of Coca-Cola. The slogan says "fuel up" and the nozzle is filling up the soda, like you would fill up your car with gasoline. Composition can be seen in the way that this ad is arranged. Their menu items on this ad are strategically placed in the center so it catches the eye. The burger, especially, and french fries are enlarged to show detail and to seem more appealing to the audience.

The three elements of downplay are omission, diversion, and confusion. Omission is a half-truth. The slogan states, "Fuel up...Feel Good." What that slogan fails to mention are the nutritional facts/values. Exactly how many calories are in that big mac? Apparently that doesn't matter because eating it will make you "feel good." The slogan shows diversion. Eating McDonald's will make you "feel good." This misdirects the audience's attention from the real issue America is facing; obesity. This "convey[s] indirect (symbolic) messages to consumers, notably parents, that children will be happier...when consuming the product" (Hebden, King, & Kelly, 2011, p.780).Confusion can be seen through the slogan on this ad. The ad says that you will "feel good" if you "fuel up" with McDonald's. In what way will you feel good? Will eating McDonald's make you happy? Will it make your stomach feel good because you're full after eating it? The ad doesn't specify exactly how fueling up with McDonald's can make you feel good.


Hebden, L., King, L., Kelly, B. 2011. Art of persuasion: An analysis of techniques used to market foods to children. Journal of Pediactrics & Child Health, 47(11), 776-782. DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2011.02025