Philips TVs Popularity

Philips TVs Popularity Introduction Television sets are some of the most popular household gadgets in the US today. This article discusses TVs and in particular examines TV usage, brand preferences, and purchase trends.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Philips TVs Popularity specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Product Usage According to statistics, a third of the American households have four or more TV sets. Those who own at least one set are approximated to be 290 million. In every ten Americans, eight are reported to spend a good amount of time viewing television programs. Specifically, it has been shown that people spend averagely 35 hours watching using TV screens on a weekly basis. On a daily basis, averagely 5 hours are dedicated to TV programs. More than three fifths of those owning Philips Smart TVs spend some time everyday watching something on their screens (Price, 2012). The table below shows finer details on the amount of time spe nt daily watching TV programs by people of different races. Table 1 (Statistic Brain, 2012) Race Time Caucasian 5 hours daily Black 7 hours daily White 5 hours daily Hispanic 4 hours daily Asian 3 hours daily Brand Preferences It has been shown that most consumers prefer the 32-inch TV sets. These particular sets are said to be of the most appropriate size for most homes. Larger sets are said to fit inappropriately as they require bigger spaces. Among the top ten ranked 32-inch TVs is the Phillips 32PFL6007T. This set is gorgeous in appearance. Among its fascinating features are â€Å"a unique ambilight system, a passive 3D playback, two-player full screen gaming, multimedia playback via USB, and connection to both networked PCs and Phillips’s Smart TV service via LAN or built in Wi-Fi† (Rivington, 2012, p. 1).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn Mor e Purchase Intention Basically, consumers buy TVs for the purpose of being entertained. By being entertained, they also get educated through the programs that they watch. As already noted above, a number of US households have more than one TV set. The different sets serve different purposes. The main set and the most significant is the one that serves the general needs of the family members and is located in the living room. In most cases, this is usually the best set. Another set is likely to be in the main bedroom. This may be used for late night viewing by the couple of the house. Another set may be in the kids room for the purpose of playing video games and finally, another one may be placed in the guest room. In affluent homes, some TV sets may be placed by the swimming pool side for outside entertainment. Purchase Experience Consumers consider a number of factors in choosing which set to buy. The biggest of these factors is their budget. The amount of money one has wil l almost be the ultimate determinant of which TV set to buy. TVs’ costs are in the range of hundreds to thousands of dollars. Another factor mostly considered is whether a TV is a plasma or LCD. LCD and plasma have some advantages over each other. For instance, plasmas give the best quality of pictures but are not the best for brightly lit rooms. On the other hand, LCDs are more effective in brightly lit rooms. Plasmas are available in large screen sizes while LCDs are available in small screen sizes. The distance from the watching point to the where the TV screen is also determines the size of screen to be bought. To determine the correct screen size for use, this formula is used: Screen size = Distance * 0.535. Lastly, the screen resolution also matters as most consumers prefer 1080p so that they can get the best quality of images (Tech Radar, 2013). Among the best places to buy a TV set is Best Buy. Conclusion TVs are popular household items. Most households have more tha n one set of TV and most of the TVs bought are 32-inch sets. There are many factors considered when buying a TV but the most significant is the price of the TV. References Price, G. (2012). Statistics: Consumer Media Usage Across TV, Online, Mobile and Social. Info Docket. Web.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Philips TVs Popularity specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Rivington, J. (2012). 10 best 32-inch TVs in the world today. Tech Radar. Web. Statistic Brain. (2012). Television Watching Statistics. Statistic Brain. Web. Tech Radar. (2013). Best TV 2013: what TV should you buy this year?. Tech Radar. Web.

