Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Free sample - The Hilton Concept of Quality. translation missing

The Hilton Concept of Quality. The Hilton Concept of QualityAll workers and franchiseesâ follow Brand acknowledgment; offer reasonable and pleasant inns and are a piece of a multi universal system of inns of one to four stars. The system is developing each day asâ Hilton Worldwide gains inns everywhere throughout the world. The system guarantees an office of reservations, brand acknowledgment and internal controls that are known as the Hilton Way . This was the witticism of Conrad Hilton framing the organization in the 1940's. His first Hilton lodging goes back to 1925 in Texas. Hilton Worldwide runs it's companies underâ Total Quality Management (TQM) as they train just their administration and the administration of every lodging whether it be corporate or diversified managedâ toâ brand acknowledgment and to be client centered. All procedures done must be done the Hilton way (process thinking, appropriate condition). The inner running of inns is the obligation of the individual lodging. With the end goal of this Paper the Embassy Suites and the Beverly Hilton will be utilized to show how the Hilton way has not generally been adequate in quality appraisal and it has been important to include extra controls.. Hilton Worldwide has made a confused in house program of RevPar list, the Balanced Scorecard and Brand Equity. A huge number of dollars have been spent in an information organize adjusting all inns with the goal that their monetary and factual information can be a piece of the Hilton Network. Every lodging pays roughly $70 000 to have the framework introduced. One can't be called Hilton without holding fast to the network.â Everything is estimated, evaluated and sent back to corporate to pass judgment on their degree of administration and as far as incomes. (hiltonworlwide) RevPar file (income per accessible room) is an essential measurement used to test the budgetary reasonability of an inn. Hilton Corporation utilizes the RevPar Index, brand value and the decent scorecard. Each inn in their framework from the 1 star to the 4 stars tries to do the Brand Hilton says others should do Convey an incentive for Money Income per accessible room or the % of inhabitance x the normal day by day rate is to show the money related practicality of an inn contrasted with another in a similar territory simultaneously and a similar kind. (strglobal) A four star Hilton Embassy Suite held at 90% inhabitance during the Christmas season in Los Angeles contrasted with a four star Embassy Suite saved at 85% inhabitance at a higher rate in San Francisco won't work out quite as well. What gets estimated gets oversaw is a piece of Hilton's system (TQM) and strategic procedures. The phrasing they have created has become to be known as theâ Adjusted Scorecard Corporate administration, corporate claimed and oversaw inns and diversified lodgings are influenced. It is a piece of Hiltons long and transient system. All quality confirmation depends on the information got from execution measure information set up from the sort of work, the goals accomplished and the advancement made. Nothing remains out. Anything which can be evaluated is utilized for quality. The Scorecard is placed into a mind boggling announcing information framework that every inn is required to have purchased and set up so as to keep up the Hilton picture. Contingent upon the outcomes, every individual in the association has motivators as inspirational elements. Their exhibition and desires are consistently a significant piece of the framework. Hilton utilizes the information and measurements to pass judgment on results. TQM depends on internal execution and CEM depends on outward execution. RevPar Index, Balanced Scorecardâ and Brand Equity have been estimated in the Hiltons over the world to pass judgment on consumer loyalty. Hilton began with Brand Equity with the utilization of Hilton Hotel 50 years back. Perhaps the soonest lodging was the Beverly Hilton. Brands with client mindfulness and relationship with quality or consistency are successful value brands. A client knows in any Hilton lodging on the planet, he will get a similar sort of service.â Now they have developed or extended in utilizing an extra H withâ Hilton Hotel, HHonors program, Homewood Suites, Hampton. All under the umbrella of H. Measurementsâ of brand value can be made however they are just approximations. Keller K.L., 1993 Hilton's fair scorecardâ has empowered to evaluate the nature of the day by day development and expanded brand value by quality control of the information that one Hilton is the equivalent from another. What's more, notwithstanding share-of-showcase development, non-money related estimates show improvement, too. Among organization claimed and - oversaw inns, current consumer loyalty contemplates uncover solid increments in clients' suppositions on generally fulfillment, their probability of suggesting Hilton inns, and their probability to come back to a given property. The three elements include a proportion of dedication Hilton tracks closelyand that score as of late arrived at its most significant level ever. Hensdill (2009) The scorecard tests neatness and conditions. Administration guidelines are left to the individual lodging. (News Release, 2003) The lodgings are kept to the Hilton Way on account of the inner information arrangement of check and balance and factual controls. While administration has become a significant piece of the present business to separate between lodging networks and set up client dedication, it is kept separate from the testing procedure of the quality confirmation .(beverly) Hilton Worldwide made an extra two segment of the Balance Scorecard to incorporate quality confirmation and visitor fulfillment for the Embassy Suites. They have shock visits, assessments of kitchens, and guestrooms. Visitors are approached to rate various administrations in the lodging. Everything is still measured and nothing is managed on a passionate level. (News Release, 2003) This means they depend on Total Quality Management. Beverly Hilton is an exclusive lodging which just uses the point arrangement of HHonors of the Hilton program. It was essential to keep the name and have the brand value of the H as the Beverly Hilton is one of the most established post war inns. As a private inn, they are not required to hold fast to TQM nor the Hilton Way. They utilize an outer organization for Quality Assurance and areâ administration arranged. Their administrative group utilizes client experience the board theory. Despite the fact that they depend vigorously on testing and inspecting, they question each part of their activities. The voice of the client is the need of the inn. The outside organization has their own quantitative trial of value: research is done during the time in client experience and inspiration ofâ representatives through remuneration and acknowledgment, apparatuses are set up to prepare staff in client assistance (experience); enthusiastic reviews, overviews, and shock visits. Getting ready for the yearly quality affirmation review, with LRA Worldwide, the Beverly Hilton can react rapidly and on the spot ofâ any insufficiency found. Measurable investigations are finished utilizing the CEM (client experience management).(The Beverly Hilton,2005) 1. Examination of CEM versusâ TQM by Hilton Worldwide. Measurements of the compelling on incomes between two sorts of the executives - Motivation: administrations or necessities - Fidelity: passionate or area - Emotions: need or delight Control Chart to think about the variance of RevPar per establishments during the Christmas season 2. Despite the fact that Hilton is top of the rundown in consumer loyalty, more should be possible to change the Henry Ford chain line feeling that everything must be the equivalent. With a more client orientated administrative framework, Hilton lodgings will appear to be all the more simple and less mechanical. 3.â Hilton stays up with the latest with the different national tests. They are at the highest priority on the rundown of the vast majority of its rivals: image value: (Equitrend study) Visitor fulfillment is the most noteworthy for as far back as three years with the Customer Satisfaction record (ACSI)(Big Gains,June 2010) They have inward testing of the better quality lodgings and factual investigation of the entire system: balance scorecards ( The inside working of the inns are up to the proprietors of the franchisees. As the desires for the money related objectives are high, the enterprising mentality doesn't take into consideration a low degree of laborers' presentation. Inspirational remuneration in money related honors is given for the individuals who meet set objectives. The entire framework depends on monetary achievement. In spite of the fact that visitor fulfillment is the most noteworthy in the business, it depends on American measurements. Brand acknowledgment is turning out to be increasingly more significant as globalization is without fringes.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Thomas Jefferson Quotations

Thomas Jefferson Quotations Thomas Jefferson was the third leader of the United States. He was significant as one of the establishing fathers of the United States. He composed the Declaration of Independence. As president, his most prominent accomplishment was the Louisiana Purchase which dramatically increased the size of the US. He made various compositions including his renowned letters to political adversary John Adams in his later years. Following are a few statements that shed light on Jeffersons convictions. Thomas Jefferson Quotes Be that as it may, each distinction of conclusion isn't a distinction of standard. We have been called by various names brethren of a similar standard. We are for the most part Republicans, we are altogether Federalists. Nature planned me for the serene quest for science, by rendering them my incomparable enjoyment. Be that as it may, the enormities of the occasions wherein I have lived have constrained me to take a section in opposing them, and to submit myself on the clamorous expanse of political interests. The tree of freedom must be invigorated every once in a while with the blood of loyalists and dictators. At the point when a man accept an open trust, he ought to view himself as open property. A bill of rights is the thing that the individuals are qualified for against each administration on earth, general or specific; and what no fair government should can't, or lay on induction. I see extraordinary urban areas as pestilential to the ethics, the wellbeing, and the freedoms of man. I realize that the procurement of Louisiana has been opposed by some ... that the expansion of our region would imperil its association... The bigger our affiliation the less will it be shaken by neighborhood interests; and in any view is it worse that the contrary bank of the Mississippi ought to be settled by our own brethren and youngsters than by outsiders of another family? A little defiance once in a while is something worth being thankful for... The characteristic advancement of things is for freedom to yield and government to make progress. Its spirit, its atmosphere, its fairness, freedom, laws, individuals, and habits. My god! how little do my compatriots comprehend what valuable favors they are in control of, and which no others on earth appreciate!

