Leadership and power

I. INTRODUCTION:Leadership is an important part of every human endeavor- personal, community-based or even in a big or small organization. There has been a volume of research and studies regarding leadership its theory, style and how can we be an effective leader using power and influence.First, let us try to define what leadership is. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders should have very good influencing powers .To carry out the goal of the group or the organisation. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as belief, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills.Leadership is a process of getting done through and with people. Leaders should always remember that leadership is people oriented. As a good leader, you should know how to deal, communicate, and manage people. Being a leader, we should know how to d evelop teamwork in our organization. To be a leader, we must deal with people, develop good rapport with them, apply appropriate persuasion, inspire them and influence them to in the direction of our goals.There are many reasons why society and organizations need effective leaders. First, leaders are held responsible for the growth and development of the organization. The success and failure of any organizations lies mainly in the hands of a leader. Second, leaders provide a guiding purpose for the group or organization. Third, today’s concern about the integrity of our institutions emphasizes the need for better relationship in government, school business or an organization.Are leaders born or made? Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never-ending process of self-study, education, training, seminar and experience. This guide will help you through the process.Effective leaders hip can happen on the dance floor of conversation. Leadership is an interactive conversation that pulls people toward becoming comfortable with the language of personal responsibility and commitment.Leadership is not just for people at the top. Everyone can learn to lead by discovering the power that lies within each one of us to make a difference and practicing the law of reciprocity.In this essay, it would include the presentation of the critical analysis of one effective and ineffective leader, what contributes to their effectiveness and ineffectiveness, what power and influence did the leaders use and what their particular organization could do to augment the effectiveness of their leaders and to develop other effective leader.II. BODY OF THE ESSAY:According to Ralph Lauren â€Å" an effective leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. This is true in a sense that as leaders, we should be visionary and believe that our hopes and goals will be achieved.Go od leaders are not born but they are made. If we have the desire and will power, we can become an effective leader. Good leaders are developing through time and training. Everybody has the capacity to develop and acquire leadership skills.Developing such skills will help us to understand how people feel, what motivates them, and the best way to influence them.Being a leader is not an easy task. There are many things to do and to develop for a leader to become an effective leader? The question is, what are the characteristics of an effective leader?   For one to be considered as an effective leader, first, a leader should have the passion those leaders who love what they do and love what they are doing, give hope and inspiration to his followers. Second, an effective leader makes tough decisions. As a leader, we should be comfortable making sound decisions. We should gather facts, organize information, and apply good judgement in their choice of action.A good leader can accept and take risks for his decisions. Risk takers tend to be achievement-oriented, goal directed, and self-confident. The willingness to try new ideas often reaps reward for the individual and the company. According to studies, risk-takers are tantamount to successful leadership. Next, an effective leader is a good communicator wherein they can express their thoughts and ideas in a very good manner. It includes good oral and written communication skills. They set goals and achieve those goals by communicating to others what they want to gain support and cooperation.An effective leader also knows how to motivate others to influence other people to produce good results. Motivation of employees will lean away from the autocratic methods of the past toward the new style of inspiring and empowering employees. According to Kotter, author of the Leadership Factor that tells that leadership is the process of moving people in some direction mostly through non coercive means. An effective leader reco gnizes that people are a key resource to the success of the organization, project or vision. Also, to be an effective leader, he should be a visionary.   Leaders should have a clear idea of what they want to do and the strength to persist. An effective leader is a person of integrity, gives trust and is trustworthy.The following traits and characteristics stand out as an important for success  Ã‚   an ineffective leader is totally the opposite. First, they create a climate of fear wherein the subordinate follow simply because they are afraid of the leader not because they really give support to the mission and vision of the company. An ineffective leader avoid changes, they don’t want to try new ideas. Also in the list of an ineffective leader is that they avoid making tough decisions. Their unwillingness to take risk is simply because they are afraid to commit mistakes. An ineffective leader exhibits character of being anti-social and does not want to accept responsibili ty.According to Mcshane (2007) one effective leader is CEO of Procter & Gamble (P& G) named Alan George Lafley. As an effective leader, he has knowledge of the business environment in which they operate. For example, he has a thorough knowledge of Procter & Gamble products and market. In this way, he recognizes opportunities and understands the organization’s capacity to capture those opportunities.   He also possesses self-confidence, he believes in his leadership skills and ability to achieve objectives.Effective leaders are usually extrovert outgoing, sociable, and assertive. Importantly, Lafley also walks the talk; his behaviour is aligned with the message he conveys. He restructured the company, pruned costs and rekindled a spirit of innovation through special creativity teams.   As a leader, Alley has a high level of emotional intelligence. He has the ability to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason, and regulate emotion in themselves and others.Last, but not the least, he has the drive for achievement. It represents the inner motivation that leaders possess to pursue their goals and encourage others to move forward. Drive inspires an inquisitiveness and need to learn. An ineffective leader is Niccolo Machiavelli. He was one of the history’s most enduring characters. He was a bureaucrat and a diplomat for the city –states of Florence. He was known for his clever frauds, boldness and expert use of cruelty. He advocates the use of machination, ruthlessness and treachery. He also believes that leaders need to be half-beasts, possessing the fox’s guile and the lion’s brutality. As of present, there are leaders who admire Machiavelli. From him, the world produces leaders like Hitler, Mussolini and Lenin. They are ineffective in a sense that they don’t care for other people and create an atmosphere of fear.In leadership, the word influence is a key word. Influence is our ability to change the behaviour attitude of the person. This ability is the result of our power. Leaders vary in their use of their powers. There are many sources of power: reward, coercive, legitimate expert, and referent. Reward power is the ability to give something of material or personal value to others. The rewards maybe in the form of promotions, bonuses, highly desirable job assignments, praise for a job well done or a desired position title.Coercive power is based on fear and punishment. Demotions, dismissals, reprimand, assignment of unpleasant tasks, and public embarrassment is some of the examples of coercive power. This form can direct toward superiors, co-workers or subordinates. Unfortunately, excessive use of coercive power is considered to be unacceptable in the work environment especially for the professionals. It may take sabotage or malicious obedience.Because of its potential for harm, coercive power should be used with great care. With the case of Niccolo Mach iavelli, he used the coercive power . Because he advocated that leaders should be ruthless to his subordinates and he practice treachery among his members. In this kind of power, leaders are power-grabber and power-hungry. They will try to succeed at any cost. Legitimate power is derived from a formal rank or position within an organizational hierarchy. This power is dependent on the formal, established chain of command within the organization and the perceived authority of the individual in that position of power.The fourth   power is the expert power, it develops when an individual possesses specialized skills, knowledge, or expertise. It can be held by individuals ranging from the chief executive officer to the computer technician. Last but not he least is the charisma power. It is a combination of charm and personal magnetism that contributes to a remarkable ability to get other people to endorse your vision.   Referent power is based on respect or admiration for the individ ual that results to personal charisma. Charismatic leaders develop vision, shows conviction and develop self-confidence. In the case of CEO of Procter & Gamble Alan George Lafley, he used the combinations of power like referent power , because he earned the respect and admiration of people in their organization. Expert power because he has the full knowledge regarding the business of P& G. Legitimate power in a sense that he was duly chosen to be the Chief Executive Officer of P& G.Leadership is not totally for executives alone. Anyone in the organization may be a leader in various ways and times. This view is known as shared leadership or the leaderful organization. Successful organizations empower their employees to take leadership role.   They will realize later on that the real essence of leadership is influence, they realize that everybody has leadership qualities and responsibilities.III. CONCLUSIONTruly, we say that leadership is influencing, motivating, and enabling others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which we are members.REFERENCES:Dalton, M., & Hoyle, D.G. Human relations 2nd edition. (2000) Ohio: SouthWestern Educational Publishing Thomson Learning.McShane, S. L. & Glinow, M. V. Organizational behavior.   (2007) New York:Mc Graw Hill International Edition

