Welcome to another insightful dive into the world of rhetoric! I'm Dr. Bobby, “The Best Assistant Professor Who Never Was,” and in today's episode, we explore Kenneth Burke’s A Rhetoric of Motives (1950). This groundbreaking work helps us understand rhetoric not just as persuasion, but as identification—a powerful tool that shapes how we interact with the world.

In this video, we cover the key concepts Burke presents, like how context influences motive, the relationship between rhetoric and literary criticism, and how actions themselves become persuasive in nature. We also look at how literary examples like Samson and Delilah reveal deeper layers of meaning and motive. Through Burke’s analysis, we’ll discuss motive, dialectic, and how rhetorical identification impacts our everyday lives—even in something as relatable as the Mac vs. PC debate.

By tying Burke’s work to modern examples from comics, movies, and popular culture, we uncover how heroes and villains mirror the rhetorical principles of transformation, slaying, and the pursuit of identity.

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