VISUAL ANALYSIS PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

VISUAL ANALYSIS PAPER - Essay Example The child who is symbolizing Jesus in this picture is the centre of this picture where the friends of Madonna are taking care of him. Similarly Modonna’s centre of interest in this picture is also the child who was regarded as a gift from god and all the attention was being given to him (Wright, 339). The antique art is also depicted in the picture where all the people behind the scenes are busy in their works and the mountain tops are showing a unique work of masonry and status building. It is shows that the mother’s affection is at the peak and Mary is busy in taking care of the child who will be the crown of all the happenings in future. The use of dark colors are cut from all the sides in order to converge the focus of the viewer is the cardinal theme of the picture which in turn is creating a haughty image. Explanation The  Adoring Madonna  is a type of character that was highly popular during the Renaissance period in the historical perspective. This image usu ally is intended for personal devotion and feelings are showing that the Mary and her friends are showing their love for the Christ Child. There was a time when many such images were produced in a huge number to depict the ancient art for the people of modern age so that they can understand the true color of history and how well civilized the ancient people were and these pictures also show glazed terracotta as well as painting aesthetics. Half length Madonna is the trademark painting piece of the Eastern Orthodox Church in which the painters used to depict the similar scene in many different perspectives and highlighting multiple historical events in different pictures. The subject matter is highly formulated to highlight the importance of the â€Å"Mother of God. Such kind of paintings of Mary and child with saints are very common in the  renaissance painting which are specific to Italy, Italy because the era of Renaissance is very much related to Italy from the ancient times. These types of images are also made with soil and mud to give a depiction of the museum sculptures. These statues and painting can captivate the viewer and take him in to the ancient civilization where everything was simple and grounded in natural perspective. The above picture is also one of those true showing of culture. Such kind of images started to surface in the time period of around fifteenth and sixteenth century when the repertoire of painters were full of painting related to Mary and child with hermit saints in order to include historical events, independent portraits, ancient civilization and mythological subject matter of the characters. Christianity had a great impact and nurturing of these painters because every painting is somehow related to the divine orations and happenings similar to what described in the Bible. The subject matters of the above picture also discuss the events that happened and described in the bible and images of different saints remained a centre of all the art work. All the events that took place in the sixteenth century also influenced these paintings and many of the aesthetic works show the depiction of the ancient events that took place in the timeline of history. Later works of Fungai show his mastery of the Sienese and works of the

Socrates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Socrates - Essay Example Socrates was a Greek philosopher, whereas Cicero was a Roman rhetor. Socrates was born in 469 BC, while Cicero was born in 106 BC, so these philosophers expressed their wisdom in different epochs. They both used dialogues as a narrative and a polemical form to develop the state of mind of their students. Socratic dialogues criticized practices of the society, and it appeared that Socrates pretended to undermine undoubtful opinions of his students. On the other hand, Socrates and Cicero imposed different arguments to provide an understanding on the subject of justice. Therefore, 'Crito' implicated a hypothesis on a problem whether philosophers' escapes from jails would have been defined as an act of justice. Furthermore, Cicero analyzed the duties of justice from two relevant perspectives. According to him, justice must have been treated with only a respect for humanity. At the same time, he defined justice as not causing harm to any individual; analogically, Cicero forbade to lay a c laim on property that belonged to another person. Socrates and Cicero both stated that justice was a key virtue in the society. These philosophers had a clear opinion that justice dealt with matters relating to an idea of fairness (Cicero, 20; Jowett, 4). For instance, Cicero stated that righteous behaviour was a key ingredient of justice. According to the rhetor, meritocracy deserved to be extremely important for a justice' hegemony in the society. In order to achieve meritocracy, people needed to abide the laws that were issued in their community. From the other perspective, Socrates refused to escape from prison stating that this possible action of him must have been regarded as being totally unjust. He assumed that escaping from prison was equal to injuring the laws of Athens (Jowett, 5). Philosopher believed that escaping from prison would have been a case of returning an injustice for an injustice. Socrates and Cicero both believed that justice dealt with an idea of fairness. Therefore, Cicero argued that abiding the rule of law ensured equal distribution of rights in the society (Cicero, 21). Similarly, just law promoted fairness. In fact, these philosophers stated that justice demanded that people got what they truly deserved (Cicero, 20; Jowett, 2). Socrates always explained that emotions could alter one's judgement when deciding between a just decision and an unjust decision, because emotions could force an individual to