Monday, August 3, 2020

Back in the Swing COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Back in the Swing COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog During the summer the SIPA building is a very quiet place.   The reason for this is that we do not offer summer courses.   Each student that graduates from SIPA will have a minimum of 30 weeks of professional development experience.   15 weeks come through an internship and 15 weeks come through a workshop. Students are responsible for finding their own internships, but we offer a lot of assistance through Career Services, faculty, alumni, and current students.   We want students to be able to go anywhere in the world to complete their internship and thus we do not offer summer courses so that students can focus full time on professional development and resume building.   Workshops are group projects composed of 5-6 students working for an outside client.   The workshops are set up by faculty and administrators and students pick from a predetermined list.   Workshops take place during the academic year. Back to the point of this entry . . . the quiet atmosphere of SIPA will cease next Monday as we welcome new students for Orientation and the following week returning students will be back for the start of classes.   Once classes start the building buzzes with activity each and every day.   It is typical for there to be 10-15 events each week featuring amazing speakers.   Here is just a taste of what will be featuring as the semester starts. We will have Leaders in Global Energy lecture series starting on September 15.   Opening remarks will be given by Nabuo Tanaka of the International Energy Agency.   He will be followed by the Portuguese Prime Minister, Jose Socrates, in late September. CH Tung, the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong and one of SIPAs Global Fellows will be speaking on US-China Relations on September 17. EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will be speaking at the World Leaders Forum on campus and will likely address SIPA students following the main university event. We will have updates on the blog regarding events so stay tuned.

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Duality in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Steveson

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a literary classic set in Victorian England. Robert Louis Stevenson uses this time period to explore duality and how people must face their evil counterparts. Stevenson illustrates his belief that it is impossible to truly be good with Doctor Jekyll. He even comments â€Å"[M]an is not truly one, but truly two† (Stevenson 125). Jekyll has conformed to society his entire life, trying to be a perfect person. He has never had the opportunity to express his other half. Jekyll creates Hyde so he can be free of societal constraints and do things that a reputable man cannot. Jekyll releases Hyde who ultimately consumes him because he has never learned how to moderate his evil impulses. Stevensons views on human nature are similar to that of The Bible, which consistently cites the life-long struggle Christians face between the flesh â€Å"evil† and the spirit â€Å"good†. Man can never be good because they are tainted by sin. Even Jesus says that only God is good in Mark 10:18 which reads, â€Å"‘Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No one is good--except God alone. Jekyll is the archetypal example of this. Jekyll knows what his desires are but once he falls from grace by creating Hyde he is forced to grapple with his evil side until it kill him. Doctor Jekyll knew his inevitable demise was rapidly approaching because he pleads with Utterson asking him to â€Å"help [Hyde] for my sake, when I am no longer here† (39). Jekylls actions were evil when he created his potionShow MoreRelated Considering The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as an Effective Representation of Evil3122 Words   |  13 PagesConsidering The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as an Effective Representation of Evil The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, originally published in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson, arguably remains a popular novella even today because of its representations of evil and themes concerned with evil such as morality. Originally written for a Victorian audience, the text follows the conventions of the time - for example, the Georgian style of introducing and

Monday, May 11, 2020

Essay about Benefits of Fast Food Restaurants - 867 Words

Jayleen April 7, 2012 English 22 J. Wharton Benefits of Fast Food Restaurants In the United States, the popularity of fast food restaurants is growing every day. Now days, people can buy a whole meal in fast food restaurants for between 6 to 7 dollars. People consider that fast food restaurants make their life easy and uncomplicated. For instance, if two parents was both working late and their kids was home with dinner not cooked, they could stop at any fast food restaurants to order food for dinner before heading home. The popularity of fast food restaurants is growing because of three main causes: the low cost, the fast service, and how fast food restaurants are available anywhere. One of the most important causes of fast†¦show more content†¦For example, most people that I know have to wake up very early in the morning to cook breakfast, make lunch, get ready for school or even get ready for work, and get to school or work on time. People divide their time between their jobs and their responsibilities. For instanc e, before my mom heads to work she takes me to get breakfast and drops me off at school. In the morning my mother takes me to McDonalds in Waianae. Usually in the morning it is always busy but the service is so fast. For example, when I go in side of McDonalds to order I only wait in line for about 2 to 3 minutes and wait for my meal between 4 to 5 minutes. Another example is when my sister is running late from work and she still has to get dinner done. She stops at Jack in the Box to get meals for her family. My sister said when she goes into the restaurant to order the cashier is ready and waiting for her to begin her order. Then in just seconds her whole meal is done and ready to go. Therefore, the fast service is popularity because in this high paced society every minute counts and every second that is wasted in waiting and eating a food is a transaction lost or money shot up in the air. Finally the last cause is how fast food restaurants is available everywhere thousands of pe ople go to. Now days, many kind of fast food restaurants are available in the malls and strategic places. The international branded restaurants such as KFC and McDonald grow quickly from oneShow MoreRelated The Sociat Costs and Benefits of a Fast Food Industry Essay687 Words   |  3 PagesThe Sociat Costs and Benefits of a Fast Food Industry There are many social benefits to a fast food industry. Firstly, it’s the accessibility and convenience of having the fast food restaurants – they’re located practically everywhere. The service is also fast, hence â€Å"fast food† and therefore maximizing the convenience of them to consumers. Most of the time, the products of the fast food industry are cheap, tasty and therefore have good value for the product. The existenceRead MoreThe Importance Of Fast Food1157 Words   |  5 PagesFast food has been increasingly popular throughout the twenty-first century because of its sacrifice of health for speed, but that has recently started to change. â€Å"Fast casual† is the idea of a more casual restaurant atmosphere with healthier food, slightly higher prices, and a better overall experience. The transition to a more innovative fast casual mind set has spurred an increasing popularity across the country. Rising awareness in society has helped dawn the rise of the fast casual industryRead MoreSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Essay1276 Words   |  6 Pagesparticipants should be allowed to use their food stamps for. As of right now, food stamps can only be used to purchase food that can be cooked or eaten at home, preventing families from spending the federal aid at restaurants (USDA). 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The fast-food industries have becameRead MorePest Analysis on Fast Food Restourants796 Words   |  4 PagesTable of Contents Introduction to Fast Food Industry in Bahawalpur 1 PEST ANALYSIS 1 POLITICAL 1 ECONOMICS2 SOCIAL / CULTURAL 2 TECHNOLOGY 2 SOURCES OF INFORMATION3 Introduction to Fast Food Industry in Bahawalpur Today, eating out definitely is part of modern lifestyle, or can be said as necessity of modern age. Fast food is mainly targeted to youngster who is providing the fast food Restaurant the most revenue. The high fat foods taste good to these youngsters, which in turnRead MoreThe Cost-Benefit Matrix of the Restaurant Industry666 Words   |  3 Pagescost-benefit matrix can be used to analyze an industry and the position of different firms in that industry. The industry I have chosen to study this concept is the restaurant industry. At the low end of the industry in terms of cost are quick service restaurants. They require little effort to find and most consumers do not expend much effort on the purchase decision. The product costs are low. Within this category it is easy to find example of low benefit outlets and ones with higher benefit. A lowRead MoreReview Of Eat Mor Chikin 1225 Words   |  5 PagesA Chik-Fil-A Located In Vail â€Å"Eat Mor Chikin!† Shouts this fast food chain’s mascot. The Chik-Fil-A mascot may not be well educated, misspelling common known words, but he knows how to get people to eat and enjoy this new american classic. The Chik-Fil-A restaurants are one of the most popular eating establishments in America. People of all ages enjoy their food but people in Vail, Arizona are feeling left out of this delicious picture. History of Chik-Fil-A In 1951, S. Truett Cathy made anRead MoreFastfood1128 Words   |  5 PagesSimple Facts About Fast Food Nov 20, 2010 By Suzanne Robin Fast food restaurants, also known as quick service restaurants, sell food that can be quickly cooked, assembled and eaten. Fast food has moved out of restaurants and is also readily available at convenience stores. Even grocery stores often serve their own versions of fast food in prepackaged sandwiches and salads. Fast Food Nation reports that 25 percent of Americans eat at least one meal a day at a fast food restaurant,. What are theRead MoreThe Doubts of Eating Out1169 Words   |  5 PagesSadie and her family always eat out. They never have time to sit together as a family and eat a home cooked meal. Since Sadie always grabbed fast food on the run, she was gaining weight fast. Additionally, buying food from restaurants almost every day was making Sadie’s wallet go empty. Also, since her family never made the time to eat together as a family, Sadie was weakening her relationship with her siblings and parents. They started talking less to each other about their lives and just kept toRead MoreObesity Is A Serious Public Concern862 Words   |  4 PagesObesity has increased rapidly in the U.S. since the 1970s. At the same time, the number of fast food restaurants more than doubled over the same time period. Exposes such as â€Å"Fast Food Nation† (Schlosser, 2001) and â€Å"Supersize Me† (Spurlock, 2004) highlight the popular perception that these two trends may be related—the availability of fast food may have caused at least some of the increase in obesity. Obesity has been linked to hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, kidney problems and