A Personal Story

In my essay I am going to share a personal story with you that will tell you how I had to face hardships in order to pursue my studies. It’s all basically related to my education.So my story starts off from the time when I was studying at school. I was an above average student in the junior classes but once I started getting promoted to higher classes, my grades were affected and they started declining.Things worsened for me when I reached the tenth grade. I was in my O-levels at that time and so I had to leave school as my family was also facing a financial crisis.Once I left school, I appeared for my O-levels exams as a private candidate and after completing my O-levels, I joined a local school as an English teacher.Teaching English was not my only subject, I was also assigned to teach some of the other English subjects such as General Knowledge, Geography, History, etc. along with mathematics to the students of grade two, three and four. Although I was not much satisfied wi th the compensation I was getting but it was indeed a good start as I did not have any previous experience of teaching before and even my qualifications were not much as I had just done my O-levels at that time.Side by side, I started preparing to sit for A-levels examinations for which I choose three subjects. However, teaching was a hard job but along with teaching I decided to prepare for my exams but mostly due to lack of time I could not study.Other than that, as it was my first experience of working anywhere, I had to learn a lot as to how to respond or react to certain situations as I am a kind of person who very frequently gets angry at things and gets irritated by any small thing but at work, I had to control my impatience.This was the time when I started taking things in a different way. Although I was still impatient and fussy about things but I had to accept things that I was being told by my seniors to do. Therefore, I learnt to be patient and how to respond to things. In the world outside it’s usually that you always cannot say the things in a way that you really feel. However, one has to be very much careful due to the persisting politics in an organization and same was for the school I was working at.Moreover, working here made me learn new things that were proved to be helpful for my career and for my future. During this time, I became fussy about some things and I did plan to resign but my resignation never used to be accepted as the principal wanted me to continue working for her. Months passed and the date of my A-levels examinations came nearer and nearer that created a tension for me.As I mentioned above, I am not a brilliant student who could understand the concepts just by reading the books once. Therefore, to prepare for my examinations, I talked to my employer and asked him for an early off every day so that I could go home early and I could study. There were just three months left for my examinations when I started studying fo r my examinations and that too along with the work load of the place I was working at.Finally, the date of my examination came and I appeared for my A-levels examinations. The result was supposed to be announced a couple of months later. Meanwhile, I was still working at the school and during that time I also started preparing for my entrance test for my bachelors degree that was to be held a month after my A-levels examinations.Therefore, I gave my entrance test and was glad to know that I had cleared it. A few days later, I had my interview at my university and I cleared that as well. This was the time when I finally resigned and left the job as my university was to start within a month. I worked at the school for more or less a year.Meanwhile, I prepared for my university that started soon. I used all my savings to pay my university tuition fee and in the end I was left with nothing. Therefore, to cope up with my financial expenses, I decided to give home tuitions to the students .These students basically used to be from primary level classes and the basic subjects that I used to give tuitions for were English and Mathematics. I kept on giving tuitions to different students throughout as I was supposed to pay my university tuition fees as still my family was facing a financial crisis. Therefore, to continue my studies, I had to continue giving tuitions to the students.At university, I was enjoying my life although studies at this level got a little tougher and I had to study hard in order to achieve good grades in the courses I appeared for. Besides the academics, I took part in the extra circular activities at my university such as in sports, declamation contests, drama, etc. and this was the fun part of the time I used to spend at the university besides the stress of the studies.