commit an act of injustice. So, Socrates denied Crito’s plan to help him in a form of escaping from the gail. But, Crito forced a thesis that the philosopher's escape would have been just because the sentence he faced in Athens was injust. Socrates answered that justice at all time involved facing a fair trial and getting a fair sentence afterwards. He stated that although his sentence was unjust he had an obligation to obey the laws of Athens (Jowett, 12). He argued that his duty to Athens was to accept the sentence. Generall y, Socrates and Cicero acknowledged that the laws served interests of the people and they did not subjugate to desires of the prominent leaders of demos or populi Roma (Cicero, 35; Jowett, 15). Then, Socrates said that justice was all about fulfilling one's obligation; for example, when an individual had a debt the just thing to do was to return the debt in time. He strongly discouraged people from viewing justice as a punishment or a revenge. According to the philosopher, retaliation was unacceptable. Analogically, philosopher considered retaliation as a wrong way of justifying his escape from the gail; according to Socrates, act of retaliation, as a rule, resulted in harming another individual. He argued that if in the process of seeking justice one ended up harming another person, then the person seeking justice was committing an injustice (Jowett, 13). From Crito’s view (when planning Socrates' escape), every philosopher was supposed to fight against the unjust sentence. Then, Socrates stated that retaliation against the unjust

Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of providing the Essay

Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of providing the service of 'education', either free to consumer (entirely sub - Essay Example Therefore, this means that society can avail benefits overall in terms of economic growth, social cohesion, democratic benefits, law and order (Friedman, 1995). Because of this neighborhood effect, both public and private sector are involved in the provision of education. Both these sectors gain and lose by providing for education to society. We will explore these advantages and disadvantages for both sectors in detail below. Public sector or government should provide for education because it will provide government with long-term benefit in terms of higher income and hence higher tax revenues to finance public services such as healthcare, etc. In addition to above advantage, government gains from education provision multiplies as it has to spend less on social security or welfare payments in the form of unemployment benefits or health benefits as individual can himself afford to pay for his expenses by earning. Crime researchers found that education reduces the crime rate by both ju veniles and adults. The two main causes of crime reduction because of education could be either behavioral mechanism or better financial stability. By attaining education, an individual might be able to increase his earning and therefore, reduces pressure to commit crimes and escalates opportunity cost (Barr, 34-36). The major reason of government involvement in provision of education is to increase economic growth. This occurs when education results in an increase in human capital in the labor force which soars labor productivity and thus, leads to higher level of output. Another way in which education increases economic growth is by enhancing â€Å"innovative capacity of the economy† (Hanushek & Wo?mann, 2007). This refers to â€Å"knowledge of new technologies, products, and processes which promotes growth. In addition, it can facilitate the diffusion and transmission of knowledge needed to understand and process new information and to implement new technologies devised b y others, again promoting growth† (Hanushek & Wo?mann, 2007). The above point is substantiated by research done by economist that each year of schooling is associated with .58 percent increase in GDP points (Hanushek & Wo?mann, 2007). Government’s motive to provide for education is to achieve economic growth, which could ultimately results in increase in international competitiveness by producing in bulk, and exporting those products to rest of the world. Appreciated exchange rate is also an outcome of international competitiveness. In order to create equal distribution of income and wealth, government of any country is obliged to provide free education to all its citizens. This would not only reduce income disparities but also result in reduced poverty rate through income effect, which is a great concern of any government. Furthermore, social cohesion is also an obvious outcome of education. This occurs when common cultural experience boost communication with different people both in current and future time. There is also strong evidence that higher education is associated with higher political participation, voluntary work, and community affairs. These reasons are binding enough for government to provide education service (Barr, 34-36). Although there are multifarious advantages from government’s free service of education to its citizens, there are numerous costs which government has to bear as result of its provision. This cost could range in the form of financial

Pollution In The Backcountry - Snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park