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Simulation of Personal Emotion Experience Free Essays

string(90) " feeling of happiness or of resentment, depending on the relationship between the agents\." Reeves NAS (1996) showed that humans like to communicate with computers as they do with people. Software applications which include models of emotional processes are needed to model the social and emotional aspects of human-machine interaction. Extending classic AAA and logic by adding simulated emotions can be useful to improve the user’s experience in many ways. We will write a custom essay sample on Simulation of Personal Emotion Experience or any similar topic only for you Order Now This chapter will provide a brief overview of existing solutions and models used for artificial emotions (AWE) and present a novel model of emotion simulation (SIMPLEX). Empirical data will be reported on its performance, especially the occurrence of emotions, in a game environment. This chapter concludes with a comment on the usefulness of separating AAA and AWE engendering recent advances in cognitive neuroscience. 2. Models for artificial emotions 2. 1 Historical roots The ass saw what might have been the first debate about emotions and artificial intelligence. The main and – as we know now – most important point was that purely cognitive systems lacked emotions, which strongly influence human thought processes.. Two of the models that emerged at that time will be described here. Simony’s interrupt system Herbert Simon was the first to propose that emotions should be part of a model of cognitive processes (Simon, 1967). His intention was to provide a theoretical inundation for a system incorporating emotions and multiple goals. Within this system, important processes could be interrupted so that more attention went into satisfying important needs (e. G. Hunger, safety). Herbert Simon imagined two parallel systems, one designed to achieve goals (cognition, planning) and one observing the environment for events that require immediate attention (emotions). Indeed, the possibility of interrupting current cognitive processes is 2 Name of the book (Header position 1,5) vital for survival, as it makes it possible to react to threats, but also to pay more attention to one’s surroundings when a threat is expected. Today’s Fungus Eater Another step towards a theory for the computer modeling of emotions was made by the psychologist Mason Toad (Toad, 1982) between 1961 and 1980, with a model called the Fungus Eater. This model resulted in the design of an autonomous robot system and partial implementations. At first, Toad only wanted to create a scenario for a cognitive system that would require concentrating on multiple issues at the same time. In this scenario, the task was collecting as much ore as possible with the help of a mining robot. Operating his robot required energy that could only be gained by collecting a special fungus. Additionally, different Fungus Eaters were competing for the same resources, thus making the scenario more complicated. Toad came to the conclusion that in order to survive on their own, these Fungus Eaters would need to have emotions and to be partially controlled by them. However, Toad named them â€Å"urges† instead of emotions and on closer examination, it is apparent that some of these are actual emotions like joy or anger, while others are needs, goals or motives (e. G. Hunger). 2. 2 Theoretical approach and recent models There are roughly three areas where emotion models are applied. Artificial emotions (AWE) can be used to improve problem-solving in complex environments, as in the early approaches mentioned above. Emotion models can also be used to test psychological emotion theories in experiments using controlled scenarios. Finally, emotions are essential to make computer characters more believable. Emotion models which synthesize and express emotions are necessary to make AAA characters more human- like. These models will be the focus of the next sections as they have inspired our own emotional model. The most influential theoretical approach, COCO, will be presented in detail, as it is the basis of many computational models of emotion. Then, three interesting recent models are briefly described. COCO – a theoretical approach to simulate emotions The COCO model by Retort, Color and Collins is an emotion theory based on appraisal which was explicitly developed to offer a foundation for artificial emotion systems (Retort, Color, Collins, 1988). Its authors succeeded as it inspired many modern models and approaches to artificial emotions. The basis of the model is that emotions are reactions to the attributes of objects, to vents or to actions. Note that internal events (like bodily sensations or memories) which are a part of most modern emotion theories are neglected in the COCO approach. Objects, events and actions are evaluated in an appraisal process based on specific criteria, and result in multiple emotions of different intensities. Figure 1 gives an overview of the COCO approach. Appraising the aspects of objects requires the agent to have attitudes (tastes or preferences) in order to decide whether the object is appealing or not. This appraisal process results in either love or hate. Chapter Title (Header position 1,5) 3 Fig. 1. The COCO model Events, or rather consequences of events, are appraised by analyzing their impact on the agent’s goals. This determines the desirability of events. The degree of desirability depends on how much closer to or further away from achieving the goal the agent will be after the event. The emotions of Joy and distress are direct results of desirable and undesirable events, considering the consequences they have for the agent himself. Some emotions, like for example pity, are triggered when processing events that have consequences for other agents. An open issue is whether this appraisal should be based upon the agent’s own goals or rather the other agent’s goals. How much should an agent be empathic if another one looses something that is not important to the first agent? In an attempt to solve this issue, abstract goals were introduced (such as for example, not losing property). It eventually became clear that it is very important to keep the goals general and abstract, to avoid having to define too many specific goals. The emotions triggered by reacting to other agents’ good or bad fortune depend on how well-liked they are. Another agent’s bad fortune can trigger pity or gloating, while happy events can result in either feeling of happiness or of resentment, depending on the relationship between the agents. You read "Simulation of Personal Emotion Experience" in category "Papers" Appraising an event also means evaluating its prospects – hoping or fearing that something will or will not occur. Prospect-based emotions include disappointment and relief. The intensity of these emotions is usually based on the intensity of the preceding hope or fear. The criterion used to appraise the actions of agents is their praiseworthiness, which is based on the agent’s standards. Generally, praiseworthy actions cause pride and blameworthy actions cause shame, if the agent himself is the one acting. When the actions of other agents are 4 appraised, the emotions triggered are admiration or reproach. Standards can be as complex as attitudes (aspects of objects) and goals (consequences of events), and are almost as subjective and individual. Again, the problem of listing them was solved by describing actions in an abstract way. An interesting phenomenon is the ability of feeling proud or ashamed of someone else’s actions. Simply put, the closer an agent feels related to the acting agent(s), the more he will identify with him in appraising is actions. Examples of this phenomenon (called the strength of the cognitive unit) can range from parents being proud of their child to soccer fans being ashamed of their team’s performance. One of the many practical implementations of COCO is the model by Stapler PETA (1999). They constructed a virtual agent which emotion architecture links discrete emotions categories to 14 action response categories, comprising a large range of individual actions. The COCO emotion model is also partly congruent with Nice Fried’s renewed theory of emotions (Afraid, 1986). For more details on emotion theory, see Trace Kessler (2003). Artificial Emotion Engine The aim of the Emotion Engine (E) is to control the behavior of an artificial agent in complex scenarios. It is made of three layers- emotions, mood and personality (Wilson, 2000). If an emotion is triggered, the actions will be based on this emotion. When emotions are not triggered, the engine bases its actions on the current mood; when no mood is activated, then personality serves as a basis for behavior. The emotion engine is based on the FEE model, which is a three-dimensional space, describing personality traits in terms of Extroversion, Fear and Aggression. Within this space, an area around the point representing an artificial agent’s personality is determined and all traits located inside this area are considered to be available to the specific character. For Wilson, the FEE is congruent with the three central systems of the human brain which according to Gray (Gray McLaughlin, 1996) determine behavior: the Approach system, the Behavior Inhibition system and the Fight/Flight system. These three basic dimensions are intuitive, which makes programming easy. Different personalities trigger some moods more frequently than others: extroversion s linked to good moods, and fear to negative moods. Aggression affects the speed of mood changes. Reward and punishment signals work as the main inputs, and this is comparable with the desirability of events in COCO. Inputs are adjusted based on personality, but also on how often this input occurred before. An agent can get used to a certain input, and this lowers the impact it will eventually have (habituation). On the contrary, a rare or unprecedented input will have more effect (novelty). Needs are organized hierarchically. Physiological needs, such as hunger, thirst, and the need for warmth and energy are the most important. Each of these needs can become a priority, as when for example a very hungry agent will consider eating as his most important goal. Safety, affiliation and esteem needs are the remaining layers. While physiological needs are the most important, the order of the other layers can vary, depending on what is more important to the agent. Memory is very limited; an agent only remembers how much he likes the other agents. In the same way, in COCO, sympathy is used to cause different emotions for liked and disliked entities. Only the six basic emotions of fear, anger, Joy, sadness, disgust and surprise can be triggered. This might appear like a limited selection compared to the 24 emotions of COCO, but given the reactive nature of emotions in this model (working without inner events and 5 triggers) and since some emotion theorists consider the broad spectrum of emotions as mixtures of these basic emotions, this is quite a sensible choice. Personality is used to adjust the intensity or the frequency of the occurrence of emotions, so that a character with personality that is â€Å"low in Fear† will simply not experience as much fear as others. FLAME The Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) is partially based on COCO, but hat differentiates FLAME from other models is the use of fuzzy logic. This results in a relatively simple appraisal process. FLAME can integrate multiple emotions at the same time (in a process called emotional filtering), as emotions at times inhibit one another. For example, imagine an agent feeling Joy and pride because he Just obtained a new position, but who at the same time feels anger, because a relative of the boss of the company was given a higher position than himself. At this point, his anger may prevent him from feeling joy any longer. When opposite emotions occur, FLAME lets the stronger emotion inhibit the weaker one(s), giving a slightly stronger weight to negative emotions. Another way to handle conflicting emotions is through mood, which is determined by comparing the intensities of positive and negative emotions over the last few steps. If the summed up intensities of positive emotions are higher than that of the negative emotions, then the mood will be positive. If a positive and a negative emotion of comparable intensities occur at the same time, the mood determines which of these emotions will inhibit the other one. As there is little research about the decay of emotions, FLAME uses a simple constant cay, though positive emotions decay faster than negative emotions. FLAME does not make it possible to implement an agent’s personality; instead, differences in behavior are created through learning. For example, an agent may learn that reacting in an angry way will enable him to reach his goals, thus enticing him to be more choleric. FLAME implements multiple types of learning, such as classical conditioning (associating expectations with objects) which occurs in many situations, triggering fear or hope. Another type of learning is learning about consequences of actions or events. This is simple whenever an action directly causes a result. For example, learning that eating will result in feeling less hungry is rather trivial. In the case of more complex causal relations over time, FLAME is using Q-learning, a form of reinforcement learning. Another form of learning, quite similar to model learning, is the ability to recognize patterns in the behavior of a user by observing sequences of actions. For this type of learning, FLAME simply counts the occurrences of sequences. The last type of learning in FLAME, but one of the most important, is learning about the value of actions. Remember that COCO relies on the praiseworthiness of actions, which is based on the agent’s standards. In FLAME, these standards are not predefined knowledge, but they are learned from the interaction between users. Using learning instead of predefined knowledge seems like a very sensible way to avoid most of the troubling issues that come with using COCO. Additionally, learning allows agents to adjust, which makes them all the more believable. ALMA The intention in designing A Layered Model of Affect (ALMA) was to control agents in conversational scenarios. In interactive game or learning environments, the artificial harassers display facial expressions of emotions and moods through their postures to 6 appear more believable. Emotions, moods and personalities are implemented and interact with each other. Events and actions are described in terms of abstract tags which are then evaluated during the appraisal process and describe things like for example the expressed emotion or gesture accompanying an action or simply if something is a good or bad event. As ALMA is aimed at conversations, an action is often a statement. Hence, there are tags to describe the kind of statement, for example if it was an insult or a compliment. In addition, ALMA requires defining personality profiles for each agent. Essentially, these profiles already contain the desirability and praiseworthiness the agent assigns to certain tags. Since our own emotion model shares some features with ALMA (see below) a key difference should be pointed out. In SIMPLEX we considered it impractical to explicitly specify this information, as this would have limited the model to a small number of agents. So instead of using tags, our model requires to specify goals and their priorities for an agent, where generic goals can be used for all agents. Events still need to be scribed in a special way, but this is reduced too relatively objective list of which agents goals are affected and in which way. All other information like praiseworthiness is automatically derived from this and the agent’s personality. Although this approach is providing less control over an agent’s appraisal process, it is better suited for a generic system meant to be used with minimal extra effort. 