Autism 3

Autism 3 Essay Many years ago, I watched a young boy rock back and forth as he worked a crossword puzzle. I tried to distract him from working the puzzle to ride bikes with me. I continuously asked him to play with me, but he kept staring at the puzzle while I attempted to look in his eyes. He took the puzzle apart and flipped the pieces in the air, one at a time. He did not speak, but he made crying noises. The more I asked questions or talked to him, the louder his cries became. As his frustration grew, he balled his fists up, punched his eyes, and kicked his feet. I was curious about his activity. I was later told the boy my brother} was autistic, says Tamara Robinson in an interview. Autism is a syndrome of childhood characterized by a lack of social relationship, a lack of communication abilities, persistent compulsive, rituals, and resistance to change (Paluszny 1). For centuries, medical professionals have tried to understand autism and its origin. The above example shows only a few examples of autistic behavior. The history of autism extends, as far back as the late sixteenth century; however, during that time it was not identified as this illness. Here is a statement from before the discovery of the illness: In 1799, a boy about eleven years of age was found naked in the woods of Averyron, France. He was dirty, covered with sores, mute, and behaved like A wild animal. Jean Itard, the physician of the new institution for deaf-mutes, Was given charge of the abandoned child. From Itards description, Victor Showed many features of autismhe did not look at people and never Played with the toys, but showed remarkable memory in recalling the position Of objects in his room and resisted any change of these objects. (Paluszny 2) In attempt to educate Victor, Itard used a glass of water as a form of encouragement, but he continued to remain silent and never spoke any words. It was not until 1943 that the label autism was used by a child psychiatrist, named Leo Kanner to describe the symptoms. The term autism derives from auto, the Greek word for self, (Hamblin 137). Kanner used this term when he studied eleven children who had a unique form of schizophrenia (Hamblin 136). Although, it was later determined that even though some of the characteristics of schizophrenia and autism are not the same, Kanner did open new doors for an intensive study of a confusing syndrome. The causes of autism are unknown. In most cases, the pregnancies of mothers of autistic children were normal. Occasionally, there were cases of maternal bleeding, prematurity, or maternal rubella, but these situations do not appear consistently. One possibility that scientists have researched is genetics. Chromosomal studies have been attempted to detect if autism is a result of too many chromosomes, because autism is more dominant in males than females, (Ritvo 169). The frequency in males is approximately 3/5,000 (Ritvo 169). Since females have two X-chromosomes and males have an X and Y chromosome, than the Y chromosome can be considered in current research activities. Another possibility is the malfunctioning of the brain. According to Adler, neurobiological researchers have localized several regions of the brain that are responsible for social interaction skills (248). Frith says, a biological defect causes autism, the symptoms which include a lack of communication, socialization and imagination. Scientists are continually searching for answers. During the stages of infancy, the autistic baby seems normal. Then, a period of time before the age of three, the child experiences regression. In some cases, the first signs are at the age of three. There is no exact determination of when the signs appear. When autistic parents were told to think back in time before the third year, some parents said that they could not pinpoint exactly what the difference was, but they described a vague feeling that something was wrong from infancy (Paluszny 4). In normal development of children, Paluszny says that one of the first milestones is the social smile (4). Babies smile and respond to the faces and voices of adults. The autistic infant does not bring about a social smile; rather the child will only respond to sounds and sights that .