Outline Of Pollution in the Backcountry 1. Bush over turns Clintons plans to ban snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park. (pro) a. Yellowstone will continue to be polluted and degraded. (con) 2. Business, Industry and environment. a. Two opinions presented by each side 3. Identifying problems with the over turning of the Clinton administration ban. 4. Identifying problems with the pollution in off road vehicles. 5. Identifying propaganda techniques used by either side. 6. How credible is each side of the debate? a. What are the credentials for each side? 7. Which side impressed me as being the most empirical in presenting their case? 8. Are there any reasons to believe the writers are biased? 9. With which side of this debate do I personally agree with? Pollution In The Backcountry As the population grows in this country we are developing and expanding area's that have never seen the population like we are seeing these days. There are almost 1200 people who live in the small community of West Yellowstone that thrives on tourism. There is good turnout in the summer and in the winter snowmobiling keeps the small town going. Over the past five years the Government and multiple environmental agencies have tried to shut down snowmobiles in the National Park for pollution reasons. How would this affect the environment? How would this affect the local industry? I will go through each side of this debate that has been taking place. On July 18, 2004 the House of representative voted not to ban snowmobiles from the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park area's. "Since 1996 the government has completed three major official assessments of snowmobiles' impact on the Parks in winter" (The New York ... ... environmentally safe. Second I think it is important to keep our national parks open to the people but this has shown the need to protect them to a point so our children and grandchildren can enjoy these National Parks in the future. Third, It is nice to see that the case studies go on. Without this research we would not have a direction to go although expensive, I think it is well worth it. The research needs to be compiled correctly by professionals and have no bias or slanted opinions contaminate the overall conclusion to the study. References The New York Times Sept 17, 2002 pA30(N) pA28(L) col 1 (7 col in) Heartland Institute. (2006). Retrieved January 15, 2006, from http://www.heartland.org National Park Service. (2005). Retrieved January 18, 2006, from http://www.nps.gov The New York Times June 18, 2004 pA26 col 04 (8 col in) Pollution In The Backcountry - Snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park Outline Of Pollution in the Backcountry 1. Bush over turns Clintons plans to ban snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park. (pro) a. Yellowstone will continue to be polluted and degraded. (con) 2. Business, Industry and environment. a. Two opinions presented by each side 3. Identifying problems with the over turning of the Clinton administration ban. 4. Identifying problems with the pollution in off road vehicles. 5. Identifying propaganda techniques used by either side. 6. How credible is each side of the debate? a. What are the credentials for each side? 7. Which side impressed me as being the most empirical in presenting their case? 8. Are there any reasons to believe the writers are biased? 9. With which side of this debate do I personally agree with? Pollution In The Backcountry As the population grows in this country we are developing and expanding area's that have never seen the population like we are seeing these days. There are almost 1200 people who live in the small community of West Yellowstone that thrives on tourism. There is good turnout in the summer and in the winter snowmobiling keeps the small town going. Over the past five years the Government and multiple environmental agencies have tried to shut down snowmobiles in the National Park for pollution reasons. How would this affect the environment? How would this affect the local industry? I will go through each side of this debate that has been taking place. On July 18, 2004 the House of representative voted not to ban snowmobiles from the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park area's. "Since 1996 the government has completed three major official assessments of snowmobiles' impact on the Parks in winter" (The New York ... ... environmentally safe. Second I think it is important to keep our national parks open to the people but this has shown the need to protect them to a point so our children and grandchildren can enjoy these National Parks in the future. Third, It is nice to see that the case studies go on. Without this research we would not have a direction to go although expensive, I think it is well worth it. The research needs to be compiled correctly by professionals and have no bias or slanted opinions contaminate the overall conclusion to the study. References The New York Times Sept 17, 2002 pA30(N) pA28(L) col 1 (7 col in) Heartland Institute. (2006). Retrieved January 15, 2006, from http://www.heartland.org National Park Service. (2005). Retrieved January 18, 2006, from http://www.nps.gov The New York Times June 18, 2004 pA26 col 04 (8 col in)

Faamatai: Traditional Religious System

It also alms to define and determine religious connections between the Mat system and the tabulate (Indigenous religion). Last but not least, it also focuses on how the system changed after Christianity arrived. Many people define the term mat in different ways. For example, Via and Tintinnabulation define mat as a â€Å"member of the nun (village) and a leader of an alga potato (extended family) with a complex network of fall (diffuse cultural connections'. Pall's offers another deflation which states that mat evolves from two words â€Å"mat† (eye or seeing) and â€Å"l† (towards or at).When two words are put together, It creates a traditional definition, the â€Å"act of looking towards or at someone or something†. In other words, a mat is the â€Å"eyes† of the family. He or she is the role model of the family. Family members look up to him or her as a strong leader and effective decision maker. To understand the framework of the mat system, one must first review the Samoan culture characteristics. The Samoan identify their culture as the Fashion way of life according to custom.Pall's described the term Fashion as