Leadership Effectiveness And Personal Managerial Qualities

Leadership Effectiveness And Personal Managerial Qualities Leadership is about knowing the pros and cons of change, and comprehending the interplay of oneself and others. Leadership is the perception of ones connectedness both personal and business wise, thus leadership is about being self aware and choice-decision making. Thus, it is a process where a person influences a team to accomplish there objectives, and direct those objectives to be more coherent for the organisation, this is viewed by (Northouse, 2007). Hence, a leader is one who has a clear vision, communicate passionately, and direct their actions and those of the team toward the goal, by driving to completion. 1.1 Background Who is the author? The author born October 1978 belongs to a Christian home; newly married and is at the early stage of parenthood with bringing up a young family, has earned an Upper Second Class Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Anglia Ruskin University who is currently pursuing Masters in Business Administration with emphasis in Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The author holds the position of an Office Manager who performs a wide array of diverse duties, thus, working alongside the president to meet the companys staffing and organisational needs. Furthermore, the author is responsible for designing and implementing various policies, supervisory responsibilities, recruiting and training, which facilitate efficient and smooth functioning, with focus on supervising works of administrative staff. After eleven year service in the marine industry as Office Manager at Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, the author now partly owned and is a Director of a Sign Company. In addition, the author also landed a new job as Office Manager at another marine company, which operates tugs and water tankers. However, the author currently has no outside activities due to studies, a new family, working part time with spouse business, plus having a full time job. Therefore, the author has a tight schedule, with a vision to complete studies and become successful in being a confident leader and expressing creativity to find unique solutions for the family business with a joyous presence, continued dedication and people skills. The author strongly expressed values that everyone deserves to be fairly treated and education is the key to success. These few leadership traits, qualities and skills of the author are known to be soft skills that will assist the authors ability to resolve conflicts and build consensus, to motivate and inspire employees. Thus, office is like family, they get cranky and having a positive and genuine attitude will assist tremendously. 2.0 Reflection on Leadership Effectiveness Effective Leadership begins with the fundamental ability to believe in oneself, which incorporates maturity, conviction and expertise that translate into a purpose and direction, thus, having a dream and vision that will better the company or society. Effective leadership is composed of a number of different competencies, thus effectiveness of leader is limited, where leaders are person who know how to inspire and relate to subordinates. This all depends on how appropriate the leadership style is to the situation in that it is operated, which comes from matching style and follower task relevant maturity, or task readiness. Based on the Myers Briggs test, the author type indicator reflected ENTJ (Extroversion, Intuition, Thinking, and Judging). ENTJ are generally gets straight forward, decisive, and leadership natural, they also see illogical very quickly and notes inefficient procedures, also generally develops and implement comprehensive systems in solving any company or business problems. Along those same lines, enjoys setting future planning and being goal oriented, usually well up to date, well read, enjoys on expanding knowledge as required and passing it to others by giving forceful present ideas. Thus, true effective leaders possess specific leadership qualities, skills and styles beyond industry knowledge and technical skills. 2.1 Qualities of Leadership Leadership behaviour reflects the traits and personal characteristics that will facilitate success in leadership role. ENTJs are imaginative, conceptual learners who learn best in a challenging and interactive environment. The combination of intuition and logic leads them to enjoy dealing with concepts and strategic thinking, and excellent language skills. These qualities of the author are drawn from work and personal life balances that are reflected as follows:- Strengths of Personal and Work Life Communication and Relationship The author an ENTJ is an enthusiastic communicator who loves to interact with tremendous amount of self-confidence, has excellent verbal communication skills and value honesty. The author has always been the centre of attention that is being an extravert with intellectual freedom to think and speak, who has a disposition of always being frank and getting straight to the point with strong regards for positive structure that is able to synthesize and adapt to new ideas. Even though the author had been tested to be extraverted, the author has Introverted Intuitive functions which complement Extraverted Thinking, such as, being talented in creating great benefits through the ability to recognise the expected potential of others, and showing others the way to get past difficulties within the given situation. Career and Work In the position of an Office Manager ENTJ shows exactly that the author is assertive, loyal, and knowledgeable and manages