Law of International Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Law of International Trade - Essay Example The two agreed that payment would be done through a letter of credit, through a bank that the two parties would agree on. However, on Feb 17, 2012, NASS suggested to MSC that they could transfer the goods through the M/S Speedy Delivery, which was already at the port of Mumbai. The two CEOs agreed on how this would be done. The challenge During loading the goods to the ship, it is indicated that the crane snapped causing loss of 1,000 units instantly. However, upon leaving the port, the Master M/S Speedy Delivery recorded that all the materials, which had been requested by NASS, had been loaded on the ship. This is despite the fact that 1,000 units had already accidentally dropped in water and therefore, remaining only 9,000 units. On March 20, 2012, Somalia pirates attacked the ship where 3,000 units of speakers were stolen. In the process of struggle, further 1,000 units were destroyed. This was a loss that had not been anticipated by any of the parties in the contract. In addition to this loss, it is indicated that as the ship left for Southampton, it faced challenges at the Mediterranean Sea. Due to dangerous and unexpected waves, about 1,000 more units were lost. The remaining units (4,000) arrived at the Southampton Port on 10th, April 2012. According to the NASS representatives at the port, only 9,000 units had been loaded in the ship before it left from Mumbai. This was against had been indicated in the bill of lading. Of the 4,000 units delivered, only 3,000 were functional. The inspectors indicated that the 1,000 units, which were malfunctioned, could trace their defect from the manufacturing company in Mumbai. For that reason, NASS has the right to make claims for damages both from the owners of the ship and the manufacturing company. Question 1 you are a trainee solicitor in a Golden Circle law firm in London. You have been asked by the Chair of the International Sale Contracts Department of the law firm to explain what rights, if any, NASS may have against MSC in respect of the breach, if any, of the international sale of goods contract entered into between the CEOs of both corporations. The Chair does not want you to consider the breach, if any, of any carriage of goods contract by the owner(s) of the M/S Speedy Delivery, nor the Rome 1 Regulation of the European Union. In the above statement of the case, it is clear that NASS is guaranteed compensation by both the owners of the ship and the exporting company. The losses suffered could be attributed to the mistakes by both the owners of the ship and the exporters. From the terms and conditions of sale, the contract will only remain valid if all goods delivered to NASS were quality goods. However, upon inspection by NASS, 1,000 units of goods delivered were found to be defective. This is a good ground for the company to sue for damages. In international trade laws, the importing companies would receive compensation through two main ways. Firstly, the 1,000 units which were ma lfunctioned could be replaced with quality others. For that reason, MSC would be required to compensate NASS by providing 1,000 units. This owes to the fact that the company was to blame for the malfunctioned goods. Secondly, NASS has a right to ask for a refund of amount equivalent to that of the malfunctioned goods. As indicated in the agreement, each of the unit was to cost 400 pounds. With 1000 units destroyed, NASS has a right

Ethical eaasy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethical eaasy - Essay Example The textile materials treated by these chemicals have been banned in the markets in UK and US and so the organization resorts to selling its stock to the developing markets where there is no such legislation. The ethical dilemma in this problem The management of the organization had to make a decision between certain courses of action. There was an option of disposing the products that have been considered not fit for use and manufacture those that are required in the US and UK markets. There is also an option of looking for markets for the products in other regions that have no such regulations. The decision-making in the above case is bound by certain significant constraints. The initial problem that had ethical implications here is that the organization had already produced stock that was treated with carcinogenic agent. The organization did not want to run at a loss by disposing these products. The operations of the organization are also governed by the local, regional, and inter national regulations and a ban on such products in some countries will apply to this organization. Besides, there is also a need to consider the adverse effects of the products that led to its ban in these developed markets and whether it is ethical to introduce into the underdeveloped markets faulty products that have been rejected in the developed markets. ... It was then regarded unethical for a business organization to involve in the well-being of the society. In 1984, Edward Freeman proposed the Stakeholder theory that the objective of business is not only to maximize the shareholders’ profits but also to serve the interests of all the stakeholders of the organization (Crane & Matten, 2007, p.57). Stakeholders include all those parties influencing or affected by the decisions and operations of the organization and so the society is one such stakeholder. In solving such ethical dilemmas, we need to refer to the ethical theories that had been developed in moral philosophies like virtue theory (Aristotle), utilitarianism (Bentham), Immanuel Kant’s Universal law, and the Religious teachings among the other theories. The utilitarian approach will consider the consequences that a given decision will have on all the stakeholders of the organization including the shareholders (Petrick & Quinn, 1997, p.48). The products have been f ound to be contaminated with agents causing cancer. Selling these products to the consumers in the developing market is equivalent to exposing the consumers to cancerous agents. The overall costs to be incurred in managing the resulting cancer are unpredictably high and will be a threat to the economy. The developing markets may also not afford the same prices forcing the organization to lower its product prices thereby reducing the profits. Besides, a long-term effect will also be seen in its reputation in the emerging market should it be later known that the products were not fit. The organization will soon lose its position even in the emerging markets. Thus, the