3. SIMPLEX – Simulation of Personal Emotion Experience 3. Overview SIMPLEX is a context-independent module to create emotions as a result of primary application (environment) events. Goals, emotions, mood-states, personality, memory and relationships between agents have been modeled so they could interact as in real life. Figure 2 shows an overview of the model. SIMPLEX is based on the COCO model by Retort, Color and Collins (1988) in that it creates discrete emotions by appraising events based on the desirability of their consequences and the praiseworthiness of the actions of agents. The appraisal process was modified by including the personality of virtual agents. The personality component is based on the Five Factor Model (FM) introduced by psychologists McCrae Costa (1987), which includes extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neurotics and openness. The personality module influences the emotion module on multiple levels during appraisal processes and in the development of mood-states. Other important aspects of the model are mood-states and relationships. Mood- states are represented in a three-dimensional space which dimensions are pleasure, arousal and dominance (Bradley Lang, 1994), and they are based on active or recently experienced emotions (implemented by pull-functions). In the absence of motions, a mood state will slowly gravitate back to a default mood-state based on the agent’s personality. A mood-state also functions as a threshold to determine whether an emotion is strong enough to become active at a given time. Relationships are handled as if they were mood-states towards other agents (for instance a player in a game scenario): they are based on emotions caused by other agents and they can be considered as a simplified way to store memories of experiences with these agents. They are used as thresholds as well; for example, an agent will be more likely to become angry at another agent towards when their legislation is in the range of negative valence. 7 Fig. 2. The emotion module SIMPLEX Personality (long-term), mood-state (mid-term) and emotions (short-term) thus represent three levels of the emotion module that interact with each other in order to create believable agents. Events from the scenario serve as the model’s inputs. They are appraised according to the COCO algorithm (see figure 1). This appraisal is influenced by the agent’s goals, his personality and his relationships with other agents. At the end of an appraisal one or several discrete emotions are generated. These emotions and the current mood-state are represented in the same three- dimensional PAD space: on the one hand, the emotion(s) serve(s) as an attractor for the recent mood-state position (pull function). On the other hand, the closer an emotion is located to the current mood-state, the more probable it will be that the emotion will be activated. The speed at which the mood-state changes, is influenced by the agent’s neurotics (a personality variable). Additionally, emotions that are caused by other agents will influence another mood-state representation (stored on another PAD space) representing the relationship with that agent. Thus, every agent has specific relationships with other agents, which influences his behavior towards others. Emotions, mood-states and relationships with other agents are the outputs of the model and can be used by the AAA application. Originally, the PAD space was designed to represent emotions in a dimensional rather than a discrete way (Russell, 1978). In our model, PAD is used as a common space where three different constructs (discrete COCO emotions, continuous mood- states and personality), are represented in order to be handled together by the SIMPLEX algorithm. An agent’s current mood-state is thus the result of a mathematical function which takes into account the default mood (defined by personality), the pulling behavior of COCO emotion(s) triggered by appraisals, and weighed factors influencing movement speed (see equation 1). Mood-state = f(PADDED, Paternosters, Filter) 8 3. 2 Basic components Mood-state represented in the PAD-Space (Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance) Beyond discrete emotions, which are typically short-term, mood-states are a powerful way to model emotional shifts and explain affective influences over longer periods of time. To implement mood-states in our model, we chose to use Russell three-dimensional space to describe emotions (Russell, 1978) and Meridian’s concept of how emotions are linked to personality traits (Meridian, 1996). The dimension of Pleasure encompasses valence ranging from very positive to very negative. Arousal is an indicator of how intensely something is perceived, or of how much it affects the organism. Dominance is a measure of experienced control over the situation. For example, a different degree of dominance can make the difference between fear and anger. Both of these emotions are states of negative valence and sigh arousal, but not feeling in control is what differentiates fear from anger. When an agent is angry, it is because he believes he can have a potential influence. Although emotions are triggered by COCO appraisals and are therefore discrete, they are handled in a continuous three-dimensional space by SIMPLEX. The advantage of treating emotions in this way and not Just as a fixed set of possible emotions is that it makes it possible to represent emotions that do not even have a name. It also creates the possibility to combine emotions, mood-state and personality in one space. First, a ordinate in PAD space can obviously represent an agent’s mood-state. But emotions and personalities can also be described in terms of Pleasure, Arousal and Dominance values. For example, the value of arousal can be not only the degree of arousal associated with a specific emotion, but also the restorability of a person. Meridian (1996) gives specific names to the resulting different octants in PAD-space and describes the diagonally opposite octants as Exuberant/Bored, Dependent/ Disdainful, Relaxed/Anxious, Docile/Hostile. Thus mood-states are not points but octants of the Bedspread. However, positioning a personality (based on FM) within a PAD-space could have been a rather difficult task, since there is no mathematically- correct way to make the conversion. Luckily, this transformation can be based upon empirical data. Meridian provided such a conversion table from FM to PAD after correlation analyses of questionnaires measuring both constructs in healthy subjects (Meridian, 1996). Five Factor Model of Personality (FM) The implementation of personality is a key factor when creating believable agents that differ from each other. COCO already offers a few possibilities: different goals, tankards and attitudes automatically result in differences during the appraisal process. However, since personality goes beyond preferences, it was necessary to find a model of personality that made it possible to adjust the appraisal process, to shift the agent’s perception and to influence mood-states. The model chosen for SIMPLEX was the Five Factor Model (McCrae Costa, 1987). After years of research, an agreement emerged that five groups of traits are sufficient to describe a personality. Using self-report questionnaires with multiple items, a personality profile can be provided for each individual scoring high or low in each of he five factors (this approach is called â€Å"dimensional†). In the case of our model, the value for each factor can be typed in when defining the artificial agent. 9 Agreeableness refers to a tendency to cooperate and to compromise, in order to interact with others in an agreeable way. High agreeableness often means having a positive outlook on human nature, assuming people to be good rather than bad. Low agreeableness is essentially selfishness, putting your own needs above the needs of others and not caring about the consequences your actions might have for others. Conscientiousness is usually high in people who plan a lot, who think everything through, and who are very tidy or achievers. Extreme cases can appear to be compulsive or pedantic. The opposite personality trait includes sloppiness or ignoring one’s duties. Extroversion can be a measure of how much people experience positive emotions. An enthusiastic and active person that enjoys company and attention is extroverted, while a quiet individual who needs to spend more time alone is introverted. Neurotics is partly an opposite of Extroversion in being a tendency to experience negative emotions. However, being neurotic also means being more sensitive in general, and reacting emotionally to unimportant events that wouldn’t usually trigger a response. Neurotics can be prone to mood swings and tend to be more negative in their interpretation of situations. Low neurotics means high emotional stability and describes calm people who are not easily upset. Finally, those scoring high on Openness to Experience are creative and curious individuals, interested in art and more in touch with their own emotions than others. Those scoring low on that dimension are conservative persons with few interests, hey prefer straight and simple things rather than fancy ones, and they do not care about art or science. It is suspected that Openness can be influenced by education. 3. 3 Technical implementation The appraisal process and the generation of emotions There are three categories of inputs to the appraisal process of the emotion model: consequences of events, actions of agents and objects (see the COCO model in figure 1). The following section will describe the respective mechanisms applied when mapping each type of input to emotions. Each event handled by a character is first adjusted according to the agent’s rationality. First, the consequences are adjusted based on the agent’s neurotics. As neurotic people tend to see things more negatively, consequences are rated worse than what they actually are. The factor by which neurotics can reduce the desirability of events is adjustable. Note that all personality traits are in the range [-1; 1], so that negative neurotics actually makes consequences more positive. In real life, positive people could think â€Å"it could have been worse†. The desirability of events is determined by (predefined) goals during the event appraisal. A goal consists of two aspects: relevance [O; 1] and state of realization [O; 1], which means to which percentage the goal is already achieved. Afterwards, the praiseworthiness of actions is determined. Basically, the more positive consequences an action has, the more praiseworthy it is considered to be. Sympathy plays a role in this process, as it is added to positive values and subtracted from negative ones. Consequences for self are considered to be more important than consequences for others, which are currently factored in at 50% of their value. 0 After the adjusted values for all consequences have been summed up, unconsciousness is used to obtain the final result, by being scaled and subtracted. Thus the more conscientious an agent is, the harder it will be to commit an action positive enough to be deemed praiseworthy. This applies to both actions of other agents and actions of the agent himself. Agreeableness works the opposite way, but only for the actions of others. This is based on the psychological notion that agreeable people tend to be more forgiving in order to get along with others. Apart from having a different weight, factoring in agreeableness has the same results as active conscientiousness. The remaining factors serving as parameters for the action (responsibility, unexpectedness, publicizes) are averaged and used to scale the result of the above calculations. Finally, as cost is attempted to be derived from consequences for self, it is subtracted, before the calculated praiseworthiness is averaged over the number of consequences or rather the number of affected agents. The resulting value of praiseworthiness is used as the intensity for admiration or reproach, depending on whether it is positive or negative. If the agent is appraising his own actions, the motions are pride or shame instead of admiration and reproach. Once the praiseworthiness has been calculated, a search is conducted through the list of prospects for all the ones that are active and that match the name of the event. For each, the prospect appraisal function is called, which determines the net desirability by multiplying it with the affected goal’s relevance. This value will be compared to the expected desirability for this event. The simplest situation is when a positive consequence was expected but a negative one occurs. This would obviously cause disappointment. However, this is also the case if a very high desirability was hoped for and the actual consequences are less positive, but still not negative. Having a hope fulfilled results in satisfaction. If an event has exactly the expected consequences, it results in the full intensity for the emotion. The intensity of emotions is the product of the determined quality of the event and of the intensity of the prospects. For example, if there was very little hope, there cannot be strong satisfaction. Which emotion is created depends on the kind of prospect and on the sign of the quality value. Hope and positive quality result in satisfaction, hope and negative quality in disappointment, fear and positive quality in fears-confirmed and fear and negative quality in relief. After the prospect appraisal is done, short term or one-shot prospects (only valid for one round) are removed. Appraisal concerning Joy and distress is done for each consequence affecting the agent himself, while appraisal for pity/gloating and happy-for/resentment is done for the remaining consequences. How to cite Simulation of Personal Emotion Experience, Papers

