Dante Alighieri and his Divine Comedy Essay - 596 Words

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was an Italian poet in the Middle Ages. The Divine Comedy, of which Inferno is a part, is considered the greatest literary work in the Italian language and a masterpiece. Inferno is the story of Dante the pilgrim’s journey from the dark wood of error through Hell, led by Virgil. This is Dante the pilgrims opportunity to recognize his sins; he is given the opportunity to see how the error of his ways will be punished if he does not change. In Dante’s Hell, the punishment of the sin is reflected by the nature of the sin. There are many overall themes to this work, but three specific themes are represented in the â€Å"Up on your feet passage†; letting your drive change your life, carpe diem, and pushing through all†¦show more content†¦He was lost in sin and was watching all the good things he could be doing pass by him. The â€Å"Up on your feet† passage also displays the theme of being persistent and letting that drive change your life. The lines offered to Dante the pilgrim by Virgil are profound in the respect that they offer so much upon close study. Virgil closes this speech to Dante the pilgrim by saying, â€Å"Now, therefore, rise. Control your breath, and call upon the strength of soul that wins all battles unless it sink in the gross body’s fall. There is a longer latter yet to climb: this much is not enough. If you understand me, show that you mean to profit from your time.† (Lines 52-57) Virgil is offering the literal meaning to Dante the pilgrim as get up so we can get you out of Hell. The metaphorical meaning of these lines would be to live your life to its fullest potential; one cannot be content with a life full of sin. One has to live a fair life, to himself and others, so they can progress and move on to bigger and better things. The very last line of the speech tells us that you need dedication and the will to push on to be able to make a difference in the world, or â€Å"profit from your time.† Letting your drive change your life, carpe diem, and pushing through all obstacles in your way are three of the sub-themes of Dante’s Inferno. The journey Dante the pilgrim took was symbolicShow MoreRelatedThe Divine Comedy1705 Words   |  7 Pagesthe writers that influenced this revival is Dante Alighieri, a 13th century poet from Florence, Italy. His world famous epic, La Commedia, or more commonly known as The Divine Comedy remains a poetic masterpiece depicting truth and sin. The Divine Comedy, through the journey into the three hells, expresses a universal truth of good versus evil. Alighieri’s life of heartbreak with the influences of other famous poets like Homer and Virgil has affected his writing style, and through reviews by literaryRead More Analysis of the Inferno of Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy Essay1221 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of the Inferno of Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is considered by many as the first great poem in the Italian language and perhaps the greatest poem written in Medieval Europe. The poem is so famous that one of the minor characters, Capaneus the great blasphemer, has his name on a mesa on one of Jupiters moon Io (Blue, 1). Also, the poem is divided into three canticles, or sections, Inferno, Purgatorio, andRead MoreThe Divine Comedy By Dante Alighieri873 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Divine Comedy† is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri. He wrote the epic sometime between 1308 and 1321, the year he died. It is considered one of the greatest works of world literature. He wrote â€Å"The Divine Comedy† while he was exiled from Florence, Italy (Bishops 182). â€Å"The Divine Comedy† recounts Dante’s idea of the afterlife. It is written in a first person perspective and follows Dante’s journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. At the time Dante wrote the Divine Comedy, Italy wasRead MoreDante’s Vision of Divine Justice Justice is one of the major building block that society is built900 Words   |  4 PagesDante’s Vision of Divine Justice Justice is one of the major building block that society is built upon. It gives people a sense of retribution when they have been wronged. In Dante’s Inferno, justice is served in the supernatural realm. Throughout this play, the reader is exposed to the inner working of hell and the nine circles of specialized punishment it is composed of. Justice, in Dante’s Inferno, differs from justice in the mortal world in that it is decided, not by humans, but by God. HoweverRead MoreSatan s Location And Physical Attributes1096 Words   |  5 Pageshell. In Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, Dante and Virgil encounter Lucifer in the last circle of hell before they ascend to Purgatory. It is here in the circle of Judecca that Lucifer had been condemned for eternity as a result of his treachery against God. In my essay, I will argue that Lucifer’s location and physical attributes ironically reflect qualities of God in such a way that Lucifer