people, along with marshalling resources. The author is career-focused in long-term perspective with visualisation of both businesses with high performance and standards. The author is generally an energetic people person who likes to be in charge and make things happen, along with others participating, especially in team projects rather than work alone. The author tends to move up the ladder very quickly when joining any company or generally in life. With this current company the author has been there for two months and a major travelling abroad is ahead. On entering the organisation, the author has been leapfrogging people who have been there longer, thus, the cumulative experiences have prepared the author for it. The author has always been level headed, shows improvement and value the position given. Throughout the authors career, as most ENJT can identify, vision is priority and risk does not scare the author. The payoff has been consistent on an executive level, and once going towards the goal, the author makes sure it is attainable, and believing all production must be done to the best with logic and rationale. 2.1.2 Weaknesses of Personal and Work Life Some major flaws of the author:- Gets frustrated by lack of closure of people not meeting deadlines, thus, bearing in mind the given work produced should also show professionalism, which is one of the main priorities in and ENTJ. The manner in which conversation is carried out, such as, being harsh and blunt in criticism when errors occur. Tends not to listen to other peoples sentences or have them finish their sentences, especially if what was said do not make sense to them, thus, not giving the chance for the person to justify their point. Limited patience with a temper over relatively small matters that escalates into bigger things with inefficiency and can be very judgmental and argumentative. Low regard for people who are intimidated by them that is intensified by arrogance, thus, making hasty decisions, without understanding the issues and possible solutions to the problems. Therefore, the author must enforce balance due to the qualities possess above, in order to accomplish whatever goals are set. Below, speaks on the leadership skills which need improving by the author. 2.2 Leadership Skills Leadership skills are based on leadership behaviour, thus, skills alone do not make a leader style and behaviour do. Leadership is interesting because it is about talent and the natural ability that is mostly about oneself and maintaining that personal authenticity, by being true; not just slavishly following others ideas. Good leaders always rely on their ability to read situations and improve tasks, and acknowledge their shortcomings, which may work for them. However, a good leader would want to improve their skills of communication, decision-making and problem solving and not shy away from new opportunities to lead. The author skills are most effective when matching styles to the needs of the people that are trying to influence. Thus, the challenge is that leading people is the opposite of trying to control them. It is not just what happens when you are there; it is what happens when you are not there. The author believes that leadership is not something you do to people; it is something you do with them. Listed below are two simple ways suggested for the author to improve leadership skills for future growth? The author must prioritise time for proper organising and planning, thus, by consulting with experts for feedback Political skills can be developed by the author in order to reduce the gossip and rumours, that is, look for further critical information that others cannot get Thus the continued characteristics of developing good leadership skills for the author will take time, as if perfecting an idea for a project, because without investment of time, the author will not be able to become the great leader envisioned, thus these few skills that contribute to the authors behaviour will be able to accurately and successfully adapt to changing environment with limited challenges. Below speaks on the style of leadership the author is engaged in. 2.3 Leadership Styles Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans and motivating people. Effective leadership style takes time and energy but provides benefits, which helps to enhance team spirit and effectiveness among members that identifies preferred management styles. The style describes the personal way of leading; it becomes effective when matched with the skill sets and motivation of the follower. However, there is no right style of leadership, because it varies with the personality and situational needs. Thus, the author likes a mixture of working with others and working alone, in the form of management and leadership positions which can energise others to carry out the vision via the objectives and tries to motivate the team to work towards those goals. Leaders within the organisation have been found to account for some of the organisation overall performance, thus, the authors style has been identified as an important area of interest. Additionally, the author likes teamwork and interactions that convince and influence enthusiasm with an invaluable source of vitality and drive according to the style needs of Participative or Democratic Leadership. 