Thursday, April 30, 2020

The Conjuring free essay sample

The Conjuring In the conjuring we are presented to the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens are to help the Perron family with their haunted house in Harrisville, Rhode Island. The psychic Lorraine determines rapidly that the house may need an exorcism, and contacts the Catholic Church, but is told that they need evidence on paranormal disturbances, before performing the exorcism. While putting up cameras and microphones around the house to gather evidence, Ed and Lorraine iscovers that the house once belonged to a witch, Bathsheba, who sacrificed her newborn baby to the devil and hung herself afterwards. Bathsheba is now possessing every woman, whom is trying to take over her land. Bathsheba possesses the mother, Carolyn, and makes her trying to stab the daughter Christine. Meanwhile, Ed and the other assistances, saves Christine and Ed starts performing the exorcism on Carolyn, by himself. Lorraine makes Carolyn remember a happy memory, which llows Ed to complete the exorcism. We will write a custom essay sample on The Conjuring or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Analysis The conjuring is a horror story with a twist of terror. In the beginning we dont actually see the spirits, which allows us to use our imagination (terror). Towards the middle and the end of the movie, we see all the ghosts and spirits, but there arent any nasty details (horror). The conjuring is a supernatural movie, since we are introduced to creepy things, which cant be found in the real world (unless you believe in spirits and exorcism). Under the category supernatural we find the sub- genre the marvelous since we are faced with something we cant explain, but choose to accept the supernatural as being real. My evaluation The Conjuring is a very well made horror movie; it is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. However, during the exorcism, things got a bit exaggerated, and it became slightly untrustworthy. Besides the exorcism, I really liked the movie and it will definitely be found on top of my list of horror movies.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Charles Schulz essays

Charles Schulz essays Charles Schulz was the cartoonist for the comic strip peanuts. He researched, designed, wrote, and drew every strip that appeared in the daily and Sunday newspapers around the world for almost 50 years. Charles Schulz was born November 26, 1922 in St. Paul Minnesota. His father was a barber and struggled to make enough money. Early on he knew that he had talent for drawing because he could draw better than his older cousin. His teachers kept telling him that he was going to be an artist. He said that he was born to draw comic strips. My ambition from earliest memory was to produce a daily comic strip, said Schulz. Even though his family did not have a lot of money they still found a way to enroll Charles in a correspondence course in cartooning. The school is now called the Art Instruction Schools, Inc. in Minneapolis. As a student, Schulz struggled through the program because he was shy and insecure. He submitted his coursework by mail instead of in person. He received a C+, at the art school, in the Drawing of Children. Schulzs mother, Dena, was diagnosed with cancer at about the same time he was going to school. The whole family from their nice home to an apartment above a drug store. Eventually Schulz finished his correspondence courses in cartooning and tried to sell his cartoons. Before he could successfully sell any of them, he was drafted into World War II. Within days of being drafted, his mother passed away. Charles Schulz said that being drafted into the military welcomed a change of pace and a shocking confirmation that life would never be the same again. In the military, Schulz developed the work ethic that caused his life-long success. He excelled as an infantryman, a staff sergeant, and the leader of a machine-gun squad. During his years in the service, Schulzs put most of his illustrating aside. However, he did decorate the soldiers ...

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Quotes by Simone de Beauvoir, Feminist, Existentialist

Quotes by Simone de Beauvoir, Feminist, Existentialist Simone de Beauvoir was a writer on feminism and existentialism. She also wrote novels. Her book The Second Sex is a feminist classic. It is based on the idea that, while men and women may have different tendencies, each person is unique, and it is culture which has enforced a uniform set of expectations of what is feminine, as contrasted to what is human which is equated with what is male. Beauvoir argued that women can free themselves, through individual decisions and collective action. Best Quotes One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. To emancipate woman is to refuse to confine her to the relations she bears to man, not to deny them to her; let her have her independent existence and she will continue none the less to exist to him also; mutually recognizing each other as subject, each will yet remain for the other another. Man is defined as a human being and a woman as a female- whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male. This has always been a mans world, and none of the reasons that have been offered in explanation have seemed adequate. Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with the absolute truth. The most sympathetic of men never fully comprehend womans concreted situation. Society, being codified by man, decrees that woman is inferior; she can do away with this inferiority only by destroying the males superiority. When we abolish the slavery of half of humanity, together with the whole system of hypocrisy it implies, then the division of humanity will reveal its genuine significance and the human couple will find its true form. If her functioning as a female is not enough to define woman, if we decline also to explain her through the eternal feminine, and if nevertheless we admit, provisionally, that women do exist, then we must face the question: what is a woman? To catch a husband is an art; to hold him is a job. Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework, with its endless repetition: the clean becomes soiled, the soiled is made clean, over and over, day after day. Defending the truth is not something one does out of a sense of duty or to allay guilt complexes, but is a reward in itself. I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for the truth; and truth rewarded me. Thats what I consider true generosity. You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing. I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom. Ones life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion. The word love has by no means the same sense for both sexes, and this is one cause of the serious misunderstandings that divide them. The writer of originality, unless dead, is always shocking, scandalous; novelty disturbs and repels. However gifted an individual is at the outset, if his or her talents cannot be developed because of his or her social condition, because of the surrounding circumstances, these talents will be still-born. To show your true ability is always, in a sense, to surpass the limits of your ability, to go a little beyond them: to dare, to seek, to invent; it is at such a moment that new talents are revealed, discovered, and realized. Since I was 21, I have never been lonely. The opportunities granted to me at the beginning helped me not only to lead a happy life but to be happy in the life I led. I have been aware of my shortcomings and my limits, but I have made the best of them. When I was tormented by what was happening in the world, it was the world I wanted to change, not my place in it. From the hour youre born you begin to die. But between birth and death theres life. Change your life today. Dont gamble on the future, act now, without delay. There is no justification for present existence other than its expansion into an indefinitely open future. If you live long enough, youll see that every victory turns into a defeat. Since it is the Other within us who is old, it is natural that the revelation of our age should come to us from outside- from others. We do not accept it willingly. Retirement may be looked upon either as a prolonged holiday or as a rejection, a being thrown on to the scrap-heap. Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself; if all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying. It is not in giving life but in risking life that man is raised above the animal; that is why superiority has been accorded in humanity not to the sex that brings forth but to that which kills. Its frightening to think that you mark your children merely by being yourself. It seems unfair. You cant assume the responsibility for everything you do- or dont do. The ideal of happiness has always taken material form in the house, whether cottage or castle. It stands for permanence and separation from the world. Society cares for the individual only so far as he is profitable. In the face of an obstacle which it is impossible to overcome, stubbornness is stupid. One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius. I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. In itself, homosexuality is as limiting as heterosexuality: the ideal should be to be capable of loving a woman or a man; either, a human being, without feeling fear, restraint, or obligation. All oppression creates a state of war. In order for the artist to have a world to express he must first be situated in this world, oppressed or oppressing, resigned or rebellious, a man among men. Art is an attempt to integrate evil. No matter what happened afterward, nothing would take those moments away from me; nothing has taken them away; they shine in my past with a brilliance that has never been tarnished. [About Liberation Day] Quotes About Simone de Beauvoir She had opened a door for us. – Kate Millett I had learned my own existentialism from her. It was  The Second Sex  that introduced me to that approach to reality and political responsibility... [and] led me to whatever original analysis of womens existence I have been able to contribute. – Betty Friedan I wish her well. She started me out on a road on which Ill keep moving... We need and can trust no other authority than our own personal truth. – Betty Friedan More than any other single human being, shes responsible for the current international womens movement. – Gloria Steinem