referring to â€Å"the ancient ways of life Inherited from the ancestors†. The rod FAA means â€Å"in the manner of†, so the Samoan made it blend in with certain words in order to contrast the different ways of doing things. Traditionally, there are no laws in the context of the Samoan culture. However, Samoan people respected the decisions made by their own mat. To further understand the Samoan way of life, one must understand the village structure In the Samoan culture.The (nun) village Infrastructure Is made up of all extended females and relatives who reside In that particular village. They are Individual heirs and descendents of the mat such as father, mother, brother sister and etc†¦ In the alga, all can be related whether by blood as traceable to a common ancestor, through marriage ties or eve n adopted connections. At the head of each alga was a mat. He was the one who held the family title until it was passed on by choice rather than by inheritance. The first stage in becoming a mat was to serve as a tattletale's (untitled man).A tattletale's Is defined as an untitled man who serves his mat with honor and diligently. Being In this level requires a lot of patience and caring. Each tattletale's has one goal in life which was taut (serve) as further explained by Applied as follows: â€Å"A fulfill mat a Samoa faithful muumuu maim lava lee tag as taut Elli I lee mat male alga ma lee nun. O taut a lee tuna's e mama maim AI fumigant's ‘see's. A iii SE e via Oho I lee tutelage pull, all e taut, AAU o lee ala I lee pull o lee taut†. When a chief was chosen, a person who served the chief, family and village well Is most likely the primary he must first serve because the path to leadership is service) When a mat was sought, each alga would agree on a candidate and th en all would decide on one who would be worthy to succeed to the title. Once receiving the title of mat, he is responsible for the leadership of the whole family. In the fond o lee nun (council of chief), the mat was the one who represented the whole family.The authority of the mat was freely expressed by him in all matters, but most of the time he is free in so far as what he does was for the good of the family. In this respectful way, it could be seen, that the role of the mat was not merely authoritative, but it was also one of serving. It was then seen that all behavior was conditioned by the loyalty and devotion not only of the mat but the whole family. It was the pride of one's family which seemed to be the basis of the Samoan culture. This has been an initiating factor by which â€Å"law and order† was kept.In the Fashion, the extended family is the basic component of the village. Like I mentioned earlier, the village infrastructure is made up of all extended families which headed by a senior chief. Without the extended families and their chiefs, there would be no council of chiefs in the traditional village structure. The village itself became a factor in keeping the strong bond within the society. Socially, each village was embraced by a common pupilages (traditional greeting of mat titles in seniority).Mauve stated that a pupilages is a rotational formula which contained all the dignity accorded to the village especially to the principle chiefs, stating their relationship to the broader royal lineages of Samoa. In the olden times, Samoan lived in a hierarchical society. In all levels of its political structure including the mat system, it was so clear for it to be seen. Through all these levels, there was one of unifying force at work in the maintenance of â€Å"law and order† such as loyalty and devotion, being part of the family, and villages and districts connecting to the royal line.Politically, with the hierarchical structure of so ciety, it could be seen that the ancient gods were also structured in such a way. It was the case that authority was delegated from the top to the bottom. If there was a need to carry out a proposal or any new ideas, it was first to be approved by the higher authorities. Permission had to be sought from the chiefs. Although these different levels still existed in the Samoan society, but there was still the awareness of the necessity to function together as a corporate unity in order to survive.The socio-political structure of the mat system was believed to have great importance. Many believed the importance again lies within the idea that it was probably within such a social structure and that the structuring and the understanding of the gods had originated. According to Mauve, he stated: In Samoan society, there were â€Å"As† such as the As Militate, As Loyola or As Amiga. The â€Å"As† gives the meaning of being very high in rank within the Samoan society. The full meaning of this word would not be expressed if only the word honorable was used.The meaning of the word was not only â€Å"honorable† but took up other meanings such as sacredness and holiness in the ensue of been higher above all others in society. In this sense, As would really refer to the Alai(high or paramount chief). An Alai(high chief) was considered as the head of the village and its council of chiefs. Telltale (high talking chief) were orators and they spoke on the behalf of the Alai. According to Applied, mat were always the ruling powers in the society. Their authority is still strong today.Their authority was to be chiefs were, it was always to be carried out by the magma(group of tattletale's or untitled men). What can be said at this point is that in the structural set up of the Samoan society, there is a clear distinction between the higher and lower classes. The structure of the society and the distinctions could have been the basis of the religious structurin g and understanding of the ancient gods. In fact, the Samoan indigenous religion also had a structure where there was the recognition of higher gods and lower gods.In such a structure, there