Abstract
Russell H. Conwell's once famous speech, “Acres of Diamonds,” has been dismissed by both historians and rhetoricians as a shallow expression of the Horatio Alger myth. This conclusion does not explain how Conwell was able to win nationwide audiences for over fifty years. A Burkean analysis of the speech reveals that Conwell's formula for success relied upon a masterful transformation of pentadic ratios, carried on through the medium of the “true‐life” success story. The speech illustrates the power such narratives have in altering an audience's perception of its role in a greater drama.
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