2.3.1 Participative or Democratic Leadership Participative leadership or democratic style encourages employees to be part of the decision making, which takes everyone words as a considerable opinion before carrying out the final decision. This style of leader is coach, the one who has the final say, but still gathers information from staff members before making such decision. Ultimately, the author works in an environment that is still very autocratic, but given the changes that the organisation has hired the author for, participative leadership is what they are looking at. However, the author is not equipped to all situations that arise, thus, team handling is an assets and the author must use the required skills of facilitating discussion and ideas that is generated by the group. Furthermore, the author likes being in charge and to know what is going one at all times, thus, enjoys marshalling facts and planning future directions. Additionally, if the author foresees the project cannot be handled, someone will be brought in to carry out the project, and this person must have clear understanding towards the goal, because the author demands high quality and standards. The author a natural leader encourages team members to participate through listening and communicating, however, the leader maintains the final decision making. The style of leadership reflects the following characteristics of the author:- Organise staff to complete tasks in the most effective way, by delegating those tasks and overseeing the completion of the project to achieve results Motivates staff to meet the goals and objectives, given the overall picture, and vision to follow with new ideas, evaluation of possibilities and rational decisions Create positive work environment, and seek the interest of each employee with fairness given the responsibilities, which allows them the to challenge themselves Allowing subordinates to feel free in thinking creatively for problem-solving, thus, reducing office politics, so the use of ideas will importantly gain credit and reduce the tension generated amount staff Thus, the business cannot afford to make mistakes, using this type of leadership is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of strength where the author gains respect from the employees. Also, the author do not have all the information required to achieve the goal that is why knowledgeable staff is hired to allow better decision via teamwork, so that, effective and accurate decisions are made. 3.0 Theoretical Concepts ORegan and Ghobadian (2004) define performance measurements as consisting of quantitative indicators used by management to judge how well the organisation is doing. Leadership depends on whether emphasis is on behaviour or the result of that behaviour according to (Jex, 2002) thus leaders also make attributions about their followers behaviour. Similarly, Kelley (1967) describes leader attribution as a way leader interprets follower behaviours and attributes cause to that behaviour, where leaders can assess follower behaviour by specific task or across tasks and whether it is unique to an individual. Leaders intention is to diagnose problem performance, to understand the reasons for success, or anticipate the consequences as stated by (Mitchell et al. 1981). However, there is a distinction between leadership and management, where a manager carries out administrative duties and exerts control subordinates behaviour, thus obtain reluctant compliance. In contrast, a leader carries out administrative functions along with inspiring and motivating members to strive for excellence, by obtaining commitment, reviewed by (Jex, 2002). So, effective leadership demonstrates by influencing and guiding the activities of a team toward achieving its goals, defined by (Judge et at., 2004). In addition, according to Jex (2002), goals direct attention, focus efforts and maintain task persistence, helps individuals avoid getting sidetracked, thereby, guiding a leader to enhance processes and facilitates development of collective efficacy which has an influence, revealed by (Chen and Bliese, 2002). Leadership therefore, is most relevant aspects of an organisation context and is challenging by different situations, thus, emphasis of future leadership and interpersonal skills that ensure sound management practices and high leadership standards by the author are discuss as follows:- Qualities of Leadership Leadership Skills Leadership Style 3.1 Qualities of Leadership According to Roach and Behling (1984), leadership is the process of influencing an organised group toward accomplishing its goals, therefore, these influential qualities most people associate with leadership are assertiveness, loyal, risk taker, self-sufficient, ambitious, patience, trustworthy, and knowledgeable. Thus, employee trust in leaders is influenced by the level of perceived fairness reflected in the company practices of distributing rewards and benefits. Dirks and Ferrin (2002) stated that leadership has three types of justice; procedural which is an indicator of the leaders tendency to be fair when making decision about rewards; distributive is the fairness of outcomes a follower receives as a result of those procedures; and interactional involves the degree of respect with which the leader treats the follower as they carry out organisational policies and procedures. Thus, Dirks and Ferrin (2002) also, found that trust in leadership is related to attitudinal, behavioural and performance outcomes. Therefore, trust a key concept is where leaders often have the power to impact followers and their ability to achieve goals, reflects that followers will attempt to draw inferences about their leaders characteristics such as integrity, dependability, fairness and ability, because these inferences have consequences for work behaviour and attitudes, viewed by (Dirks and Ferrin, 2002). Building subordinates trust in leadership starts with the managers ability to lead and administer the department functions, stated by (Knabe, 1999), thus, mutual trust needs to be in place. According to Bass (1985), one of the most important conditions that a leader must instill in his subordinates prior to problem solving trusted by his employees is the ability to lead for effective results. So, in order words, for the business to grow qualities of a leader is not only to fulfil goals, but, basic skills in management and leadership will also have to be the foundation in developing a more advance practice, thus, problem-solving, decision-making, planning and delegating, communication and managing oneself are effective leadership skills discussed below. 