were responsibilities and functions performed by the gods that coincided with the responsibilities set out in the social life of the people. If the high chiefs were seen to rule and grant permission, then the higher gods were seen to posses more power. The higher gods would then be sought for the granting of the things that the society wanted. In this section, I will focus on the religious connection between the Mat system and a more detailed study of the traditional religious beliefs and other cultural practices.I strongly believe that much of these beliefs and practices had great affect on the way Samoan had accepted Christianity. Before Europeans had ever set foot on the islands, Samoan had their own beliefs of deities believed to be divine. According to Melissa, he stated â€Å"Samoan relig ion as it generally understood refers to a system of beliefs, the ceremonial and tall activities that are associated with it, and the worship of a supernatural being or beings. † In addition, Samoan had no national religion. This was a time of myths and what has often been referred to as a time of superstitious beliefs.It was at this early stage that these myths and the history of Samoa were preserved in memories and through oral traditions. According to traditional beliefs, every individual had his own â€Å"tutu†(guardian spirit). It was the case that the families had minor gods and villages had their own local deities. These deities such as fire, rain, agriculture and etc†¦ Were insider sacred and important to the Samoan. In the next couple of paragraphs, I will briefly explain the religious connections of the mat system and the indigenous religion through many traditional beliefs such as the Toga myths, man, spirits, and other various gods.One of the most popul ar beliefs in Samoan society was the Toxicological creation myth. In the alga, the head of the family is considered as the mat which was closely similar to the Toxicological and his rule. According to one myth, it stated that Toxicological existed as the main source in space and created the heavens. He was also known as the superior being or leader. I believe these creation stories had influenced many traditional world views of the Samoan and its mat system. In fact, the mentality about Toga creating Samoa still exists.The variety of these creation stories has led to the idea that traditional beliefs had been elaborately connected in Samoa. In this case, the Samoan culture was produced in distinction of ranks and indigenous religion enforces it by giving the high ranks a special place in it. As also stated by Isaiah: The Samoan ranking system and cultural structure appears deceptively simple on the surface at first glance, but a deeper look into it vales a very competitive, complica ted and rigid system. The religious beliefs of the people played a very important part in society.As I mentioned earlier, the Titus (guardian spirit) had influenced many Samoan greatly especially the mat. The tutu is sometimes considered as a god of an individual. In most cases, mat are considered as the god of their own family. They believe the spirit of an ancestor is links the mat system to the indigenous religion is the concept of man (invisible living force) which responsible for all the startling occurrences and effects beyond the human mind. In the Samoan culture, if a mat was able to defeat another mat at war, then he was said to have possessed more quantities of â€Å"man† than the man he defeated.This concept was always associated within the mat system. The traditional belief of man(power) that a mat had to protect the family physically and his ability to supply materially had been a strong qualification for becoming a leader. Man, however was also known in the prim itive world as the abundant special supernatural forces that could present in a man. In Samoan society, man was that force behind anything which was impossible for man to do. In this case, Samoan believe man and gaga(spirits) have strong relations.It can be noted that for a man or mat to receive man, it would be possessed through favor of the gods or the passing of it to him by another man who had it before him. Many scholars saw this concept as a way for the gods to communicate their will to the people. Many believe that Samoan were also committed to polytheistic beliefs. Applied stated that the life of the people depended greatly on the gods in which they recognized as having strong powers over them. It was the gods that they would always call upon in times of difficulties.Some of these various gods such as Laminas, Lethally, and Fee were believed to help many people avoid sickness, war and death. Laminas was defined as the child of the moon. This particular god was identified wit h the moon. In worshipping this god, there was much feasting and prayers. The head of the family or mat would pray that the god would help their family to prevent disease and death from entering their home. In other cases, such as war, this god was also asked to help that particular family or chief. It has been noted that this god was one of the inferior gods in the traditional beliefs of theSamoan society. Another particular god which many believe to be one of the well known house- hold gods was Lethally. This god was known to be embodied in the form of the centipede. In worshipping this god, people would often seek it in a tree that was usually near the house. If a person within the family was very sick, this god was called upon as to determine whether this person would die or become well again. In this particular belief, the mat would take a mat outside and await the coming of this god. The mat would be under close observation.If the god did come, and was seen to eave crawled und er the mat, this meant that the sick person would die. If the god came and crawled on the mat, this meant that sick person's health would be restored. One