becomes mocked. Dante Alighieri utilizes Lucifer’s characterization to illuminate the force of God’s divine powerRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Comedia 947 Words   |  4 PagesIn his life Dante, Alighieri was a famed author, poet, and statesman. Over the course of his life the esteemed thirteenth century Italian wrote a handful of successful works. However, Dante is undoubtedly best known for his critically acclaimed epic poem, Comedà ¬a, which would later be called The Divine Comedy. Comedà ¬a has 3 parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The first installment, Inferno, may currently be the most well known of the three poems, spawning countless reprints, several moviesRead MoreEssay about Dante Alighieri1178 Words   |  5 PagesDante Alighieri Dante Alighieri was the first and best Italian poet and wrote mainly on love and religion. His Divine Comedy is considered the greatest book of the last millennium. George Steiner said, Dante’s totality of poet form and philosophic thought, of local universality and language, remains unrivaled. At a time where the notion of culture and of European culture in particular, is somewhat in doubt, Dante is the sovereign underwriter. His are the solutions beyond logic†Read More The Divine Comedy Essay728 Words   |  3 Pagesa life of sin was to be sentenced to hell. Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet, who had an admirable depth of spiritual vision and was known for his intelligence (Encarta, 1). Between the years of 1308 and 1321, Dante wrote the epic poem, The Divine Comedy,; which described a journey through the afterlife. It takes place during the three days of Good Friday, when Jesus died, and on Easter Sunday when he rose body and soul to heaven. It is a mor al comedy, and was written to make readers evaluateRead MoreHow Literature Changed a Nation: Dante Alighieri and The Divine Comedy1146 Words   |  5 PagesThe poet, Dante Alighieri’s world was one filled with spirituality and stigmas. Unlike many other artists of his time, he completed his most famous and influential work in Europe’s 1300’s. Dante’s piece, The Divine Comedy, demonstrates the journey one takes throughout life, to find one’s self and connect with the world and religion, all through three volumes of poetry. Of his talent, came a business of the arts. In addition, he changed the way the Italian language was perceived. He used his writingRead MoreThe Vaule of Personal Development in The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri1209 Words   |  5 PagesIn Italian Dante Alighieri (1265) Poem, The Divine Comedy Inferno, Translated by Mark Musa. Dante demonstrates the value of personal development which is the ability to keep a balanced life an d continuously learn from past mistakes in order to create a better future. Dante begins the poem wrapped in his own thoughts and suffering but by the end of the poem he begins to understand other’s sufferings beyond his own. In his growth throughout his journey he learns about pain and sorrow that he cannot

Poverty and Children in America - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1845 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/09/13 Category Advertising Essay Topics: Childhood Essay Childhood Memory Essay Did you like this example? Poverty and Children in the United States Who are America’s poor children? How many children in America are poor? What are some of the hardships that face poor children in America? These are only a few questions that we can ask ourselves when considering children who live in poverty in America. Children face monumental hardships in our country because of poverty or the condition of not possessing the means to afford basic human needs. The economic crisis that we find ourselves in today threatens to cause a dramatic increase in the number of America’s poor children; however poverty in America has long been a crisis that has faced the children of our nation. This essay will investigate the previous asked questions and research the challenges that poverty plays on the sociology of children in the United States. Who are America’s Poor Children? According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) 14 million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level, which is $22,050 a year for a family of four. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Poverty and Children in America" essay for you Create order They also state that the number of children living in poverty increased by 21 % between 2000 and 2008 and it is estimated that there are 2. 