Monday, February 17, 2020

Critique of Articles on Opiates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critique of Articles on Opiates - Essay Example NIDA/NIH also states that â€Å"opiates used without a doctor’s prescription or in ways other than how they are prescribed, can be dangerous and addictive.† Additional information has also been provided on how opiates act on the brain and nervous system in giving feelings of pleasure, relaxation and contentment; acting as an automatic response mechanisms and how it acts on the spinal cord to reduce pain. The article also provides information on how persons can become addicted to opiates which acts on brain stems that controls the automatic response mechanism of the body.. Goodnough’s article entitled â€Å"Abuse of Xanax Leads a Clinic to Halt Supply† points to widespread abuse of the opiate Xanax. It looks at preventative measures that have been taken at the Seven Counties and other Health Centers in the United States to prevent the abuse of opiates like Xanax. Goodnough indicates that: â€Å"The experiment will be closely watched in a State that has wre stled with widespread prescription drug abuse for more than a decade†. The article points to serious repercussions since its withdrawal such as the killing of a doctor by a patient demanding a prescription for the drug. Patients who have been taken off the drugs have complained of increased anxiety since the change as the alternative drugs are not as effective. However, doctors have indicated that there are other ways to treat panic and anxiety disorders. In fact Dr. Hedges (qtd in Goodnough 2011) indicates that â€Å"the risk to the community, if we continue to use this medication is very high†. The article also points out that contrary to popular thinking, the misuse and abuse of Xanax knows no class boundary as people from all walks of life use the drug for various reasons. 3. Comparison and Critique Both articles take a different approach in controlling the use of opiates. NIDA/NIH focuses on opiates in general and mentions a gives a few examples while Goodnough dea ls specifically with Xanax. Both use pictures to give the articles prominence but NIDA/NIH article was more prominent than that of Goodnough. The one picture used by Goodnough was over-bearing and does not really serve any useful purpose in terms of assisting readers in understanding the article. A reader has to really take a second or a third look to really connect the picture to the article. NIH/NIDA on the other hand used several pictures to explain how opiates work, the effects they have on certain parts of the body and how people become addicted to these kinds of drugs. The pictures compel the reader to read the article by drawing attention to it and are useful for a better understanding and appreciation of the article. The use of a variety of colors in the text also added meaning to the NIH/NIDA article. While both articles state some disadvantages of taking the drugs pointing to the effects that it can have on persons who abuse it, NIDA/NIH focuses on how it affects certain p arts of the body. Goodnough focuses on what is being done to control the use of a specific Opiate Xanax in order to prevent its abuse. Goodnough also suggests ways in which misuse and abuse can be prevented. The article looks at the transition process in getting patients off the opiate to another the drug. NIH

Monday, February 3, 2020

Film "Fight Club" Analyze Research Paper

Film "Fight Club" Analyze - Research Paper Example stead, of shedding light on these critical issues in the society, events in these films often trivialize them, with certain stylized aesthetics that brings out the cynisms, irony as well as excessive violence. In most cases, the kinds of films exhibited in these films often turns to senseless pathology, brutality as well as a certain kind of indifference to the sufferings that people face (Wartenberg 42). This kind of violent representations ends up becoming the starting point of political commentary. This paper examines the aspects of violence and how it is represented differently in the film, focusing on how masculinity influences various occurrences in the society represented. The theme of violence represented in â€Å"fight Club† indicates the most crucial role played by most of films at the Hollywood. Besides playing the entertainment role, films composed in this kind of approach act as important public pedagogues through articulation of knowledge to its particular effects. In this case, it purposely attempts to influence the manner in which knowledge and other forms of social identities are established within limited ranges of effective social relations (Ndalianis 51). It is important to realize that these forms of violence and masculinity are described as being radically indeterminate according to their particular meaning. Any kind of meanings that are determined by the respecting factors are supposed to be prescribed by the text itself and not any other ways. â€Å"Fight Club† attempts to bridge the gap existing between public and the private discourses while at the same time bringing about values and ideologies that effectively resonates within the private conversations (Wartenberg 43). Reading or watching a film like â€Å"fight club† in specific terminologies indicates how it establishes particular notions relating to urgency where members of the white working and middle class are given the opportunity to view themselves as being oppressed and without

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Leadership In The Dead Poets Society English Literature Essay

