Examples Of Character Traits

Friday Night Dinner

As its title would indicate, BBC America’s Friday Night Dinner is a situation comedy with an emphasis on the situation (albeit without deemphasizing the comedy). It is not a show about the Goodman Family so much as it is a show about their observance of the Jewish tradition of…well, it’s right in the title, really.

Almost all television shows utilize stock situations in order to tell their stories, and occasions like this one are not uncommon: The one that I’m most familiar with, Emily and Richard’s Friday night dinners on Gilmore Girls , offered a point on which each episode could begin or shift or climax depending on where it was placed. In the case of Friday Night Dinner , written and created by Robert Popper, this event is all we ever see: While the two twenty-something sons (Jonny and Adam, played by Tom Rosenthal and Simon Bird) have their own lives, and while we presume that their parents (Jackie and Martin, played by Tamsin Greig and Paul Ritter) do things during the week, all we ever see is the time they spend together on Friday evenings.

Again, almost all shows are ostensibly like this, showing us a selective portion of the characters’ lives in order to construct the most efffective story. However, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a show that is so structured, using the same situation as a formula for each episode. While certain settings might be used in nearly every episode of a sitcom (like Central Perk on Friends ), there’s usually a diversity of settings depending on the story being told, or at least a diversity of times at which everyone is gathered in the same location (like on Cheers , for example). Here, the story being told is a story about what happens at Goodman Friday night dinners, and thus it remains wholly focused on the one time a week when everyone in the family is together in one place. In a sense, the basic structure of the show is a bottle episode, to the point where members of the family actually leaving the house in later episodes of the series feels more momentous than it has any right to.

My experience with the first series (which aired in the UK back in February) was actually kind of backwards from what I would normally expect given how formulaic the show is. When I first watched tonight’s premiere, “The Sofabed,” I wasn’t particularly impressed. The episode is the point of introduction, but it introduces two things that seem to work against one another. On the one hand, it does a nice job of establishing the relationship between the family members, with Adam and Jonny playing practical jokes on one another and Martin and Jackie feuding over some old junk that Martin refuses to throw away. While it helps that the cast is sharp, the writing also sells that this isn’t some momentous occasion: This is a regular Friday night dinner for the family, and there’s a laidback feel to their dynamic that I found quite refreshing.

Positive Character Traits

Making the most of positive character traits

What is personality, and how is it defined? Personality is a summation of a person's traits, positive and negative, plus the special blending of those traits and our being to create who we are – a unique individual. Positive character traits can only enhance our personality. In all honesty, most people would prefer to have and develop a positive balance of personality traits, with as few negative personality traits as possible.

A few universally recognized positive character traits are listed below, including a brief definition:

Sense of Responsibility A dependable person. If he says that he will do it, you can rest assured that the job will be done right and he'll own up to his share of the bargain.

Ability to Persevere In life, many good things take time and patience to accomplish, as circumstances do not always not go as planned. A person who can withstand life's ups and downs while continuing to consistently take positive action forward is a valuable friend and partner.

Ability to Care for others and Show Compassion By looking around to those who are in need, embracing children or assisting aged parents is a sign of appreciation and humility, which are also positive character traits.

Self-mastery / Self-discipline A wise man once said “you must master your mind, and not let your mind master you!“. The ability live one's life not based on one's impulses, as the animals do, is a sign of maturity and self-discipline.

Good citizenship – societal behavior Thoughtfulness towards family, co-workers, and anyone else who shares your life requires basic etiquette. This includes polite and clear communication, apologies if necessary, and good hygiene, like leaving an area cleaner than the way you found it.

Honesty – Not lying or stealing This is self-explanatory

Courage To go forward, even in the face of difficulties, not without fear, but in spite of it.

Respect for Self and Others To remain a human being, not allowing yourself to be mistreated and to maintain the dignity of others, which is their natural right.

Integrity also known as “doing the right thing“ even when it may not be convenient to do so.

Loyalty To love one's home and country, and not ever betray it.

Character traits in Newbery Award literature 1997--2007

Encyclopedia of Family Health

The writer's guide to character traits, includes profiles of human behaviors and personality types

Character builders, books and activities for character education

The Bass handbook of leadership, theory, research, and managerial applications