of the most famous gods which was also well known to the Samoan people was the Fee (octopus). This god was often worshipped as the warrior's god. It was believed that this god had its resting place on the island of Western Samoa. According to Melissa, it showed that before any war, the chiefs would seek this god and receive his blessings.In receiving the blessing of this god, there was the renewal of strength among the warriors. As a matter of fact, the main point behind all these traditional beliefs is that these gods really had much affect on the lives of the people. Not only the gods helped wartime or other ceremonial events. This proved to me that many of these gods were considered as important factors behind keeping the law and order in the Samoan society and also the mat system. Samoan also had strong affection towards many cultural practices such as the outage, VA ceremony, biogas, sofa's and etc†¦In the next part of the research, I will explain the relationship of the mat system and each cultural practice that Samoan hared and believed in since ancient times. Earlier, I mentioned that the framework of the Samoan society was revolved around the mat. These mat were responsible for all lands and matters pertaining to the alga. They also served as main decision makers for the alga or village. They also had man(power) that could cause any injury to anyone in society. In this matter, the power of the chiefs and traditional beliefs of the gods was believed to bring law and order in unity.It also brought strong ties and cultural connection between the gods and chiefs. One of the most important cultural practices that Samoan dealt with was known s outage (oath). According to Mauve, outage is one of the scariest and most sacred practices that chief ever gathered in the olden time. In this practice, the ac cused offender goes before the village councils and admits his guilt. This was where the fear of the gods came in to help solve a problem within society. This method was strictly practiced and enforced by the chiefs.According to the practice, if a crime was committed and the person who committed the crime was not known, all the villagers would be gathered by the chiefs of the village. Each person was asked to sake the outage(oath) and swear by the name of their own family god or village god. The chiefs then asked the curses of the gods to be on that person if he was the one. It was often the case that the curse would include one's family member to become very ill if the person lied. It was the fear of these curses by the chiefs that would lead the guilty person to confess. In fact, many believe these cultural practices hardly failed.The reason for this is because the guilty individual really feared the possibility of offending the gods and he could not at any time compromise the rep utation of the await to which he belonged. Another important cultural practice that Samoan still carried on today was the ‘VA ceremony. ‘VA ceremony is a traditional ceremony in which formal speeches are present among the chiefs. This ceremony usually held during the welcoming of the amalgam(traveled group). The religious part of this ceremony is when a chief partake his ‘VA cup. Before each chief take his cup, a portion of the ‘VA was poured out of the cup.This was considered as an offering to the gods. It was also a sign of respect to acknowledge the help of the gods in bringing the Amalgam to their destination. To clearly explain the meaning of it, Tubule stated: The spilling of a few drops of VA on the floor before drinking would seem to have the same significance as do many of the ceremonies in/the various religions of the world – incense burning – sprinkling of holy water – offering libations of wine – and the offering of sac rifices varying from pound notes to lizards eggs – all are offered with the idea of placating or seeking the assistance of some God.We are apt, perhaps, to view the custom of the Samoan as being merely the prostration of the intellect at the thresh-hold of the unknown, but re not all sacrifices by whomsoever offered, Just this. Mauve also stated that among the chiefs. For example, a chief would say: â€Å"o lee ‘VA linen o lee ‘VA o taut, la mania lee auto ambulant† It means this VA, it is for the gods, bless our gathering. In all, I found out that most of these traditional practices shared an important relationship between religion and social life of the Samoan people.It was so clear that Samoan had to live in a society where religion was seen as an important aspect in the culture. It was also clear that many of these cultural beliefs and traditional practices were considered as a set stage for Christianity. In this stage, it pointed out two important key elements that summarized the whole relationship between the mat systems and indigenous religion. One key element was the recognition of one great god above all gods, which was Toxicological.It was this god that was so superior and was given such high respect. This reveals that even though Samoan were viewed as polytheists, there was still the recognition of one god, Toga. Secondly, Fear for the gods and spirits was another key element in the Samoan indigenous religion. This element explains the fact that gods could bring disaster to the people o matter what the case is. It can be said that the people in fearing had imagine the awful punishments that could take place because of disobeying the chiefs and the gods.With all the tradition beliefs and cultural practices that Samoan shared in their society, I can now have a clear mind of what the early missionaries had walked into. Last but not least, this section focuses on the new changes of the mat system when Christianity arrived in Sa moa. During my research, I found many ways of how the traditional and cultural beliefs were adapted to accept and embed Christianity without losing its value. I also found