Leadership In The Dead Poets Society English Literature Essay For this leadership report, we have chosen the movie  «Ã‚  Dead Poets Society  Ã‚ ». This movie was awarded for the best scenario in 1989 and was a great international success. We have selected this movie for different reasons that we will explain below. First, some members of our work group were teenagers when the movie was released. At that time, in some way, they identified themselves to the characters of the movie who are also teenagers. Carpe Diem had become a very popular concept in French schools because teenagers were concerned by the vision of life presented in the movie. The youngest members of our work group saw the movie for the first time a few years ago and were also impressed by the originality of the scenario. Moreover, we think that this movie covers many leadership aspects: each main character has his own type of leadership and there are interesting interactions and influences between the characters to speak about. For us, this movie has been like a leadership laboratory where to continue to learn from. We would like to point out that we have analysed leadership in this movie taking into account that the story takes place in 1959, that is to say at a time when educational standards were different from todays. In this respect, the behaviours of the adults like Mr Nolan (Director of the School) and Mr Perry (students father) sometimes may have appeared to us abusive, but at that time it was probably more common than today. The  «Ã‚  Dead Poets Society  Ã‚ » can be summarised as follow: In 1959, John Keating, an unconventional English literature teacher, has newly arrived at Welton Academy. This school is known for its prestigious teaching but also, and not the least, its rough and strict education. For the students, Mr Keating will be much more than a teacher: he will be their guide. He will teach them what cannot be learnt from books: speak up their mind, make their own choice of life, and in the end become free spirits. He will deeply influence his students especially Todd and Neil. Here is below a diagram that we have drawn up in order to represent the different characters and the influences they have on each others. This report will be divided in three different sections. First, we will focus on Mr Nolan, Director of Welton, and Mr Perry, Neils father, as they both appear as strong authority figures in the movie. In a second part, we will present Mr Keatings personality and leadership as an alternative to the authority figures. In a last part, we will focus on the personality and leadership of three other main characters that are students: Charlie Dalton, Neil Perry and Todd Anderson. We will then conclude this report by an open discussion on some particular aspects of leadership. Authority figures Mr Nolan Mr Nolans personality and relationships with the students Mr Nolan is the Director of Welton. His mindset is based on the Four Pillars of Welton which are tradition, honour, discipline and excellence. He truly believes in these values and is programmed to execute them. He wants the values of the school to be strictly regarded by the students. They all must know the four Pillars and adhere to them. As we will see in the following paragraph, his personality is authoritarian and his leadership can be qualified as traditional and conservative. At the beginning of the movie, his speech as part of the Welton welcoming ceremony reflects his mindset: he has a formal, solemn and very rigid attitude. He represents the prestigious Welton School and has a mission: prepare boys for college. It is his vision as a leader. During the ceremony, we can see pride on his face, particularly when he announces: Last year we graduated 51. And more than 75% of those went on to the Ivy League. (03:10) Both Mr Nolan and the ceremony he leads are traditionalist and conservative. We immediately understand that there is no place for imagination, innovation and creativity in this school. Later on, when he meets some of the students at the end of the ceremony, we can see how important excellence is for him and how he subtly puts pressure on the boys: Mr Nolan to Todd: You have some big shoes to fill. Your brother was one of our finest (04:42) Mr Nolan to Neil : We expect great things from you this year (04:50) The major trait of his personality is authority. His authority shows up very clearly in the middle of movie (01:12:06) when he arrives in the teachers room. He is very irritated due to an article that was written in the Welton Honour (school journal) that he qualifies as profane. This word profane that he uses is very strong. He wants strict sanctions to punish the ones that have written this article. He is also very suspicious. He has full power in the school and he is sure to find the guilty persons shortly. He expects a denunciation. His aim is to track down the ones that have dared to disregard the rules and the principles of the school and, in the end, defied his authority. Mr Nolan uses repression to serve the schools values which illustrates some dictatorial behaviour. Mr Nolan uses corporal punishment as a leadership tool. For instance he beats Charlie Dalton who is the boy who had written the article and then had dared to challenge him in public. Mr Nolans relationship with Mr Keating Mr Nolan is suspicious towards Mr Keating and discreetly observes him while he is teaching outdoor (01:03:06). The dialogues between Mr Nolan and Mr Keating look like a cordial confrontation as we will explain below. Mr Nolan says to Mr Keating that he is older, has more experience, knows what education is and that he was teaching English as well  «Ã‚  (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) long before your time  Ã‚ » (01:15:25), which shows that he expects respect from Mr Keating. Mr Nolan is imposing his vision of education on Mr Keating who is new in the school. Mr Nolan uses the word  «Ã‚  unortodox  Ã‚ » to qualify Mr Keatings methods. Mr Keating does not seem impressed and is both polite and sarcastic when he answers to Mr Nolan: Well, your reprimand made quite an impression, Im sure (01:16:09). Mr Nolan is not dupe and changes tactics towards Mr Keating asking him more concrete questions on his class. Mr Keating explains his own vision of education and life. Mr Nolan is then able now to openly criticize Mr Keatings methods. Here follows a portion of the dialogue between the two characters illustrating the above: Keating: I have always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself   (01:16:30). Nolan: At this boys age? Not on your life! Tradition, John. Discipline. Prepare them for college and the rest will take care of itself.  . This dialogue clearly shows that none can dispute Mr Nolans views on education at Welton. This discloses an autocratic leadership from Mr Nolan. All teachers must have the same vision. Mr Nolans behaviour shows some aspects of the transactional leadership model that we saw in class: when people have agreed to do a job, a part of the deal is that they cede all authority to their manager. That is what he wants Mr Keating to understand. Moreover, it is obvious for Mr Nolan that the prime purpose of a subordinate is to do what their manager tells them to do. There is no possible discussion. Mr Nolans leadership and honour After Neils death, Mr Nolan keeps his self-control. He wants to put a final point to this incident by finding an ideal guilty person. Such a serious incident must not soil his honour and the prestigious image of Welton. A guilty person responsible for this tragic event must be found. This will exonerate Welton. Mr Keating is for Mr Nolan the perfect scapegoat as his methods and way of thinking are too different from the schools principles. All over the film, Mr Nolan is still the same: authoritarian and dictatorial: He does not tolerate to be challenged. He cannot stand  «Ã‚  thinking different  Ã‚ ». There is no change from the start to the end of the movie. He steers a course and his objective his clear: to be Weltons servant and keep it in traditionalism and austerity to preserve its prestige. Mr Perry Mr Perry is Neils father. As we will see below, he can also be regarded as a strong authority figure. Mr Perry is a very strict man. He has a rigid behaviour both in his own way of life and in the way he educates his son. The way he wears, the severity of his face (when he is angry at his son) and some details like the way he carefully aligns his slippers on the ground when he goes to bed at the end of the move (1:38:27), reflect his mindset. His conception of life is based on strict order, discipline and planning. On the one hand, Mr Perry is very authoritarian with Neil: You do what I tell you, is that clear? (08:09) He commends Neil: I have spoken to Mr Nolan, youre taking too many extracurricular activities this semester. I have decided you must drop the annual school. (07:31) On the other hand, Mr Perry becomes gentler with his son only when Neil agrees with him If you need anything, let us know. In that way, Mr Perrys leadership towards Neil has some patterns of the transactional leadership: he has full authority on his son and Neil just has to obey him. If Neil obeys, his father offers him his support, if not, he is punished. More than authoritarian, the leaderships style of Mr Perry is dictatorial: Mr Perry does not listen to his son and imposes his own views to Neil without asking him his advice. He is uncompromising. For instance, he says to his son: Tomorrow, I am withdrawing you from Welton and enrolling you in Braden Military School. You are going to Harvard and youre gonna be a doctor. (1:36:20) Mr Perry does not understand his son. For instance, he says: You have wasted your time with this absurd acting business (1:18:52). It is like if Mr Perry and Neil were not speaking the same language: Mr Perrys language is based on reason and Neils language is based on passion. Mr Perry also behaves as if he was himself persecuted by his son why is it that you insist on defying us (1:36:10). For instance, he also says dont ever dispute me in public, do you understand (07:59). He uses blackmail you know how much this means to your mother, dont you (08:15). He wants his child to do the studies and have the carrier that he would have liked for himself I have made many sacrifices to get you here and you will not let me down (1:20:07). You have opportunities that I never even dreamt of and I am not going to let you waste them (1:36:41). The result of Mr Perrys leadership is that communication with his son is impossible. His son cannot see any exit to the situation, except suicide. An alternative to the authority figures: Mr John Keating A leader must have the courage to act against an experts advice. James Callaghan : thats what Mr. Keating does. He goes against the schools rules. John Keatings leadership has two sides: a charismatic one and also a visionary and entrepreneurial one. Charismatic leadership Charisma is a sparkle in people that money cant buy. Its an invisible energy with visible effects. Marianne Williamson John Keatings leadership is mostly based on his personality. He is dynamic, enthusiastic, very dedicated to his students and very excited about schooling. The least we can say is that he is a very eccentric teacher that contrasts with the schools strict atmosphere. He makes a strong impression on his first day of class. The first scene when he meets the students for the first time is very important for the future relation he will have with them. They are all expecting a strict work atmosphere and teacher, but instead of that John Keating gets in the classroom whistling. The way the students are staring at each others shows how surprised they are by John Keatings casual manner and apparent lack of concern. He is the master of orchestra, trying to get the best of everyone. He can be seen as a guide, a spiritual leader who is providing an alternative way of learning, usually a funnier one. He makes the students realize they are the actors of their own destiny and that they have to choose their path. He pushes the students to go find answers by themselves using words as find your own walk, strive to find your own voice, free up your mind ,dare to strike out and fine new ground (1:02:39). He seems to have a halo over his students, like a preacher. He believes in them and the students believe in him. Mr Keatings aim is that the students get more confidence in themselves and dare go further taking initiatives. The movies tagline He was their inspiration. He made their lives extraordinary also very well illustrates the charismatic leadership of Mr Keating. Entrepreneurs and visionary leadership Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. Bernard Montgomery He is an entrepreneur: he has the guts to do things differently, to take initiatives. He is a risk taker. Indeed, instead of following 100 years of conventional education like his predecessors have done, he chooses an alternative: teach the students how to become free men and seize the day. He teaches in unconventional ways. For example, the first lesson is done outside the classroom. Mr Keating makes it like a game, more tempting and dynamic. Here is below a sample of the dialogue between Mr Keating and one of the students illustrating the above: Mr Keating: Why the author does use these lines? A student: Because hes in a hurry Mr Keating: No! Ding! Thank you for playing anyway! (13:57) Later on, he asks the students to rip out the pages of a literature book, which is unbelievable for the students. Doing this, Mr Keating wants to teach them that what is written in books is not always right and that they must think by themselves as free men. Mr Keatings relationship with the students Tell me, I will forget. Show me, I may remember. Involve me, I will understand. Chinese Proverb Mr Keating has a special way of teaching: he involves his students. Indeed, he has a strong conviction and belief that his students could do and be the best. He feels he has to fulfil a mission: to take to them far away, the further they can go. He just has to show them the way, which explains why he has a special bond with the students. The relation is based on trust, more than a teacher/ student relationship. The fact that the students are keen to follow him and play his game shows that he has succeeded in making this vision come true. As an alumni of this school, he, better than anyone else, knows what it is like to be in their position. We can assume that it is why he is trying to be different and wants his lessons to help the students in real life. He is a sensible and intuitive man: since the beginning, he is able to detect his students personality. He is very fast in getting the flaws of his students. He understands them and acts to help them develop their skills. This can be noticed in his behaviour with Todd. He sees that Todd needs some help. He detects Todds fear and takes actions to make Todd go beyond it: Mr Keating à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I would kike you to compose a poem of your own, an original work. (Hes leaving the class and comes back a few seconds later) Mr Anderson. Dont think that I dont know that this assignment scares the hell out of you, you mole. (42:28) The limits of Mr Keatings leadership However, an unexpected event will put an end to Mr Keatings methods: the suicide of one of the students, Neil. Mr Keating is held responsible for Neils death by the Management of the school and is then dismissed. Mr Keatings objectives were to develop the students. However, he has had no control over them and their actions. He has proposed an appealing alternative of learning, but has not cleared up the negative possible consequences. We can think that he has been too idealist and that he has brought with him too many big changes in an organization whose values and objectives were totally different from his. For this reason, we can assume that Mr Keatings leadership was expected to probably fail one day or another. Portrait of three different leaders among the students Charlie Dalton Where he comes from Charlie evolves in the same religious school environment as his friends. This environment is very authoritarian. It is based on rules and habits that must be respected. We know that Charlie comes from a wealthy family and that his father is a banker. Charlies personality Charlie has a strong personality. He likes provocation and is sometimes a rebel. He is also the funny guy of the group. He is a happy-go-lucky person and can reveal himself thoughtless of the consequences of his actions. All over the film, there are examples showing his rebel side. We can see this trait of his personality very clearly when he announces to his friends that he has released an illegal article in the school journal. In this article, he pleaded for the admission of girls at Welton, which is by nature an insult to the Management of the school. Charlie does not see the consequences of his act, but his friends do. Following the release of this article, the Director of the School, Mr Nolan wants to find the guilty person and for this purpose he organizes a meeting with all the students. At the meeting, Charlie follows up his idea and defies the authority of Mr Nolan, pretending that he is receiving a call from God asking for the admission of girls:  «Ã‚  Welton Academy Hello  !   