Managment Development (Management) Research Proposal

Managment Development (Management) - Research Proposal Example Essentially benchmarking involves â€Å"carrying out an audit on two fronts† (Evans 138). One needs to identify current processes and practices in a business or organization and then probe their weaknesses. The next step involves identification of companies that have proved to be experts in a given field and then trying to match or even better their performance. The rationale behind benchmarking is that if you do not know what the best practices in the industry are, then chances of being the best are almost zero. It is also a tried and tested method of matching competitor strength and even eclipsing them in the market place. A good example where benchmarking has been used lately is in the field of mobile technology. Apple Inc caused a stir when it introduced the hugely popular touch screen phone the iPhone. Coupled with its top notch marketing strategy, the company easily set the benchmark in trendy mobile technology. Not to be outdone, rivals such as Nokia and Samsung used Apple’s touch technology to produce mobile phones which have gained a foothold in the market and proved to be worthy competitors. This proposal will therefore try to find out the extent to which benchmarking has been used as a strategy and with what success. A literature review will be conducted and appropriate recommendation given. According to Damelio, benchmarking is a â€Å"process and not an event† (71). It involves constantly looking outside the organization to learn the tricks of achieving excellence in an organization. In other words it is a learning experience and once the lesson is learnt then the process is applied in the company. The first step in the process of benchmarking involves a thorough understanding of the current norm of business and then analyzing the business practice of others who are considered the pace setters in the industry. The next step involves doing complete analysis of the variance

The Traditional Pedagogical Method of Learning Assignment

The Traditional Pedagogical Method of Learning - Assignment Example Teachers have to provide motivation and further encourage the student to continue exploring and questioning the matter. It is important for the students to learn to apply what the teacher has delivered as information. This educational goal can be achieved if they learn how to think abstractly. The teacher has to equip them with the tools to critically evaluate situations and problems and then determine by themselves the solution. This happens when the teacher uses strategies and concepts that build skills required for productive collaboration. Students have to construct their own meaning despite the directions and teaching methods of the teachers (Science for all Americans 1990). Through the principles of learning and teaching, the learning environment also encourages students to develop their independent and interdependent learning abilities. The teachers should establish an atmosphere where the students can learn both individually and with each other. Such tasks can be beneficial especially for young students who still orient themselves in the educational setting. Learning usually occurs when students have the opportunity not only to express their ideas but also to get feedback both from their peers and teachers (Science for all Americans 1990).

Innovative Food and Beverage Marketing Ideas Essay

Innovative Food and Beverage Marketing Ideas - Essay Example Rock music usually has a strong back beat. (Wikipedia) In the late 1960s, rock music was blended with folk music to create folk rock, and with jazz, to create jazz-rock fusion. In the 1970s, rock incorporated influences from soul, funk, and Latin music. In the 1970s, rock developed a number of subgenres, such as soft rock, blues rock, heavy metal-style rock, progressive rock, art rock, techno-rock, syth-rock and punk rock. Rock subgenres from the 1980s included hard rock, indie-rock and alternative rock. In the 1990s, rock subgenres included grunge-style rock, Britpop, and Indie rock. (Wikipedia) The influence of rock and roll is far-reaching, and has had significant impact worldwide on fashion, film styles, and even the hospitality industry.. This impact is broad enough that rock and roll may also be considered a lifestyle in addition to a form of music. Rock music was the inspiration of Tigrett and Morton's Hard Rock Caf (HRC) that originated in London. (Wikipedia) HRC is a unique genre in the hospitality industry, being a chain of restaurants, hotels, and casinos that is known for its music and memorabilia rather than its food. Customers come to HRC mainly for the experience of the live music event, which is a highly strategic marketing innovation of the caf. It was founded in 1971 by music-loving entrepreneurs Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton. The first HRC opened near Hyde Park Corner in London, in a former Rolls Royce car dealership show room. In 1979 Tigrett and Morton began to cover the walls with rock and roll ephemera. Hard Rock was most popular in the 1980s when some people engaged in the hobby of visiting as many locations as possible and collecting a Hard Rock t-shirt bearing the Cafe logo and the location name. The Hard Rock Cafe's motto "Love All, Serve All" was adopted from Tigrett's guru Sathya Sai Baba. (Wikipedia) The HRC Marketing Mix There are about eight million restaurants in the world and some 300,000 restaurant companies. The restaurant industry is a classic mature market. Companies face stiff competition and low profit margins. (Yahoo Finance) Thus, innovative marketing ideas are necessary for any restaurant business to remain competitive and sustainable. Like many other restaurants and cafes, Hard Rock adapts the descriptive labeling for its menu and more. It has reinvented the menu to become an art cum history book. But more than the artistic menu, what makes HRC sustainable is its marketing mix that combines music, food, museum and merchandising. According to Proctor (2000), positioning products in people's minds and making them attractive to market segments requires careful formulation of the marketing mix. Getting the right blend of the product, promotion price and distribution is essential to put the carefully carried out analysis into operation. The aim is to portray an image for the product or service that will match with how one wants the product to be visualised in people's minds, i.e. its positioning. Image is not only reflected in the promotional messages which are directed towards the target market but also in the pricing strategy, the mode of distribution and in the appearance of the product or service itself. Live Rock MusicHRC has position itself for dominance in a market that caters to customers who love not only