5 million more children living in poverty today than in 2000. (Wright, 2010) These numbers are staggering and are estimated to grow significantly in the next few years considering the current economic crisis facing the United States. The NCCP explains that current research shows, on average, families need an income of about twice the federal poverty level to survive. Children who live in homes with incomes of $44,100 or less, for a family of four, are considered low income. This means that forty one percent of children in the United States live in low income homes. Children represent 25 % of the population and 41 % of all children live in low income families and nearly one in every five live in poor families (NCCP, 2010). Families in the United States are facing challenging economic times where workers are seeing decline in wages and the loss of jobs. Many cannot afford basic human needs with increased costs on food, gas, and of homes; these economic realities have a profound sociological effect on America’s children. The NCCP goes on to state that some of the characteristics of children who live in poverty in the United States are race and ethnicity related. They note that 11 % of white children live in poor families, 35 % of black children live in poor families, and 31% of Hispanic children live in poor families. These figures show that black and Hispanic children are disproportionately poor in the United States. Also children who live in single parented homes are more likely to live below the poverty line especially those who live with single mothers. â€Å"Female headed households live in poverty more than all other household types† (Poverty, 2001). Single mothers have been labeled the â€Å"new poor† most often because of changes in family composition such as divorce, separation, and remarriage, driven by a series of events in their lives. Who are America’s children living in poverty? They are the kids who live in the confines of these statistics generated by levels of income and they are often children which we see every day. Unlike the torturous pictures we see of poverty stricken children who live in underdeveloped countries, the children of the United States who live in poverty are struggling to survive in a society where poverty goes very often unnoticed. Hardships Facing Children who live in Poverty Hunger In the article â€Å"In America Today, hunger is very real†; Yolanda Young quoted President Obama saying â€Å"Hunger rose significantly last year. † Mr. Obama said that he hopes to alleviate childhood hunger by 2015. (Young, 2009) What does that mean then for the children who are going hungry today? These children eat less healthy meals, they visit shelters, they get help from school food programs, and they eat at emergency kitchens. The U. S. Census Bureau states that nearly 14 % of all American homes were afraid they might not be able to put enough food on the table this past year. Fortunately there are programs that assist families in crisis and can help to feed the children of the United States; however the number of hungry children is growing. Child hunger in the United States has been described as an increasingly complex problem and has been called the â€Å"silent epidemic. † (Goldstein, 2009) Malnutrition is being reported by medical professionals everywhere and is of major concern in almost every state in the nation. Children who suffer the effects of malnutrition contribute to a high number of those with negative health problems. Obesity is being associated as a side effect of malnutrition, as children ho don’t get enough to eat regularly eat foods that are less healthy. Childhood hunger also contributes to health conditions like a deteriorated immune system, chronic fatigue, developmental problems, and behavioral issues. Many poor children in the United States today, experience an uneasy or painful sensation caused by lack of food, or hun ger. Homelessness â€Å"The National Center on Family Homelessness currently estimates that as many as fifty U. S. children (1. 5 million) are homeless or â€Å"precariously housed† in temporary quarters such as motels and shelters† (Cohen, 2009). Today’s economic crisis is not helping this growing number of families that are being relocated as home foreclosures and loss of jobs add to the overwhelming number of homeless children in the United States. The result of homelessness can cause children to feel disassociated with those around them, they feel a sense of loss and privacy, and they ultimately feel an overwhelming sense of insecurity. Although these temporary quarters put a roof over the heads of millions of children in the United States, children often are left with psychological issues that last a lifetime. It is reported that homeless children are sick more often, go hungry more often, and repeat more than one grade in school over kids who have a home. Also, children who are homeless are more apt to have been exposed to sexual or physical abuse. The government has instituted many programs to help with the homelessness crisis in the United States; however for a child who has no home to call his own, this is little consolation. Inadequate Healthcare More often than not, children who live in poverty do not have adequate health care and comes as a result of a parent losing a job. We have discussed in this essay how the current economic crisis has affected families. With so many people losing jobs comes those same people who are losing the option of healthcare for their families. Government programs exist in order to provide healthcare for those who cannot afford it; however many argue if it is adequate. Preventative