Yes, he is. Just a moment. Mr Nolan, its for you. Its God! Hey says we should have girls at Welton (1:13:07). He is also very proud. The scene that best shows his pride is just after he was kicked out by Mr Nolan as a punishment for the release of the article in the journal. As he is talking with his friends, he does not admit that he got hurt, but raises his head and reminds his friends of his warriors nickname Nuwanda (1:15:15). Charlie likes his new teacher, Mr Keating, not only because of his original vision of poetry, but also because Mr Keatings teaching methods make him free to experiment daring innovations. Charlie likes to experiment freedom. This is what we can see in the scene where Mr Keating asks the boys to walk in line. Charlie decides not to do the exercise saying to Mr Keating that he is Exercising the right not to walk (1:02:58). Mr Keating accepts Charlies position as he is precisely teaching the boys how to become free men. Charlies leadership At the beginning of the film, Charlie appears as a natural leader due to his personal traits: his is extravert, self-confident and impulsive. He has a sense of humour that the others appreciate. Because of his strong personality, his is the one that is noticed first in the group. He is the one who makes initiatives in the group. For instance, he is the first to hear Mr Keating and rip out the page of the poetry book: Mr Keating: Go on. Rip out the entire page. You heard me. Rip it outà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Thank you, Mr Dalton (22:15). He also chooses his own nickname Nuwanda (1:05:50) as if he was an Indian warrior. He is the only one in the group to do that and the others seem to admire him for his creativity. This shows that he also has some charisma. Charlies strong personality remains constant all over the movie, but does not match with the austere and strict rules of the school. However, Mr Keatings class and methods allow Charlie to express himself more freely. Time after time, Charlies leadership over the group is getting less important because of Neils leadership that is showing up and growing. For instance, when Mr Keating asks the boys to stand up on the tables, Charlie is not the first to go, but Neil is. We can say that Charlie does not remain a strong leader in the students group because his friends do not always understand and agree on his behaviours. Charlie acts on his own without consulting his friends. The result is that Charlie appears as uncontrollable and as someone who can put himself and his friends in danger (he released an illegal article in the journal). Charlie has then not kept the others confidence and cannot be considered by the others as their leader. Neil Perry Neils personality Neil is also a student at Welton and is one of most important characters in the movie. He lives in an authoritarian and respectful environment not only at Welton but also at home. He is expected to be compliant with strict and heavy rules and obey the strong authority of his father and school. Like all the students at Welton, he is supposed to follow a detailed order built around the four values of Welton: discipline, excellence, tradition and honor. Neil is an enthusiastic and a dynamic boy. He is the initiator of the re-launch of the Dead Poets Society. Judging by the way he acts and talks, he is very determined and self confident. For instance, a lot of his sentences begin with I want. His excitement and passion show up very well when he decides to follow his vocation: drama. In the movie, we can see that Neils personality has three different sides. Each of these sides appears depending on his circle of acquaintances: Neil appears as submissive to his fathers authority, he is more like a leader in his own group and finally he has a special bond with Mr Keating. Neils relationship with his father Neils personality weakens in front of his father, who represents the family authority: Neil seems to become compliant and passive. He does not dare to face him up, or to tell him that he wants a path different from what his father expects. He has a whole life planned by his father. His fathers authority overwhelms Neil and Neil cannot fight with him, but only express his agreement. Here are two examples of his apparent obedience to his father: 1. Mr Perry: Youre taking too many extracurricular activities this semester, and Ive decided that you should drop the school annual [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] Mr Perry: [..]. Dont you ever dispute me in public. Do you understand? Neil: Father, I wasnt disputing Mr Perry: After youve finished medical school and youre on your own, then you can do as you damn well please. But until then, you do as I tell you. Is it clear? Neil: Yes, Sir. Im sorry. (7:23) 2. Mr Perry : Dont you dare talk back to me. Its bad enough that youve wasted your time with this, this absurd acting business, but you deliberately deceived me. How did you expect to get away with this? Answer me. Who put you up to it? Was it this new man? Keating? However, we have noticed that there is a big difference between what he says to his father and the way he acts. Indeed, although it is difficult for Neil to tell his father what he wants for himself, he does not hesitate to write a false letter usurping his fathers signature in order to play in the drama in which he has a role. Neils relationship with his father contrasts with the one he develops with his teacher, Mr Keating. c) Neils relationship with Mr Keating One of the most interesting relationship in the movie is the one between Mr Keating and Neil, and more noteworthy the way it evolves. Neil is the first professors follower. He becomes totally fascinated by this teacher. Every time Mr Keating speaks, Neil is like captivated by Mr Keatings words. He admires him and considers him as a model with whom he can have free and confidential talks about his passions and dreams. Neil sees in his professor a mentor, teaching him how to live his life. He fully trusts his speech without questioning Mr Keatings mindset. d) Neils relationship with Todd Regarding his relation with Todd, Neil is like a mentor to him; he takes him under his protection and decides to help him live his life. Various scenes highlight the fact that Neil wants to help Todd by opening his mind to the world. For instance, Neil succeeds in convincing Todd to be part of the Dead Poets Society even if at first Todd does not want to because he does not want to take turn in reading. Neil does not want Todd to be excluded. He then offers to adapt the Dead Poets Society rules so that Todd does not have to read and feel comfortable in joining the Dead Poets Society. Here is a scene illustrating the above: Neil: Todd, are you coming tonight? Todd: No Neil: Why not? God, you were there. You heard Keating. Dont you want to do something about that? Todd: Yes, butà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Neil: But? But What? Todd: Keating said that everybody took turns reading, and I dont want to do that. Neil: Gosh, you really have a problem with that, dont you? Todd: No I dont have a problem. I just I dont want to do it, okay? Neil: All right. What if you didnt have to read? What if you just came and listened? Todd: Thats not how it works. Neil: Well, forget how it works. What if they said it was okay? Todd: What are you gonna go up and ask them? No Neil. Neil: I will be right back. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (30:47) In this scene, Neil pushes Todd to participate in the Dead Poets Society meeting. He could have just let him be alone but he wants him to come: he cares for him. Neil reproduces with Todd the same type of relationship that exists between Mr Keating and himself: He listens to his friend and tries to help him the same way Mr Keating listens and tries to help Neil. Neil maybe recognizes himself in Todd as a shy boy who does not dare to speak his minds. Indeed, Neil behaves the same way when he is in front of his father. Neil knows too much this feeling of weakness and just cannot let his friend like this. Finally Neil becomes a leader in his friends group thanks to his fascinated, enthusiastic and dynamic personality. He pushes his friends to rebuild the Dead Poet Society which makes him become a leader. e) Neils leadership Based on the characteristics of his personality as described above namely passion, enthusiasm and energy, we can say that Neil is a charismatic leader. He is the initiator of the re-launch of the Dead Poets Society and he has been able to communicate his energy to the other boys. Moreover he represents a model especially for Todd. He is also an entrepreneurial leader. Indeed, he is a risk taker who does not hesitate to break rules. Indeed, he rebuilds a society that is unauthorized and must remain secrete. He also writes a false letter to serve his objective which is play in a drama: he dares to take initiatives. He is also a relational leader who cares about developing the others skills particularly with Todd as we have explained in the above section. f) Neils evolution Leadership is a serving relationship that has the effect of facilitating human development. Ted Ward Mr Keatings leadership has revealed Neils personality: It evolves throughout the film. At first, we discover a person with an erased personality in front of the familys authority. Thanks to Mr Keating, Neil is going to develop his self-awareness and freedom of mind. This new awareness will lead him to position himself as leader in his friends group. Neil then becomes more passionate and dreamy. He fulfills his passion for drama thanks to the self-confidence he has developed. However, this personal development will not help him to speak up his mind to his father because he probably realizes that there is a too big difference between his fathers expectations and his own ones. He believes that communication with his father is just not possible and that he has no solution, but suicide. Todd Anderson Where he comes from Todd is a new student at Welton. His brother was himself a student at Welton before. Todds brother was one of the finest students and is remembered in everyones memory as an excellent student. As the Director of the School meets Todd for the first time, he says to Todd that he will have big shoes to fill. When Todd is introduced to Neils friends, one of them immediately refers to his brothers success: you are that Anderson! Valedictorian, National Merit Scholar (07:05). The strong image of his successful brother is difficult to cope with for Todd. Todd depreciates himself. This probably comes from the fact that his parents are completely focused on his brother and not sufficiently on Todd. For instance, each year Todd gets the same present from his parents for his birthday. As a result, Todd feels like abandoned by his parents. He feels like an outsider. This may illustrate the psychodynamic leadership theory: The parents have an influence on their childrens leadership when they are grown. Todds brother probably has had the esteem and confidence of his parents as the older son, which helped his development and success. Todd, the younger boy, probably has had less attention from his parents which has resulted in his lack of self-confidence. When he arrives at Welton, his family environment, and more especially his brother, is a heavy burden to cope with for Todd. Todds personality Todd is shy and introvert. He does not feel comfortable with others. He does not take any initiatives to make friends, but only responds to initiatives made by Neil and his friends. He is often on his own, studying at his desk. Todd lacks self-confidence and does not want to be noticed in a way or another. For instance, when Neil offers him to be part of the Dead Poets Society, Todd says no, noà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Keating said that everybody took turns reading and I do not want to do that (30:58). He does not want Neil to ask the other boys if they would agree on the fact that Todd would not read. This shows that he wants to be transparent to others. He also has some self-awareness as he points out his weaknesses to Neil: I am not like you Neil, you say things and people listen, I am not like that (45:49). Todd sticks to the rules strictly that is how it works (31:20) he says about the rules of the Dead Poets Society. He does not explore creativity and is then not able to look at alternatives different from the existing framework. For Todd, the authority of the adults (parents, director and teachers) prevails over everything else. When Neil wants to write a false letter usurping his fathers signature, Todd says that it is impossible to do that. Instead, he tries to convince Neil to ask his father the right to be in a play. In doing this, he tries to protect Neil from any serious problem with his father: he will kill you if he finds out you went to an audition and did not tell him (44:38). On the one hand, due to his personality and family context, Todd does not dare things. He is very static and conformist. On the other hand, he is cautious and does not take any unconsidered risks. Todds relationships Todd develops a strong friendship with Neil. He admires his friend who has charisma, vision and creativity. Todd is considered by Neil, which is something Todd had lacked so far as his parents have been focused on his brother only. Todd seems to consider Neil as a mentor: He can talk with him of personal difficulties, and get boosted b