Burke’s Pentad method consists of five parts: act, scene, agency, purpose, and agent. Act is what happened; it has to be commutative or rhetorical. The scene can include: time, setting, location, community, in essence: when something happens, where did it occur. The agent is the who: roles a person plays. The how is agency; can you do it? and by what means, different forms of agency it might be membership and not always medium. Lastly, the why is the purpose: what do they state the goal/intent is, their stated goals/intent not the same as motive. The five parts result in the motive of the scene. 

As Pocahontas’s father returns, the tribe receives him by praising and welcoming him. After he talks to the people, Pocahontas and her father go in their home. Pocahontas tells her father she senses something is going to happen soon. Her father responds by breaking the news to Pocahontas. He tells her that Kocum, a man in the tribe, has asked for her hand in marriage.

This strucks Pocahontas, because she thinks Kocum is a very serious man, and she doesn’t see herself marrying him. However, her dad responds by stressing to her, “You are the daughter of the chief.” One must know some sort of traditional background about Native Americans. The chief wants his daughter to have someone who is going to take care of her and the tribe. We know because Pocahontas being the a woman, her father does not trust her leading the tribe. Therefore, the act in this scene is when Powhatan puts Pocahontas’s mothers necklace on her. This symbolizes that she soon will be a married woman. He (being the agent) is allowed to do this act. He is her dad, the leader, and responsible for the tribe to continue and prosper. When he is telling his daughter about what’s to come, he is very serious and straight forward. He puts sympathy into his words by stating that her mother used it when she married; also, that she wanted Pocahontas to wear to she married too. This tells us more about Native American traditions and values of one another. This yields to the audience why it’s important to understand what family and tribe mean to him for scenes to come. 

In conclusion, Powhatan is stating his mind  which reinforces Native American values. It creates a strong image of who he is, and what role he plays being a father and Chief.