3.2 Leadership Skills The characteristics of a leader come through our day to day interactions with those around us. If the author stop to think about some the leaders that have been, or even infuriated, the qualities of good leadership skills will become apparent. Leadership skills is not just about showing your superiority, according to researchers (DeHann and Havighurst 1957), it is the use of attributes such as initiative, persistence ambition and dominance to describe leadership abilities, as well as, sensitive to others needs, affectionate and agreeable, that is used to enhance the skills towards leadership and the ability to improve such tasks. Tannenbaum (1983) reported that a correlation exists between the exhibition of leadership skills and general intelligence for advance leadership skills, such as, written and verbal communication, group dynamic, problem-solving, planning and personal skills. Effectiveness of these skills must be able to perform the ability to analyse strengths and weakness, identify and provide training effectively, show success in developing and enhancing skills, and scheduling and controlling work, such as, capabilities in identifying and setting performance goals along with posing all supervisory skills necessary. Thus, real leaders, read their team, analyse the compound between their team members, the tension between the tasks and processes, and how the team builds its competencies. According to Mehra et al. (2006) organisations must seek efficient ways to enable performance, longstanding approach that is, by shaping collective norms, helping teams cope with their environment that provides valuable insights into relationship between leadership and team performance (Guzzo and Dickson, 1996). Furthermore, Herr (1998) identifies a few competencies that should be incorporated into an executive performance appraisal including; coordination, awareness, personnel management, planning, financial management, coaching skills, evaluation skills, accomplishment assessment skills, technical competence, interpersonal skills, communication skills and leadership skills, thus in providing behavioural outcome and performance, that will lead to leadership style. 3.3 Leadership Styles Today management needs to command and direct, but also identify needs, communicate, empower, inspire trust and forge a common vision for a better future, defined by (Athanasaw, 2003). In similar, leaders need to enforce recognition of employees and value human being whose ideas are seriously considered, viewed by (Athanasaw, 2003) to support leadership role. Thus, leadership is the process of influencing followers so they cooperate, such leaders are members of groups who influence the context of the organisation they lead, according to (van Knippenberg and van Knippenberg, 2005). There are many types of leadership, but because of society today, participative or democratic leadership is more recognised, thus, Hersey-Blanchard (1998) theory is based on the amount of direction and socio-emotional support a leader must provide given the situation and the level of maturity of the followers. So, the most suitable leadership style would be the development level of the subordinate actions, such as, directing, coaching, supporting and delegating. Similarly, Tannenbaum and Schmidts (1958), leadership continuum reflects that leadership behaviour varies along a continuum and that as one moves away from the autocratic extreme the amount of subordinate participation and involvement in decision taking increase. They also suggested that the kind of leadership represented by the democratic extreme of the continuum will be rarely encountered in formal organisations. The four main types of leadership are, autocratic, persuasive, consultative and democratic. In similar, participative leadership defined by Lewin (1939) and others stated that there are three types, autocratic that is very dedicative, which has led to revolution, laisse-faire which lacks enthusiasm and democratic the effective style. Furthermore, Likert (1967) theorised four styles namely, exploitive authoritative where there the leader uses fear-based to enforce conformance, benevolent authoritative is rewards use to motivate performance, consultative is the seeking of consultation and participative invites participation across all level. Thus, leadership cannot perform without leaders and followers, therefore, leadership results in followers behaviour that is purposeful and goal-directed in some sort of organised setting, although most studies reflect the nature of leadership in a workplace. So, without having a leadership style, business cannot conform to achieve its objectives and goals, thus leaders must a style is able to adapt to the laws of the company and its future expected outcome. Thus, the values and qualities of the author must be able to adapt to the global challenges in an effort to develop proper growth for the business. 