📚 Welcome back to Kenneth Burke’s A Rhetoric of Motives!

Hello! I’m Dr. Bobby, “The Best Assistant Professor Who Never Was,” and today we continue our deep dive into Burke’s exploration of order, persuasion, and audience dynamics in Part 6 of our series.

In this episode, we unpack Burke’s concept of pure persuasion—a form of communication that exists for its own sake rather than for external gain. We’ll discuss how persuasion, audience awareness, and rhetorical motives shape everything from literature to superhero narratives, examining figures like Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern as modern rhetorical constructs.

Key topics include: ✅ The relationship between rhetors and audiences—both real and imagined. ✅ The infinite courtship of persuasion and how it plays out in media. ✅ Interference as a fundamental aspect of rhetoric and storytelling. ✅ The symbolic vs. nonsymbolic divide in communication and performance. ✅ How figures like Batman and Catwoman reflect Burke’s idea of depersonalization and social reverence.

From comic books to classical rhetoric, we’ll explore how Burke’s insights help us understand the persuasive power of storytelling, the function of unresolved conflict in narratives, and why some pleas remain unanswered to sustain engagement.

🎭 Whether you’re a rhetoric scholar, a media enthusiast, or a superhero fan, this episode has something for you!

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