ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The Last Lecture by Randolph Pausch is a good example of an inspirational speech that prompts the listeners to reevaluate their views on life, death and relations between people. Moreover, it urges them to be optimistic despite various difficulties. This address demonstrates how a person can maintain courage and will to live even at the most trying times. Randolph Pausch made this speech during the Oprah Winfrey Winfrey Show. Approximately one hundred people were present during this event, but one has to remember that it was broadcast to millions of people. Overall, the setting suggests that this speech could be relevant to people of different sexes, ethnic origins, age groups, or social classes. At the very beginning, the speaker does not specify for whom his words are intended, only at the end he says that this address was initially intended for his children, but it could be relevant to other people as well. So, one can argue that Pausch interacts with auditors or those listeners who are not addressed directly. From the point of view of delivery, t he Last Lecture can be called an extemporaneous and technology-aided speech which means that the speaker carefully prepared his address beforehand and used computer software to supplement his ideas with visual images. Overall, this delivery was very effective and it helped the author to produce a powerful emotional impression on the audience. The introduction of his speech contained and attention-getter that made the audience interested in what he was about to say. However, it lacked a clearly-stated thesis. Pausch chose to elaborate his major argument in later parts of the speech. However, lack of proper structure was not a weakness because the speaker was able to convince the audience. Pausch used two types of appeal, namely ethos or appeal to credibility and pathos or appeal to emotions. He tried to convince the audience by providing personal examples from his life. He explained how a person should act under different circumstances and why one has to act in such a way. However, this inspirational speech also appealed to people’s emotions because the listeners knew that this person was suffering from a terminal illness. It is quite possible that Randolph Pausch did not want to elicit emotional reaction, but his speech definitely contained the elements of pathos. So, one can say that the Last Lecture contains two elements of rhetorical triangle, namely pathos and ethos. In this case, the audience has to believe the speaker not because he provides compelling evidence in support of his arguments. More likely, Pausch shows that he as a speaker has high credibility. This is the main persuasive choice that he makes. This speech can be regarded as a proposition of policy that advocates a certain attitude toward life, people and difficulties that a person can face. The choice of speech pattern is also important when we discuss this address. In part, Pausch uses chronological persuasive pattern because he tells the story of his life from childhood to adulthood. Yet, topi
Introduction The Islamic republic of Iran is not a theocracy. Majority of the country’s population is Islam. For a long period, since the Islamic revolution the country was under the rule of Islam fundamentalists. However, it was during this period that the country experienced the worst political and civil problems. The Islamic majority imposed a theocratic constitution on the secular Iranians, the mild Muslims, and others. It is also true that at any one time, a fundamentalist Muslim will be at the helm of the political life in Iran owing to their huge demographic numbers. Majority of them will be Islamic leaders leading based on pure principles of Islam including mujahedeen teachings. The majority may tailor the constitution to theocratic ways. However, these things do not reflect on the entire population of Iran. This paper will use the case study to lay bare more facts that support the view that Iran is not theocratic. Case Study Chehabi (78) discuses politics and religion of Iran in a journal article published in 1991. He brings about historical facts that constantly paint religion and politics of Iran as the same thing. In most cases, religion takes precedence over politics and affects the political life of Iran. Although Iran as a nation has historically been led by clerics, the author constantly features historical junctures at which religion clashes with politics leading to rife and unrests. Since 1906 when Iran faced a constitutional revolution, there had been attempts to impose church to the Iranians. The battle was won in 1906 by secularism. Until 1940’s dictatorship that had no any connection to the church. The leader of the dictatorship was captured and probably killed before Iran crawled back to self-rule. However, as Chehabi notes, the church, and active involvement in politics had been banned. The constitution had been designed in such a way that active participation in both religion and politics was not possible. However, this did not stop many clerics from actively participating in the politics of the day. The author paints a picture of a situation where the clerics may have wanted to participate actively in politics but could not owing to the previously mentioned rules that sought clear demarcations between church and politics. Shah was the leader of the political outfit of that time. His political domination stretched to the 1960’s. By this time, shah had liberalized and relaxed most of these rules. The author paints a picture of a leader whose soundness of leadership had deteriorated. Hence, he allowed formation of opposition mainly a controversial concoction of Islamic fundamentalists whom he had subdued for a long time. Islam had been subdued for quite some ti