Point of view of the speaker in Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night Essay

Point of view of the speaker in Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night by Dylan Thomas - Essay Example The first line’s diction has been purposefully chosen to make it a command. The second, third, fourth, and fifth stanzas are persuasive and encourage the father to show his â€Å"rage against the dying of the light† (Thomas). In the sixth stanza, the poet requests his father to be his usual self and scream and yell at him to signify his strength. The overall tone of the poem is an outcome of the form and diction used by Thomas. Thomas acknowledges the fact that life and death are interrelated by pairing â€Å"gentle† with â€Å"rage†, â€Å"light† with â€Å"night†, and â€Å"dying† with â€Å"good†. Nevertheless, Thomas has made use of such diction that allows him to place his emphasis on life instead of death. This can be estimated from his frequent use of the words like â€Å"blaze†, â€Å"fierce†, and â€Å"green†. Dylan Thomas is upset to see his otherwise robust and radical father become weak and blind in his eighties and thus, persuades him to revert to life. Works Cited: Grimes, Linda S. â€Å"Dylan Thomas' Do Not Go Gentle.† 20 Nov. 2006. Web. 10 July 2011. . Thomas, Dylan. â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.† n.d. Web. 10 July 2011. .

Instructional Objectives Essay Example for Free

Instructional Objectives Essay Instructional objectives may also be called performance objectives, behavioural objectives, or simply objectives. All of these terms are used interchangeably. Objectives are specific, outcome based, measurable, and describe the learners behaviour after instruction. Instructional objectives serve as goals that teachers have set in the achievement of a greater goal. They also tell students what is expected of them. Instructional objectives make definite the direction in which teaching leads and become the focus of instruction, not only for the teachers, but also for the students. Without instructional objectives teaching is comparable to a fallen leaf whose destination is dependent on the will of the wind. Without instructional objectives, teachers will have nothing to follow in order to achieve what it should achieve. A well-written objective should meet the following criteria; describe a learning outcome, be student oriented, be observable or describe an observable product. A well-written objective should describe a learning outcome. It should not describe a learning activity. Learning activities are important in planning and guiding instruction but they are not to be confused with instructional objectives. A student-oriented objective focuses on the learner, not on the teacher. It describes what the learner will be expected to be able to do. It should not describe a teacher activity. It may be helpful to both the teacher and the student to know what the teacher is going to do but teacher activities are also not to be confused with instructional objectives. If an instructional objective is not observable, it leads to unclear expectations and it will be difficult to determine whether or not it had been reached. The key to writing observable objectives is to use verbs that are observable and lead to a well defined product of the action implied by that verb. Verbs such as to know, to understand, to enjoy, to appreciate, to realize, and to value are vague and not observable. Verbs such as to identify, to list, to select, to compute, to predict, and to analyze are explicit and describe observable actions or actions that lead to observable products. For an instruction to be useful, an objective must not only be well written but it also must meet the following criteria: be sequentially appropriate, be attainable within a reasonable amount of time, be developmentally appropriate. For an objective to be sequentially appropriate it must occur in an appropriate place in the instructional sequence. All prerequisite objectives must already have been attained. Nothing thwarts the learning process more than having learners trying to accomplish an objective before they have learned the necessary prerequisites. This is why continuous assessment of student progress is so important. A useful objective is attainable within a reasonable time. If an instructional objective takes students an inordinately long time to accomplish, it is either sequentially inappropriate or it is too broad, relying on the accomplishment of several outcomes or skills rather than a single outcome or skill. An objective should set expectations for a single learning outcome and not a cluster of them. Instructional objectives are often classified according to the kind or level of learning that is required in order to reach them. There are numerous taxonomies of instructional objectives; the most common taxonomy was developed by Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues. The first level of the taxonomy divides objectives into three categories: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Simply put, cognitive objectives focus on the mind; affective objectives focus on emotions or affect; and psychomotor objectives focus on the body. Cognitive objectives call for outcomes of mental activity such as memorizing, reading, problem solving, analyzing, synthesizing, and drawing conclusions. Bloom and others further categorize cognitive objectives into various levels from the simplest cognitive tasks to the most complex cognitive task. These categories can be helpful when trying to order objectives so they are sequentially appropriate. This helps to insure that prerequisite outcomes are accomplished first. Affective objectives focus on emotions. Whenever a person seeks to learn to react in an appropriate way emotionally, there is some thinking going on. What distinguishes affective objectives from cognitive objectives is the fact that the goal of affective objectives is some kind of affective behavior or the product of an affect (e. g. , an attitude). The goal of cognitive objectives, on the other hand, is some kind of cognitive response or the product of a cognitive response (e. g. , a problem solved). Psychomotor objectives focus on the body and the goal of these objectives is the control or manipulation of the muscular skeletal system or some part of it (e. g. , dancing, writing, tumbling, passing a ball, and drawing). All skills requiring fine or gross motor coordination fall into the psychomotor category. To learn a motor skill requires some cognition. However, the ultimate goal is not the cognitive aspects of the skill such as memorizing the steps to take. The ultimate goal is the control of muscles or muscle groups. The following are the importance of instructional objectives in teaching I. C. T Firstly, Instructional objectives are of immense significance in today’s education process. They provide organizers of the process with the opportunity to delve into learners mind and know where they are heading. Instructional objectives provide teachers the opportunity to design proper assessment procedure through tests and evaluation. Students know what they are supposed to do, use before or after a particular class. Instructional objectives also help trace the amount of change that has been brought about in a student. It gives a definite direction to the whole teaching-learning and evaluation process of a particular class in classroom situations. It also helps both the teacher as well as students in determining particular educational goals and enables them to focus their attention on specific learning activities to achieve those goals. Through instructional objectives – the organizers of educational process can determine the resources, course materials, curricular and co-curricular activities, relevant contents and references etc. which are so vital to make the process functional. Instructional objectives also lead the teacher into discovering the best learning situations, strength and weaknesses of the prevalent learning process, level of growth and development of learners through a pre-determined evaluation process. In short, instructional objectives help in monitoring and evaluating the whole educational process in minute details.