4.0 Recommendations With recommendation to continued success, the author should enforce combination of leadership savvy, good judgement based on knowledge and information, and reasonable ability to steer a business in the right direction, which is considerably important. Thus, to become an excellent leader the author must use wisdom (head), feelings and emotions (heart), strength and power (hands) and good communication (tongue) to help others because without leadership within any given situation, there would be chaos and no formability as to where the organisation is headed. In addition, the author must commit in enhancing personal leadership qualities and managerial skills that is needed to initiate and sustain profitable growth for the company. Thus, strong leadership it is essential to the success of any company and therefore it is recognisable that the author should develop qualities of courageousness and patience to strive and become powerful. The author must also, choose competent subordinates, continue to demonstrate high moral standards, and exude charisma, while keeping the control of protocol and process, which will be used to enhance leadership. However, the author should never abuse power and should stay focus and stick up for one another, the author must readily adapt to leadership style to suit the situations, such as, being faced with a crisis, the author ought to take action and use imagination to solve problems and make recommendable suggestions, by simply scanning the business environment. ENTJs should be reminded that not every one is perfect and mistakes are there for everyone, so having quality patience is of foremost and respecting other peoples feelings is appreciated. Even though their personality of sentiments are not powerful, ENTJ must still be mindful the feelings and value judgement ought to sensitive to that individual, because, if submerge emotion and inappropriate problems are found serious problems can occur. Therefore, because ENJT are very informed and extremely creative, the best able to continue to keep head strong and hear others for what they need to say. Always be level-headed and growth will come its way, so that when making judgement and hurting someone, always keep focus that not everyone are leaderships, there must be people to lead, which make you a leader. Another recommendation is to prioritise your time as this will assist in planning and developing in case of an accident or incident occurs, thus, true leaders demonstrate strengths and recognise their weakness. If sound criticism is to take place, be sure that the individual has a strong back and that the criticism is approached in a professional manner and not arrogant as mentioned previously. So in all, leadership skills ought to improve, by making observation from other leaders using a variety of settings, going beyond their prior experience and adjusting or adapting to current business situation is of essences and must be able to develop continued skills. A good leader has a lifetime of study and should acquire indefinable qualities that involve developing and improving leadership skills along with enhancing the managerial skill at the business. Reference Northouse, G. 2007. Leadership Theory and Practices. 3rd Ed. London: Sage Publication,Inc. ORegan, N., and Ghobadian, A. 2004. Leadership and Strategy: Making it happen. Journal of General Management. 29 (3), pp. 76-92. Jex, S.M. 2002. Organisational Psychology: A Scientist-practitioner Approach. New York: Wiley. Kelley, H.H. 1967. Attribution Theory in Sovial Psychology. Cited in D. Levine (Ed.) Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. NE: University of Nebraska Press. Mitchell, T.T. et al., 1981. An Attributional Model of Leadership and the Poor Performing Subordinate: Deveolpment and Validation. Cited in B.M. Staw and L.L. Cummings (Eds). Research in Organisational Behaviour. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Jex, S.M. 2002. Organisational Psychology: A Scientist-practitioner Approach. New York: Wiley. Judge, T.A., et al. 2004. Transformational and Transactional Leadership: A Meta-Analytic Test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology. 89 (5). Pp.755-765. Jex, S.M. 2002. Organisational Psychology: A Scientist-practitioner Approach. New York: Wiley. Chen, G., and Bliese, P.D. 2002. The Role of Different Levels of Leadership in Predicting Self and Collective Efficacy: Evidence for Discontinuing. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87 (3), pp. 549-556. Dirks, K.T., and Ferrin, D.L. 2002. Trust in Leadership: Meta-analytic Findings and Implications for Research and Practice. Journal of Applied Psychology. 87 (4). Pp.611-628 Dirks, K.T., and Ferrin, D.L. 2002. Trust in Leadership: Meta-analytic Findings and Implications for Research and Practice. Journal of Applied Psychology. 87 (4). Pp.611-628. Dirks, K.T., and Ferrin, D.L. 2002. Trust in Leadership: Meta-analytic Findings and Implications for Research and Practice. Journal of Applied Psychology. 87 (4). Pp.611-628 Knabe, W. 1999. Leadership Issues concerning the Los Angeles City Fire Department. [Online]. Available at: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/pdf/efo30918.pdf [Accessed 25 April 2010]. Bass, B. 1985. Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York: Free Press. DeHaan, R., and Havighurst, R. 1957. Educating Gifted Children. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Tannenbaum, R. And Schmidt, W. 1958. How to Choose a Leadership Pattern . Harvard Business Review. 36 (2). Pp. 95-101 Mehra, A. et al. 2006. Distributed Leadership in Terms: The Network of Leadership Perceptions and Team Performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 17 (3). Pp.232-245. Guzzo, R. A., and Dickson, M.W. 1996. Terms in Organisation: Recent Research on Performance and Effectiveness. Annual Review of Psychology, 47 (1). 