Zhuangzi, K Burke

Zhuangzi (Trans. Burton Watson). (2003). In the World of Men. Zhuangzi: Basic Writings, New York: Columbia University Press 49-62.

Zhuangzi's, In The World of Men (2003) argues the importance of paradoxes in language. Zhuangzi starts with a story involving Confucius and one of his students to move through the importance of language and how paradoxes are relevant through conversation. Through this piece, it seems Zhuangzi is trying to convey the importance of paradoxes and how they can be used in language, along with how common they are in our world, in order to give people a better understanding of the basic writing and rhetoric skills. This piece is written for anyone studying language, the use of paradoxes, and Confucian thought. 

"Do you know what it is that destroys virtue, and where wisdom comes from? Virtue is destroyed by fame, and wisdom comes out of wrangling" (50). I really enjoyed this quote because I feel like it is still so true today, and gives people an understanding of the meaning of virtue and wisdom. 


"It's a worthless tree - make boats out of it and they'd sink; make coffins and they'd rot in no time; make vessels and they'd break at once" (59). This wordplay works into paradoxes and the confucian thought, giving a strong presence in this piece.

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: U of California, 1966. Print.

Kenneth Burke's, Language as Symbolic Action discusses how terministic screens play a role in our society. Burke starts by discussing a few important concepts that will come up throughout his writing and then moves forward to discuss terministic screens, what they are, and how they show up in society. Burke is attempting to get readers to look at screens differently in order to understand how the world around them works and how they see things differently than others. This piece is meant to speak to an audience of rhetoricians, people interested in learning more about the world around them and how they see things, and anyone interested in language in general. 

"A 'scientistic' approach begins with questions of naming, or definition...dramastic, stressing language as an aspect of 'action', that is, as 'symbolic action" (44). This is the basic definitions of the important concepts Burke will be using in his piece. 

"In brief, 'behavior' isn't something that you need but observe; even something so "objectively there" as behavior must be observed through one or another kind of terministic screen, that directs the attention with keeping its nature" (49). This quote gives an insight to terministic screens and the importance they play in who we are and what we see.