Motivation of the employees is essential for the organization’s survival. With this in mind, there is need to put in place effective measures to foster motivation. Employees can list various reasons for their discontent at the job place: insufficient incomes, restrictive regulations or inflexible policies are just a few of the causes of discontent. However, setting out to fix these deficiencies in a bid to motivate the staff will yield negative, even detrimental results. This is because lack of motivation is an intrinsic quality. To understand this statement better, I will adopt Ray B. Williams’ definition of motivation: a predisposition to behave purposefully to acquire the will to achieve, achieve unmet goals, and that force that pushes a person to strive for the accomplishment of both personal and organizational goals. From the definition, it becomes clear that financial compensation is never sufficient for the motivation of an individual. Other factors such as challenging, interesting tasks and more responsibility are better placed to counter this problem. An inherent quality can only be cultivated through several well-researched processes, and over a period. Moreover, the manager has little choice if any but to comply as failure to do so will result in poor results in the organization or loss of employees for more interesting opportunities way, the manager loses. A lot of research has been conducted on the topic of motivation. It is important to note here that what applies to employees will most likely apply to consumers as well, “Companies also survey their front-line employees for their attitudes as well as for their ideas for improved service, asking their employees to take the customer’s perspective” (Plunket, Attner, and Allen 35). Neuroscientific findings have the most authority, which suggest four basic needs that influence motivation. First, the need of driving to acquire, which involves minimal material elements that are necessary for a good life including financial compensation. Managers can modify their policies by adopting reward systems that are based on performance to satisfy this need. Secondly, the Drive to bond discusses about the humans need to constantly build relationships of love, caring and in which they can feel like they belong. Managers can satisfy this need by introducing collaborative strategies at the work place such as teamwork and mutual work policies. Thirdly, the driving to comprehend points out the yearning for learning as well as the understanding of the complexities of life where managers can increase specificity of job definitions in a manner that will make employees feel as if they are contributing to the organization’s growth. They can also install learning policies that are aimed at building on the employees’ current repertoire of knowledge. Drive to defend urges to protec
Introduction Artists have historically used the various tools at their disposal to communicate issues of importance and provoke the society. The issues that art has been used to deal with include: war, violence, racism, and equality to name but a few. What makes art such an effective tool in addressing social issues is its ability to focus the community on the social problems. It has been shown that art can help people connect with some aspect of social reality in a manner that they could otherwise have not without the aid of art. In light of the significant power that art and by extension artists hold, there arises the question of whether artists have a responsibility to address social problems through their works. This paper shall argue that Artists do not have the responsibility to address social problems in their work. Why Artists Should not be Obligated to Address Issues Most of the artwork expressed by artists is open to a number of interpretations. The meaning that an artist intends to convey may therefore differ significantly from that of the audience. A good example of this multi interpretation is the Eagle’s 1977 hit song titled “Hotel California”. While the song write Don Henley suggests that the song is an artwork imbued with various sociopolitical statements which he goes on to articulate, various music critics interpret the lyrics differently. It can be assumed that ordinary listeners also have different interpretations of the song therefore defeating the purpose of the artist to convey a particular message. If it were the artist’s responsibility to convey an opinion on social problems in their work it would be counter productive if the audiences do not understand it The ideal of democracy that most Western nations hold is grounded in the concept of free speech. If society were to compel artists to address social problems, then the freedom of expression of the artist would be violated. Art is chiefly a form of free expression and although it may be beneficial to society, the personal freedom of the artist has primacy. The personal interest of the artist should take precedence over any other consideration. As it stands, artists have different motivations for producing their artistic works. For most, the chief concern is commercial success. Christians et al. reveals that “entertainment media are 90% business and 10% public service” (28). The profit motive is therefore the most compelling concern for the artist and they will go to great lengths to achieve this end. It would be very irrelevant to expect an artist whose only concern is commercial success to champion some social cause. Art is a form of expression and using it, artists can express various sentiments through the force in their brush strokes and through the variations of colors, or through their lyrics and rhythm of the song. For example, music allows artists to express their current state of emotion. “Love the Way you Lie” which is a h
The ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, a poem by Samuel Coleridge, highlights the travails of a sailor who has just returned from a long sea voyage. Coleridge uses different symbols to show the severity of the situation the reader needs to anticipate in the poem. The poet reveals how the Mariner’s ship encounters a strong storm while at sea which makes him and his crew sail southwards towards Antarctica. An albatross which helps them sail out of Antarctica is shot down by the Mariner. The albatross is used in the poem as a symbol of both good and bad fortune, which the mariner and fellow crew members experience during their voyage. The Mariner is made to wear the albatross round his neck by other crew members as a punishment for his mistakes. Coleridge manages to set a somber tone in the poem which displays the ill fate crew members will encounter while sailing at sea. Coleridge sticks with a melancholic tone as the Mariner together with other crew members come across a ghostly ship. A woman on the ship is used to show the thin line between life and death. She gambles with the lives of all crew members on the ship and manages to condemn them to death. Coleridge manages to show the enduring spirit of the Mariner who prays and the albatross falls off his neck. The poet shows the power of good over evil because the Mariner’s prayer makes the crew rise from the dead and later steer the ship to safe waters. This is an allusion similar to extra ordinary feats in the bible which show the supernatural power of God. Later on, the ship capsizes in a whirlpool where all crew members except the Mariner lose their lives. The ‘Ode to the West Wind’ by Percy Shelley, shows how nature regenerates to bring forth a fresh life. Shelley uses the wind as a metaphor which spreads fresh ideas that enable people embrace the concept of change in their lives. The poet uses a unique stylistic approach which helps to interpret the strong metaphorical ideas used in the poem. The poet uses agents of nature to show how change and new ideas travel fast and their remarkable effects on human beings. He uses descriptive language to show how various agents of nature such as wind, clouds, oceans, forests and other living things impact on life on planet earth. The poem reveals that he is inspired by spiritual elements of nature which is evident in the language he uses in the poem. Shelley manages to relate different concepts of nature by using metaphorical phrases with strong meanings. He uses clouds to show they are crucial to the formation of rain. These clouds are used to portray how people’s anticipation for change to take place can make them take charge of their own destiny. Shelley uses the wind to show how revolutionary ideas help to change systems which have been entrenched for long periods of time. The poet manages to show how he aspires to be an agent of change in different parts of the society. He assumes another persona where he displays himself as a supernatural being whose spirit will help nurture new lives in the world. The poem reveals that the poet’s perceptions of life are driven by fantasies whose relevance cannot be es
The article by Leavy is concerned with the problem of the dearth of incentive among a large percentage of the workforce that exists nowadays around the world (20). It is stated that four global forces that lead to considerable changes in the world–the switch of the locus of economic activity to emerging markets, the increased influence of technology, the ageing of the population around the globe, and the increasing scale of economic connectedness–lead to a considerable change in many industries; so, in order to survive and develop in such an environment, organizations have a dire need to develop more effective strategies of leadership (Leavy 20-21). Thus, the author proposes to consider three books that might be helpful for leadership development. The first of these books is Fred Kiel’s Return on Character , which demonstrates that strong character in a leader is a crucial contributor to a business’ success (qtd. in Leavy 21). Drawing from his personal experience as a senior executive adviser, he made two important discoveries. The first is that a strong leader can achieve much better business performance (up to five times greater return on assets) and considerably more effectively motivate their employees. The second is that a person’s character very often consists of habits to a very large degree, and thus changing habits can allow one to change one’s character to a more effective one. It is also stated that virtuoso CEOs researched by the author cared much more about their staff than low-performance, self-focused CEOs, and were characterized by a considerably higher degree of accurate self-awareness (qtd. in Leavy 21-23). The second book, Discover