307-338. Herr, J.A. 1998. Developing Leaders and Managers through the use of 360-Degree Performance Appraisals. National Fire Academy. Athanasaw, D.L. 2003. Leadership Styles as perceived by Career Senior Service Executives. International Journal of Public Administration, 26 (10-11). Pp.1207-1236. Athanasaw, D.L. 2003. Leadership Styles as perceived by Career Senior Service Executives. International Journal of Public Administration, 26 (10-11). Pp.1207-1236. Van Knippenberg, B. and van Knippenberg, D. 2005. Leader Self-sacrifice and Leadership Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Leader Prototypically. Journal of Applied Psycology. 90 (1). Pp.25-37. Hersey, P. and K.H. Blanchard. 1977. Management of Organisational Behaviour. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall. Tannenbaum, R. And Schmidt, W. 1958. How to Choose a Leadership Pattern . Harvard Business Review. 36 (2). Pp. 95-101 Lewin, K. 1946. Action Research and Minority Problems. Journal of Social Issues, 2 pp 34-46. Likert 1967 Fieldler, 1967. A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill Handy, co. 1192. The Language of Leadership in Frontiers of Leadership (Ed. Syrett and Hogg). Oxford: Blackwell Blanchard, K., 1998. Gung Ho! New York: Morrow. http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes3.asp

Comparison of the Fantasies and Daydreams of Michael and Walter Mitty Essay

Michael and Walter Mitty are two men who use fantasies and daydreams to escape from their unhappy lives. They both use them to improve their own experience. Both men are seen as weak, seen as failures by the rest of the world. They both are in denial. Walter Mitty’s fantasies stem from boredom and are used to boost his self-esteem. â€Å"I never see a man could hold his brandy like you, sir.† In his fantasies, he plays the character of someone superior, a rebel, or a lifesaver, such as a Commander, a doctor, a criminal, or a Captain. The complete opposite of who he is, a nobody. He changes himself completely because he is unhappy with who he is as a person. Walter is not as clever as his characters; â€Å"Coreopsis has set in.† When Walter says this, he thinks he is sounding clever as he is â€Å"performing an operation† but he is not bright because coreopsis is a flower. Michael needs his fantasies to survive desperate situations. He is lonely â€Å"I am not an attractive companion† and has no job. Michael uses his fantasies to deny his situation, to have something he doesn’t have in real life. He imagines a family, a successful business, and a large house. These are not unrealistic dreams, they could have happened, but in Michael’s case they did not. â€Å"My Castle is not a splendid place, but it is very comfortable, and it has a warm and cheerful air, and it is quite a picture of Home.† Michael cares more about the people there, his family, and his perception of home than material comforts. â€Å"I have enough and am above all moderate wants and anxieties.† Walter is married and feels smothered by his wife who hassles him and feels there is something wrong with him for losing himself in his fantasies. â€Å"It’s one of your days. I wish you’d let Dr Renshaw check you over.† This may anger and annoy him, which pushes him even further into his fantasies. He never involves her in his daydreams, which suggests that he is not close to her and would rather be alone. Michael almost had a happy marriage but Christiana betrayed him. After her he had no other partner and is lonely, he wants a family. Walter feels inferior to other men. â€Å"They’re so damn cocky†¦They think they know everything.† Walter tries to do a ‘man’ thing by taking the chains off his own car, but fails. When he sees a young, grinning man take them off easily he feels annoyed that he, himself cannot. In his fantasies, he is a strong man, or a smart man. He uses his fantasies to deny his personality. Michael’s fantasy starts when he is asked to start a story to entertain his relations but from the depth, length, detail and thought gone into this dream, we know he has thought about this many times before. Walter’s are triggered by certain pictures or situations. Driving his car triggers a fantasy involving a Navy plane, a hospital triggers him into a doctor, and the Waterbury trial triggers a trial situation where he is a gun-shooting criminal. Pictures of bombing planes and ruined streets trigger a pilot fantasy. Michael’s dreams are set in his castle, his home. The scene does not change. â€Å"I reside, mostly, in a †¦ Castle.† Walter’s are set in different locations, on different levels, the ground, and in the air, â€Å"hurtling eight-engined Navy hydroplane† â€Å"in the courtroom† and â€Å"door of the dugout.† This suggests Walter wanted to be as far away, from where he is now as possible. Michael’s fantasies are about family, about others. About who he wishes he could be with, his grandchildren, children, wife and his business partner and his family. About closeness with friends and family. â€Å"It is very pleasant of an evening, when we are all assembled together – which frequently happens.† Walter’s revolve around himself. What he does, how he saves people or places and in one dream about what he has done to another person. Michael’s could have happened if it wasn’t for decisions made by two people, Christiana and his business partner. Walter’s are pure fantasy, which get facts and words wrong. Michael’s and Walter’s fantasies are an escape from their humdrum lives to a happier place where they would rather be.