health care is essential for healthy living and the lack of this care affects children their whole lives. The NCCP reports that 17% of poor children lack health insurance, whereas 10% of all children (poor and non-poor) lack health insurance. In the ten most populated states, the percentage of poor children who lack insurance options ranges from nine percent in the state of Michigan to 31% in Florida, showing that state to state healthcare options are significantly different. The Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Program (CHIRP) was instituted in 2009 and is intended to give additional Medicaid benefits to children of low income families. Without programs like this, and others many children who live in poverty would have no insurance coverage at all. Many low income families lose insurance coverage every day because of job layoffs or employers who can no longer afford to offer insurance to their workers. Along with the health issues that come from living in poverty, inadequate health care coverage threatens the youth of our society. Education Children of poverty are more likely to fail in school achievement and are twice as likely to have repeated a grade, been suspended, or dropped out of high school. The effect of poverty on children as it relates to education clearly demonstrates the possibility of poor outcomes. Children who are hungry are less likely to learn, children who are homeless are far less likely to adapt socially to a classroom setting, and children who consistently miss school because of illness will be unable to pass the tests of authorized curriculum. Children who live in poverty are more likely to have learning disability and are more likely to fall prey to gangs and crime. Children of poverty are also more likely to be exposed to lower quality schools as neighborhood conditions often determine the quality of schools. Many poor children are at a disadvantage when it comes to education and struggle their entire lives because of this problem. Poverty contributes to low self esteem and causes a lack of confidence in children leading to lifelong deficiencies that threaten their economic futures. â€Å"Poorer health and social behavior due to poverty undermine education achievement† (Moore, 2009). Researchers also suggest that chronic stress due to poverty undermines children’s working memory. It is evident that childhood poverty compromises educational prospects of children. Conclusion Child poverty is a significant and growing social problem as poverty negatively affects children’s development, health, home life, and educational goals. Children, who face these monumental hardships in our country because of poverty or the condition of not having basic human needs, are rapidly growing in numbers. The sociological implications of children living in poverty in the United States threaten the very social structure of our country. The stability pattern of social behavior in the United States can be uprooted by the problems associated with children who live in poverty. If we truly believe that the children are our future, then we must address the issues that low income children are faced with and we need to more than hope that childhood poverty will be alleviated by 2015, as efforts to reduce the child poverty rate commands the nation’s attention today. This crisis in which children in the United States live in poverty, demands efforts to reduce the child poverty rate, and command the nation’s attention today. References Cohen, Aaron M. , Child Homelessness on the Rise, the Futurist Aug. 1, 2009. Vol. 43, Issue 4, p7, Retrieved March 1, 2010 from EBSCOhost Goldstein, Amy, 2009 Child Hunger and increasingly complex problem, Washington Post, Retrieved March 1, 2010 from https://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article. html National Center for Children in Poverty, Mailman School of Public Health, NCCP, 2010, Retrieved March 1, 2010 from https://www. nccp. org. html Moore, Kristin Anderson, Ph. D. , Zakia Redd, M. P. P. , Mary Burkhauser, M. A. , Ashleigh Collins, M. A. , Children in Poverty: Trends, Consequences, and Policy Options, Trends Child Research Brief, Retrieved March 1, 2010 from https://www/childtrends. rg/files/child_trends-2009-04-07-rb-childrenin Poverty. pdf Poverty, (2001), In World of Sociology, Gale. Retrieved March 1, 2010 from https://www. credoreference. com/entry/worldsocs/poverty Wright, Vanessa R. , Chau, Michelle, Yumiko Aratani, 2010, Who are America’s Poor Children? The Official Story, National Center for Children in Poverty, NCCP, 2010 Retrieved March 1, 2010 from https://www/nccp. org/publicatio ns/pub_912. html Young, Yolanda, 2009, USA Today, In America today, hunger is very real, News, pg. 13a, Retrieved March 1, 2010 from EBSCOhost

A Different Kind of Leadership Free Essays

