Romerapril Gsl510 Mod5 Deconstruction Final
GSL510: 12 Angry Men and Dead Poets Society Deconstruction
April Romer
Mountain State University
GSL510 Art and Science of Leadership –Module 5
Gail Palmisano, Ph.D.
January 26, 2011
12 Angry Men and Dead Poets Society movies display leadership and rhetoric skills throughout, offering insight into effective leadership and rhetoric styles that can apply to daily life. Both movies provide similar, yet different, examples of contingency, transformational, and authentic leadership; as well as Aristotle’s Rhetoric related to persuasion.
Leadership’s contingency theory focuses on the importance of a leader related to their situation, (Northouse 2010, p.123); transformational theory focuses on a process that changes and transforms people, (Northouse 2010, p.200); and authentic leadership focuses on leadership being morally grounded and responsive to needs, (Northouse 2010, p.237). Aristotle’s Rhetoric discusses how a leader must be able to observe and discern what persuasion might be effective using different internal arguments. Aristotle defines pathos as emotions of the listener, ethos as character of the speaker and logos as logic or reason.
Leaders must master rhetoric skills in both written and verbal communications to succeed. Communication that strikes a positive chord with the listener is important in order to guide a team to achieve a goal. Each leader in 12 Angry Men and Dead Poets Society had a clear goal and understood how to drive their group that goal.
12 Angry Men is in a 1950’s courtroom, where 12 men from various backgrounds and different personalities, find themselves deciding the fate of a teenage boy accused of murdering his father. The vote must be unanimous and without doubt, with a guilty verdict resulting in the death of the young man facing trial.
Dead Poets Society is in a 1950’s all male boarding school, (Welton Academy), which prides itself on excellence, tradition, honor, and
April Romer
Mountain State University
GSL510 Art and Science of Leadership –Module 5
Gail Palmisano, Ph.D.
January 26, 2011
12 Angry Men and Dead Poets Society movies display leadership and rhetoric skills throughout, offering insight into effective leadership and rhetoric styles that can apply to daily life. Both movies provide similar, yet different, examples of contingency, transformational, and authentic leadership; as well as Aristotle’s Rhetoric related to persuasion.
Leadership’s contingency theory focuses on the importance of a leader related to their situation, (Northouse 2010, p.123); transformational theory focuses on a process that changes and transforms people, (Northouse 2010, p.200); and authentic leadership focuses on leadership being morally grounded and responsive to needs, (Northouse 2010, p.237). Aristotle’s Rhetoric discusses how a leader must be able to observe and discern what persuasion might be effective using different internal arguments. Aristotle defines pathos as emotions of the listener, ethos as character of the speaker and logos as logic or reason.
Leaders must master rhetoric skills in both written and verbal communications to succeed. Communication that strikes a positive chord with the listener is important in order to guide a team to achieve a goal. Each leader in 12 Angry Men and Dead Poets Society had a clear goal and understood how to drive their group that goal.
12 Angry Men is in a 1950’s courtroom, where 12 men from various backgrounds and different personalities, find themselves deciding the fate of a teenage boy accused of murdering his father. The vote must be unanimous and without doubt, with a guilty verdict resulting in the death of the young man facing trial.
Dead Poets Society is in a 1950’s all male boarding school, (Welton Academy), which prides itself on excellence, tradition, honor, and