Monticello's master: Sally Hemings and the deconstruction of the Patriot archetype

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorRowe, Desireé D.
dc.contributor.authorMcCann, Betsy
dc.contributor.departmentTowson University. Department of Mass Communication and Communication Studiesen_US
dc.date.accessioned2020-01-06T21:56:22Z
dc.date.available2020-01-06T21:56:22Z
dc.date.issued2004-01
dc.description.abstractWe explore the above discrepancy by posing the question: How does the Sally Hemings controversy work to deconstruct the popular conception of Tho-mas Jefferson as American Patriot through the use of converging and conflicting frames? Kenneth Burke’s concept of poetic framing may be used to help answer this question, as Burke asserts history may be socially constructed via poetic frames which reject or accept a given social order or expectations. Historical figures are constructed as heroes, such as Abraham Lincoln, or as buffoons, such as Benedict Arnold, representing the choice to accept or reject the status quo. Burke asserts frames typically exist in isolation; as explored by a number of scholars. While focused and insightful research, the scholars only address the reaction to conflict within the context of an isolated Burkean frame (e.g., Moore 1992, 1996 and Buerkle et. al. 2003). Others have addressed texts in which two frames operate simultaneously, often examining a shift from one perspective to another as a rhetor shifts between rejection and acceptance. In their analysis of public response to Arizona governor Evan Mecham, Buerkle, Mayer, and Olson (2003) address the relationship of Burke’s frames by exploring the simultaneous operation of contradictory frames in interpreting and responding to the same texts to establish how competing frames can synthesize to establish a new identity for a specific rhetor. The rhetoric surrounding the Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings controversy proffers a similar opportunity for scholars, as divergent public responses are indicative of social image construction in the acceptance frame of Burke’s epic, and the rejection frame of Burke’s burlesque. Both frames work together in establishing a more complete version of the truth, yet work in opposition to one another to effectively prevent a full truth from ever being firmly established. Through our analysis, the tensions between Burke’s frames may be more fully examined as well as the implications for the public perceptions of Thomas Jefferson as Americans are faced with rejecting or accepting a particular interpretation and construction of “social order.”en_US
dc.description.urihttps://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/speaker-gavel/vol41/iss1/3/en_US
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.format.extent14 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m25llc-guj3
dc.identifier.citationMcCann, B., & Rowe, D. D. (2004). Monticello’s master: Sally Hemings and the deconstruction of the Patriot archetype. Speaker & Gavel, 41(1), 20-33. Retrieved from https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/speaker-gavel/vol41/iss1/3en_US
dc.identifier.issn2572-4460
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/16988
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherDelta Sigma Rho--Tau Kappa Alphaen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtTowson University
dc.relation.ispartofseriesSpeaker & Gavel;volume 41, issue 1, article 3
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/*
dc.subjectPoetic framingen_US
dc.subjectSocial constructionismen_US
dc.subjectHemings, Sallyen_US
dc.subjectJefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826en_US
dc.titleMonticello's master: Sally Hemings and the deconstruction of the Patriot archetypeen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Rowe Monticello's master.pdf
Size:
323.41 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Rowe Monticello's master
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.62 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Rowe, Desireé D.