Descriptive writing Essay

Descriptive writing is a way through which a writer shows his ideas by giving a clear and a vivid image of an object, a person, place or an event. In order to clearly explain a situation thereby creating a clear picture in the reader’s mind, descriptive essay must contain certain important elements. Pamela Arlov guides us to a good description in the book, Wordsmith a guide to college writing. A good descriptive essay uses fine vocabulary, original discussion about an event or an object which appeals to the five senses, uses clear dominant impressions and spatial order. Merely the description is to be used on the basis of the five senses. For instance, while dealing with an event or an object, the description is to be done on the basis of experience or imagination which will enable the reader visualize the discussion. Words which evoke sight, smell, hearing, touch or taste are to be used. The use of dominant impression is quite essential and can be taken as the central theme of the essay. It is the way in which the author conveys his strong feelings about a topic. This can be done by talking about all the possibilities while discussing a particular topic. Moreover, a good descriptive essay is organized in a systematic way. Here we talk about the spatial order. It is essential to maintain an order in an essay. As a result, the essay is more effective and easier to study. In spatial order, things are arranged according to their physical positions. Hence the idea is clearer with the reference of positions like left to right, high to low and so on. Thus, if the discussed techniques, further explained in the book, Wordsmith a guide to college writing, are considered while writing a description, the essay will be quite effective.

Thoughts on Austens Persuasion - 1083 Words

Faith Bianchi Thomas Edison State College | March 2013 Dr. Christine Hansen One Writer’s Vision ENG-393 | Written Assignment 3 April 17, 2013 Admiral Croft who was among the nouveau rich, had the financial means to rent Kellnych from Sir Walter, one of the so-called landed gentry. How does Jane Austens treatment of class and social mobility reveal about these men and their women such as Anne Elliot and Mrs. Smith? Which group fares better and why? Class in Persuasion Jane Austen’s Persuasion challenges the notion that one’s social class determines one’s happiness. In the novel there is the upper class, which includes Sir Walter Elliot and his family; the nouveau rich, such as Admiral Croft and Captain Wentworth; and the poor†¦show more content†¦They are often seen arm-in-arm, enjoying nature or exploring the grounds at Kellynch Hall. Perhaps a somewhat unconventional couple, Admiral Croft allows his wife to take the reins in a carriage (Austen 62) and go with him on his naval journeys. When they visit Bath, they have no shortage of acquaintances who are delighted to see them (Austen 111). Genuinely lovely and loving, the Crofts, though not the main characters in the novel, outshine the others as the picture of true happiness. Anne Elliot, the protagonist, is unlike the rest of her family. While she does not completely disregard social class (for example, in thinking Mrs. Clay below her father and not suitable as a marriage partner), she does not allow class to dictate her acquaintances. At age nineteen, she falls in love with Captain Wentworth. This love does not wax or wane based on the amount of money he possesses. In Bath, Anne renews a schoolgirl friendship with Mrs. Smith, who is now a poor, crippled, helpless widow (Austen 101) that lives in the humble Westgate Buildings. At one point in the novel, Anne passes up spending time with her cousin of royalty, Lady Dalrymple, in order to honor a prior engagement with Mrs. Smith (Austen 103). While life has not been kind to Mrs. Smith, Anne observes that she is not bitter, but content: †¦Anne had reason to believe that she had moments only of languor and depression, to hours of occupation and enjoyment. How could it be?—She watched—observed—reflected—andShow MoreRelatedA Close Analysis Of Jane Austen s Persuasion1098 Words   |  5 PagesA close analysis of Jane Austen’s Persuasion (Extract 3) Many readers of Persuasion believe Austen uses the namesake â€Å"persuasion† too neutrally. She appears to passively describe the results when the protagonist is persuaded to abandon Wentworth’s first proposal, but actually has much to say on being persuadable, and mainly argues that it is not inherently wrong. Persuasion in the novel’s early chapters works in two forms: as an overpowering force on the foolish like Sir Walter, or as an importantRead More Consider the implications of the title, Persuasion Essay1012 Words   |  5 PagesConsider the implications of the title, Persuasion â€Å"Something intended to induce belief or action† is how the Oxford Dictionary defines the term persuasion. To consider the implications of the title successfully, it is essential that we first understand the term persuasion within the context of the novel. 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