string(144) " with a variety of managerial styles-authoritative, affiliative, democratic and coaching can be successful as long as they encourage dialogues\." When The Economist magazine recently asked 180 leaders what the major influence on future organizations would be, two-thirds of them said it would be teams and groups. Clearly, the John Wayne model of leadership won’t work. What is needed today is a different kind of leadership. We will write a custom essay sample on A Different Kind of Leadership or any similar topic only for you Order Now People who think they can do it by themselves are somewhat deluded. Despite these kinds of statements the cult figure of the Chief Executive Officer still exists. They are enshrined, and probably celebrated too much. This is partly an American phenomenon. However throughout Europe there are beginning to be reactions against these icons for companies and these are ominous signs for the future of figureheads. Groups, teams, communities, partnerships, stakeholders, colleagues, collaborators signal the end of the â€Å"Great Man,† the death of the John Wayne myth. As the business world becomes more complex and interdependent, executives cannot afford to lead in isolation. Instead, they must tap into the collective knowledge and expertise of their colleagues by creating real teamwork at top levels of the organization. They need to build truly effective leadership teams. Successful management in today’s society are forever trying to seek out the most competent individuals to employ in specific roles within a business environment. The criteria on which an individual is selected are widely recognised as the common attributes of a leader. These qualities would include; intelligence, forcefulness, sensitivity, patience, decisiveness, the person would be reflective and dynamic, a good communicator as well as being a good listener. The list of desirable traits continues to describe the perfect leader-manager who would be effective and most probably flawless. In reality this person could not exist, simply because many of the characteristics seem to conflict with one another. It is unlikely that someone could be both forceful and particularly sensitive. The inability of a single individual to possess all the skills that are sought after, presents the opportunity for the development of a team that certainly could. Teams also have the advantage that if a single member of a team is unavailable, then the productivity of the team may not be impacted significantly, whereas if a single person had full responsibility for a task and then was taken ill for example, any progress due to be made on the task would be halted. Another problem with focussing on training individuals to a high level and therefore becoming somewhat reliant on that person is that, if that person decided to leave to take a position with a competitor or to take early retirement to spend time with their spouse then the business is left trying to adjust for the loss. By focussing on teams the business is somewhat less exposed to these potential problems. However the development of teams to provide protection against competitors ‘poaching’ personnel, has become less effective, especially in the service industries. An example of this kind of activity occurring was seen in November 1999 when a team of Merrill Lynch Co. telecom analysts defected to Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). This forced Merrill to reshuffle its depleted research effort just as the firm’s telecom bankers were positioning to land the mandate on what could be the biggest initial public offering in history. The highly regarded telecom analysts Dan Reingold and Mark Kastan left Merrill for CSFB on 22nd November, taking with them a group of five other analysts – almost Merrill’s entire U. S. telecom research team. With such an emphasis on the formulation of effective self-managed teams, the question of whether leadership is actually required arises. It has been suggested that to organize genius and to have a great group, the fine art of herding cats must learnt. This analogy is used to demonstrate the difficult skill of persuading members within a team to carry out tasks they may not particularly want to, and feel good about doing it. This ‘soft skill† is very important if a group is to have a member in a leading capacity. Some leaders have managed to succeed without having great people skills. Examples include Steve Jobs at Macintosh Computers, Walt Disney, Kelly Johnson at Lockheed’s Skunk Works, and John Andrew Rice at Black Mountain College. In fact they have been described as having herded their cats with whips; and yet still produced phenomenal results. Leaders typically provide direction and meaning that resonate in the heart, soul and mind. But many leaders of great groups are abrasive, if not downright arrogant. Another analogy used to describe these people is that they are all alchemists. They are creating something out of nothing. They are creating something magical. They are creating an object of enchantment. An explanation given for why these team leaders were obnoxious at times was that when believing that they were involved in a group that would change the world, they could be afforded the opportunity of being a â€Å"son-of-a-bitch† for a time. If a group can be created that thinks they can â€Å"make a dent in the universe,† as Steve Jobs told the team