John Keats Romantic Escapist English Literature Essay

John Keats Romantic Escapist English Literature Essay Like all romantic poets, Keats seeks an escape in the past. His imagination is attracted by the  ancient Greeks  as well as by the glory and splendour ofMiddle Ages. He rarely devotes himself to the pressing problems of the present. Hyperion, Endymion and Lamia are all classical in theme, though romantic in style. Keats this finds an escape into the past from the oppressive realities of the present.   Also Keats themes are romantic in nature. Most of his  poetry  is devoted to the quest of beauty. Love, chivalry, adventure, pathos these are some of the themes of his poems. Another strain that runs through his poetry is the constant fear of death, which finds very beautiful expression in his sonnet, When I Have Fears. Another theme of his poetry is disappointment in love, which can be seen in La Belle Dam Sans Merci. Like all romantics, Keats loves nature and its varied charms. He transfigures everything into beauty that he touches with magic hand of chance. He says in Ode to Nightingale,   Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, But being too happy in thine happiness, Beauty is Keats religion and he is very romantic is his frank pursuit of beauty and in that pursuit of beauty, he completely forgets himself and the world around him.   The romantic quality in literature has been defined by Pater as, The addition of strangeness to the beauty. All sorts of poetry deals with beauty in one way or the other, but romantic poetry goes a step ahead and imparts strangeness to the beauty. Keats sees beauty in ordinary things of nature. Earth, to him, is a place of where beauty renews itself everyday, the sky is full of huge cloudy symbols of high romance. Keats loves beauty in the flower, in the stream and in the cloud but he loves it in each thing as a part of Universal Beauty, which is infinite the mighty abstract idea of Beauty. Thou was not born for death, immortal bird The song of the nightingale becomes a symbol of the universal spirit of beauty. The nightingale is, for Keats, the symbol of unlimited joy, infinite happiness and universal spirit of beauty. Pursuit of the unknown, the invisible and infinite inspires the creation of all the romantic poetry of the world. Last but not least, both in terms of diction and metres, Keats poetic style is romantic. Though it has classical finish, it possesses that romantic tough of suggestiveness by which more is meant than meets the ear. Keats has employed various kinds of metres and stanzaforms in his poetic work. He is one of the greatest sonneteers in  English language  and his Odes with their musical flow in long stanzas, stand as unique specimen of romantic poetry. Keats was true romantic poet, because his attention was not only beauty but also truth. He saw beauty in truth and truth in beauty. Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. He persistently endeavoured to reconcile the world of imagination with the world of reality. Therefore, Middleton Murray calls Keats a true romantic. A pure poet feels and expresses his joy in beauty, but when he feels this joy, he realizes also a new aspect of beauty, which is truth. In this identity of beauty and truth, lies the harmony of universe. Keats realizes this harmony when he says that truth and beauty are the same thing. Wordsworth and Shelley both had theories but Keats has none. We cannot accuse Keats of any withdrawal or refusal; he was merely about his business and his business was that of a pure poet. (T. S. Eliot) For Keats, the necessary quality of poetry is submission to the things as they are, without any effort to intellectualize them into something else. Keats often says that the poet must not live for himself, but must feel for others, and must do good, but he must do so by being a poet, not by being a teacher or moralist. There is no didacticism in Keats as there is in Wordsworth. He delivers what he sees; the pleasures of seeing nature and beauty. Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too. At one time he regrets about the songs of Spring and but then he sees the beauties of Autumn and involves himself in them. He instantly forgets the pain of losing songs of Spring and starts admiring Autumn.   The idea of  French revolution  had awakened the youthful passions of both Wordsworth and Coleridge; they had stirred the wrath of Scott; they had worked like yeast on Byron. They had brought forth new matters for Shelley who re-moulded them and turned them into prophecy of the future. There was only one poet, Keats, of that age who they could not affect in any way whatsoever. Keats was so preoccupied with beauty that he turned a blind eye to the actualities of life around him. (Stopeford Brooke) It is true that Keats poetry does not express the revolutionary ideas of his age, but Keats was a pure who expressed in his poetry the most worth while part of himself and it was his vision of beauty, which was also truth to him. If his aim was to pursue beauty, which was also truth to him, he cannot be called an escapist, for in pursuing beauty, he pursued truth.   