Date of Award

1-1-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. John Caputo

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a strategy for diplomatic dialogue in response to religious conflict. Kenneth Burke’s theory of dramatism provides a means of rhetorical evaluation on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s response to the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that were widely seen as caused in some way by an anti-Islam video published online on YouTube. The study discusses how Clinton’s use of identification and division is used in diplomatic dialogue in order to resolve the differences caused by religious conflict, specifically in a speech at the U.S.-Morocco Strategic Dialogue on September 13, 2012. By subjecting Clinton’s speech to pentadic criticism and evaluating the pentadic sets of her rhetoric, the study found that the use of identification and division can help groups with different religious beliefs to understand each other and reconcile them to work toward getting past their differences in order to get past conflict.

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