that created the Macintosh computer, one’s personal foibles, losing one’s temper, one’s style become less important. If the team feels transported, and part of the excitement, the thrill and the electrifying feeling of doing something that nobody has ever done before, arrogance on behalf of the leader can be excused. Undoubtedly this aggressive style of team leadership producing outstanding results is the exception to most group situations. The charismatic nature of the people involved probably had more to do with the eventual result rather than the manner in which they lead. Charisma is intangible, difficult to assess, and cannot be taught, yet can override all learnt skills of good team leading. However there have been studies that suggest that the personality of the leader may adversely affect the team†s performance. Mary Fontaine, head of the Hay/McBer’s competency practice, a U. S. management consulting group, carried out a study that found that team leaders with a variety of managerial styles-authoritative, affiliative, democratic and coaching can be successful as long as they encourage dialogues. You read "A Different Kind of Leadership" in category "Essay examples" However team leaders with a coercive managerial style were found to be far less successful at promoting dialogues. In contrast to the success of the individuals and their organisations mentioned earlier it was found that it wasn’t the best and the brightest who excelled. â€Å"Sucking the oxygen out of the room with excessive charisma or with an intimidating intellect and self-confidence was often detrimental to team efforts,† Fontaine says. â€Å"The truly outstanding leaders frequently were those whose contributions were less visible, who worked behind the scenes to create structures and arrange for organizational supports that made it easier for their teams to excel. There seems to be a threshold level of team skills required to be a competent leader, and above this level charisma can either make an average leader-manager into someone special or more likely hinder the groups performance. The ideal that leaders are not born, but make themselves supports this theory. A person may develop to be charismatic, however in order to grow as a leader they must learn the necessary people or ‘soft† skills. These are the hardest skills to learn. They are the things that will make the biggest difference in organizations. Bob Haas, CEO of Levi Strauss, has said the hard skills are not getting the pants out the door. The hard skills are creating the work force that will be motivated to be productive. So, the soft skills are the hardest skills. It seems that there is still a place for leaders within teams, but not in the traditional sense. Leaders are purveyors of hope who suspend disbelief in their groups. They represent the group†s needs and aspirations. They don’t know that a task cannot be achieved. Most individuals are hungry spirits, and any leader who can dangle a dream before them usually gets their attention and the collective talents within a team make that dream a reality. Today the one thing that the majority of professional people want is to be inspired. For many years the qualities of individuals have been studied, and the successful characteristics copied. However the successful features of a management team are less well understood. A team has proved more difficult to study than a single person. However there has been recognition of some of the main elements of what makes one team more successful than another. A number of studies have been carried out to try to depict the foundations of teamwork and the complimentary relationships between members. The format of the team and the relationships within seem indicative to whether the team is successful. It is not necessarily the ability of individuals within the team. Given a free choice of members and the need to form a high-powered management team to solve complex problems, it would seem sensible to select members who have sharp analytical minds. This would suggest creating a team composed entirely of intellectually clever people. These types of people would be equipped for coping with major projects and big decisions. Creating a ‘Think-Tank’ would initially appear to be the best solution for high profile managerial teams. However, studies carried out by Belbin concluded that the grouping of highly intellectual and similarly analytically minded people within a team in general does not produce the expected high performance. Belbin championed the result as â€Å"Apollo Syndrome†, named after the team consisting of the intellectually clever people that carried out the executive management exercises he designed. The analysis of these highly intellectual ‘Apollo’ teams illustrated some of the flaws within the group interaction. A large proportion of each individual’s time was engaged in trying to persuade the other members of the team to adopt their own particular, well stated, point of view. No one seemed to convert another or be converted themselves. This was largely due to the ability to spot weak points in each other’s argument. There