Your True North by Bill George, shows how developing oneself and “discovering one’s core values and passion to lead” are crucial if one is to become an efficacious, empowering leader (qtd. in Leavy 21). It is emphasized that a leader’s own life-story plays a crucial role in his/her development. It is also stressed that a leader should create the relationship of trust with his/her followers, because otherwise effective collaboration is very difficult. Such trust requires the leader to demonstrate a high degree of integrity, for which purpose it is essential that the leader engages in self-insight and discovers his/her own true values. It is also paramount to develop a respective organizational culture in the company if the collaboration between the leader and his/her followers is to be fruitful (qtd. in Leavy 24-26). Finally, Steven Kaplan, the author of the third book, What You Really Need to Lead , argues that everybody ought to “think and act like an owner” if the workplaces are to become more engaging, and the leaders are to be empowering (qtd. in Leavy 21). It also is highlighted that, apart from empowering others, leaders also must keep empowering themselves (qtd. in Leavy 26). An effective way to do this is to develop the mindset of an owner because this permits for focusing on the fundamental question “how do we a
Abstract Numerous ideas are presented by different people and corporations regarding the subject of disk management. This paper looks at what disk management really is and what tools are available for effective management. A number of issues are discussed concerning the management of disk resources. This includes things like formatting; partitioning and security. Introduction In a computer, a disk is the main storage for files. It is the place where installed programs are located and accessed from. The size and structure of a disk has a great impact on the performance the computer system. Disk management may be used to include the numerous functions that can be undertaken to ensure effective performance of a disk. The functions may include but are not limited to; preparing a disk to be used on a computer system, optimizing its performance, managing partitions and disk security (Answers 1). Disk management may also refer to Microsoft’s Management Console; part of Microsoft’s operating systems beginning with Windows NT (Foley 1). The most important thing for any organization that uses information technology system in its operations is to make sure the safety o
Introduction to the Topic Modern American history is largely taught from the perspective of the white majority. As a part of the cultural assimilation agenda, minorities attending schools are largely taught about white historical figures, such as kings, queens, prime ministers, artists, thinkers, the founding fathers, and many later presidents of the United States, who were predominantly white. At the same time, many non-white political activists that helped shape the existing landscape remain in the dark, aside from the very select few whose memory and role in history cannot be diminished by the administrative state apparatus. One of such leaders was Martin Luther King Jr., who fought to end discrimination against blacks and other people of color. To the majority of the population of America, the struggles of Chicano and Latin-American people remain largely unknown. In this paper, I will attempt to analyze socio-political events of the 20th – early 2
Jean Jacques Rousseau, an outstanding philosopher and great thinker, deeply analyzed the concept of slavery, supporting the position that ‘everyone is born free, and everywhere he is in chains‘. (Jacobus and Gardner, 58). Slavery promoted in the period of Ancient Greece, appeared to be a central question in Rousseau’s theoretical view. The thinker concentrated on ideas of democracy and stressed that some people are born to be the dominants in the society, while others are born for slavery. The problem is related not only to ancient society, where the slavery was highly promoted, but to the modern one, where the government keeps everyone in chains. As long as people need to obey, they remain to be under the pressure of rulers; they give their liberty to the government under the regulations of social order. Modern people are slaves as well, though the concept of ‘slavery’ is totally dissolved in the society. Nevertheless, people should dedicate their liberty to the government and state destructing personal freedom. Rousseau managed to underline the idea that the concept of slavery is interacted with human need to live in the world of unlimited opportunities and rights. People cannot alienate themselves from the society, as well as they cannot take away the freedom of their new born children. The limitation of freedom is reached at the age of reason; liberty can be renounced with the manhood renouncing. Rights and slavery are presented by the thinker as two contrary notions; Rousseau strived to provide the analysis of rights in their moral, spiritual sense; the involvement into dependence from the rulers means the involvement into the slavery, and it is being in the state of war. It is necessary to stress that Rousseau managed to illustrate the concept of slavery as phenomenon of all times and epochs. People should live in harmony with nature and themselves to be not deprived of their rights to freedom in all its expressions. (Jacobus and Gardner, 63) Rousseau provided political associations betwee