The poetry of Keats shows a gradual process of development. His earlier experiments in verse are products of youthful imagination, immature and overcharged with imagery. The young poet has abnormal sensibility, but lacks experience of life. Endymion opens with the famous line A thing of beauty is a joy forever, it is full of glorious promise but it is lost in shadows and uncertainties, because it is not based upon experiences of life. In the Odes, Keats poetry assumes a deeper tone. There he faces the sorrows and sufferings of life. He would wish for a life of joy and happiness, like that of nightingale. Fade far away, and quite forget What thou amongst the leaves hast never known, The weariness, the fever, and the fret, There, where men sit and hear each other groan; (Ode to Nightingale) Thus he longed to escape from realities of life, but it was a passing mood that seized him when he was contrasting the lot of man with that of the nightingale. Sorrows and sufferings are inevitable in life and he fully realized that escape from realities of life was neither possible nor desirable. In Hyperion, he wrote: None can usurp the height à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. But those to whom miseries of the world Are miseries, and will not let them rest. In a sonnet, he says: How fevered that man who cannot look Upon his mortal days with temperate blood. Keats was trying to attain serenity of mood in the midst of all the sufferings which he was undergoing in his own life and which he saw all around him. This mood of serenity is expressed in Ode to Autumn, which accordingly to Middleton Murray, The perfect and unforced utterance of the truth contained in the magic words (of Shakespeare): Ripeness is all. For Keats, earlier hankering for the world of Flora and Pan for unreflecting enjoyment of sensuous delights is past; he now subjected himself persistently and unflinchingly to life. He faced life with all uncertainties and contradictions, its sorrows and joys. The lines Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, Or new love pine at them beyond tomorrow. (Ode to Nightingale) are thrilled with aching hopelessness. In Ode to Melancholy, he says, dwells with beauty beauty that must die Melancholy arises from transience of joy and joy is transient by its nature. Therefore Keats accepts life as a whole with its joys and beauty as well as its sorrows and despair. To quote the words of Middleton Murray about Ode on a Grecian Urn, These lines contain deep wisdom purchase at the full price of deep suffering. They are symbol and prophecy of a comprehension of human life to which mankind can attain. Keats study of Lemprieres Classical Dictionary fully acquainted him with the Greek mythology; and he loved every bit of it, and freely used it in his poetry. The stories of Endymion, Lamia and Hyperion, are based upon Greek legends. In his Ode to Psyche and  Ode on a Grecian Urn, the subjects are Greek, and the poet while expressing his passion for beauty transports himself in his imagination to the days of ancient Greeks. But the most important factor is Keats Hellenism was his own Greek temper the inborn temperamental Greekness of his mind. The power of seeing things with a childs amazement and forgetfulness was the temper of Keats, as it was the temper of Greeks i.e.; half-worship added half-joy. The instinctive Greekness of Keats mind lies in his passionate pursuit of beauty, which is the very soul of his poetry. His passion for beauty finds a concrete expression in his Ode to Psyche: Yes, I will be thy priest and buld a fane In some untrodden regions of my mind, Where branched thoughts, new grown with pleasant pain Instead of pine shall murmur in the wind. The Greek did not burden their poetry with philosophy or spiritual message. Their poetry was incarnation of beauty, and existed for itself. Similarly, Keats was pure poet. He enjoyed unalloyed pleasure in nature, which for him, did not carry any philosophical or spiritual message. Concluding it, Keats, possesses the qualities of romantic and pure poet he loves nature, which is seen by him with Greek temper. He never thinks about past and future and his only concern is the present time; the present moment of beauty and truth. In his early poetry, one can perceive him as an escapist because there was joy and delight and overcharged imagination because of inexperience youth. But with gradual development of thought and experience, he comes to the conclusion that sorrows and joys are always together; rose cannot be taken without its thrones. One can clearly sees in his Odes that he is not an escapist but he is accepting the realities of life. There is something of the innermost soul of poetry in almost everything he wrote. (Tennyson)