Date: Sun, 4 May 1997 00:14:59 EDT From: "tink, two, three, four!" Subject: EXERCISE: Burke Bits (3) From A Rhetoric of Motives Kenneth Burke University of California Press 1969 (p. 13) "we have discussed the puns of logical and temporal priority whereby the _logical_ idea of a thing's essence can be translated into a temporal or narrative equivalent by statement in terms of the thing's source or beginnings (...[e.g.] the paradoxical ultimate of such definition being perhaps the use of 'bastard' as epithet to describe a man's character). But if there is this ultimate of _beginnings_...there is also an ultimate of _endings_, whereby the essence of a thing can be defined narratively in terms of its _fulfillment_ or _fruition._ Thus, you state a man's timeless essence in temporal terms if, instead of calling him 'by nature a criminal,' you say, 'he will end in the gallows.'" Pick a character trait. If you like, here's a few to choose from: Honest Intelligent Intense Compulsive Imaginative Scheming Or you could pick a character from something you're working on, reading, etc. Determine one characteristic to focus on. Now, consider the three reductions: 1. in terms of a timeless essence 2. in terms of a well-grounded beginning 3. in terms of a finale, a fulfillment or fruition Write three character descriptions, showing us this character in terms of the three variations. tink