out how the mat system was easily led to the process of accepting the new religion.There are many reasons why Christianity was easily accepted in Samoan society. Some of those reasons can be willingly determined while other reasons are more difficult to discover. To look deeply in those reasons, I trace it back to the importance and significance of the cultural and traditional beliefs that I mentioned earlier in the research. A fact that is now to be noted is that many of these beliefs and practices are still kept by the people. Though there have been many changes that have taken place, the practices of the past can till be noticed in the present.In the mat system or political structure of Samoa, mat were always heading the families or villages. Within any villages, there was an Alai (high chief) that holds a high er rank. The fact is that there is only one Alai for a village and his authority becomes highly respected and recognized. According to Applied,'Alai would hold the authority to express what to do and forbid the things that should not be done. This political structure is very similar to those that Christianity shared.This was one of the few reasons why Samoan easily accepted the Christian god because of the reactive of owing respect and obedience to anything that the chief ordered. Another reason that linked the mat system to the new religion was the creation myth of Toxicological. During ancient times, Toga was referred as the creator of the heaven and earth. I personally believe that the knowledge of these myths created a clear path for Samoan to easily accept the new Christian God. It seems that what the new religion was teaching to the people was nothing new.Same goes to the concept of man and spirits. I also mentioned earlier that Chiefs were also believed and strength. Chief al so held the roles of expressing the will of the gods. In this concept, it has a very strong relation to the new religion. Christianity believed missionaries were looked upon as priests receiving power from God to preach out the new religion. For what has already been mentioned, I can now see a strong relationship between the traditional beliefs in the mat system and Christianity. Today, mat system played an important part in the new religion.In the pre- Christianity era, chiefs were believed to have powers that can meditate with the ancient gods. When missionaries arrived, they assumed new roles. They became deacons in the church. It was so obvious that many of these traditional practices and beliefs have helped greatly in accepting and understanding Christianity. I believe the Samoan society was always flexible ever since the start of their civilization. With this flexibility, Christianity was able to integrate with the traditional Samoan beliefs.As a result, it seems the new relig ion had to be taken up and practiced as if it was truly part of the ancient Samoan society. In conclusion, I believe the structural set up of the mat system served as a basis for the continuing strength of the Fashion (Samoan way). The continuing strength f the Fashion was to a great extent due to fact that an authority did not come to bear all the weight of the emotional, political, social and religious attachment to the people to their culture.The culture and the religious beliefs had helped making the people remain Samoan. I also believe the mat system had a strong relation and religious connection to the ancient indigenous religion. After gathering all the necessary information and specific evidence, it proved me that the mat system not only had similarities with Christianity, it was very easy for the people to accept the new religion into their indigenous society.

William Shakespeare s Hamlet - 1732 Words

Often, and justly, referred to as the greatest story to have ever been told, Shakespeare’s Hamlet never ceases to cause debate amongst two individuals. The complexity within the play’s characters allows every individual to perceive a different variation of them, instigating these endless debates. Consequently, one of the most famous debates, questioning Hamlet’s antic disposition, has split the population into those that believe he was not mad, merely acting, and others who believe he had gone completely mad and his occasional â€Å"sane† episodes were just a coping mechanism to deal with the insanity. Standing with the latter side, my perception on the play is somewhat different as I believe that Hamlet’s vulnerability had exceeded not just to†¦show more content†¦It is evident Hamlet has lost the will to live and engage in worldly affairs, even prior to his encounter with the ghost, wishing â€Å"that this too-solid flesh would melt.â₠¬  The death of his father led Hamlet on a mournful path, but it was the betrayal felt by his mother’s actions, through her â€Å"o’er hasty marriage† with Claudius, which stimulates his melancholy. Consequently, he begins to explore human nature in more depth, but his findings, all partial to his pessimistic outlooks, only show him a reflection of his thoughts. In the midst of this court of distrust, Hamlet’s accelerating descent is halted by the arrival of Horatio who provides him with something else to focus on as opposed to his thoughts contemplating suicide. The entry of a loyal friend, from before the events leading to his depression, provides Hamlet an infallible companion whom he can rely upon and confide in as his distrust in humanity within the Danish court continues to expand. Throughout the whole play, Hamlet’s trust in Horatio and his loyalty is never seen deviating, but as their interactions increase, he begins to see Horatio as the person he used to be, the best version of himself. Taking into account that his low self-esteem has been present from his first appearance, it is tangible that along with his growing distrust in others, is his growing distrust within himself. An individual who was once