was, not surprisingly, no coherence in the decisions that the team reached – or was forced to reach. Subsequent to the eventual failure of the team, finishing last in the exercise, the aftermath was marked by mutual recrimination. If having a team consisting of homogeneous people with respect to members’ demographics, cognitions and high intellect does not create a successful group, then the obvious alternative would be to create groups of heterogeneous individuals. Scholars have carried out studies to investigate the various types of diversity within a group. Diversity differentiates individuals by the degree to which they are directly related to the task at hand. Job relatedness is one form of diversity and is an important property because it determines whether a particular type of diversity constitutes an increase in a group’s total pool of task-related skills, information, and perspectives. The magnitude of this pool, in turn, represents a potential for more comprehensive or creative decision making. This concept has been studied by Milliken and Martins. The idea of having a diverse team to provide a wide spectrum of views has been used as a starting point to formulate teams. However, teams do not just happen when people get together. At the start, a team is just a collection of individuals. And, like most collections, it is only as strong as its weakest member. The optimum number of individuals within a team is a major issue for discussion when creating a team. This figure would to some extent depend on the amount of work that needs to be performed. In general the larger the group, the greater the unseen pressures that make for conformity. These pressures may impinge upon an individual to the extent that in mass meetings, congregations and assemblies they feel anonymous. Behaviour within the group is further complicated by group structure. The stronger the structure, the less tolerance there is for dissenters or for any form of deviant expression. Where groups are unstructured, for example large numbers of people meeting for a purpose but without any imposed constraints, studies have shown that rather than the individual recovering a sense of mature individuality, they are likely to revel in the anonymity which size offers. Investigations have discovered that large gatherings of people has the effect of either their constituents becoming excessively passive or, if full self-expression is permitted, inclined to irresponsible behaviour, aggressive verbal declarations, or even acts of destruction. In a team building situation this type of behaviour would clearly not promote the synergy and effectiveness that is sought after. How to cite A Different Kind of Leadership, Essay examples

Plato Allegory Of The Cave Essay Example For Students

Plato Allegory Of The Cave Essay if an individual can learn to understand the possibilities outside of the realm of singular understanding, and by exposure to different things, determine new understanding, then Plato would assert that all men have the potential to move from ignorance to knowledge. The basis for the Allegory of the Cave is this: a prisoner is held in a cave for his whole life (since birth), only able to see and experience that which is placed before him. For example, the fire that is used to luminate the cave becomes the center of the world much like our own sun is such a compelling central component, and the prisoner experiences everything that he sees and understands relative to the fire. In conjunction, the fire become a means of visualizing other elements, including exposure to a puppet and the shadows on the wall, and all of these factors make up the specifics of what is known in the world of the prisoner.. Knowledge, then, is not simply sensory based (because the prisoners in the cave, for example, believed they had the knowledge of the fire, the shadows and the cave itself as if these were the only elements in the world that needed to be known), but also extends past our senses into the realm of logical reasoning, constructive reasoning, and a process orientation to learning and developing wisdom. Rather than simply producing information and addressing the learning process and the students in order to bring them into complicity, it is Platos contention that the learning process, the same process that occurs when the prisoner in the cave is allowed to leave and experiences the sun, the moon, trees, and all of lifes sciences and concepts, should be student directe d. The teacher is simply a means by which the student can come into connection with the ways of attaining knowledge, but the process of learning itself must be singular and directed by a personal learning focus. The teacher provides the individual with the means to perceive themselves, to evaluate their nature, and to consider the search for truth as a major aspect of the educational process. Plato believes that the metaphor of the cave, asserting mans ignorance prior to learning, results in the need for a teacher who can provide exposure to different subjects, different perspectives and a range of educational subject areas