Come Shouting to Zion and the development of African-American Religious Culture :: Religion Shouting Zion Essays

Come Shouting to Zion and the development of African-American Religious Culture Missing Works Cited In detailing the long process by which African-Americans came to embrace Protestant Christianity and shape their own unique form of it, Frey and Wood emphasize African agency throughout. Their case is better supported by evidence in the 19th century than in the 18th, during which time Christianity had little effect on slave society through the efforts of Anglicans, not so much because Africans rejected the gospel as because whites withheld Christian brotherhood from blacks. As blacks in the American South and in the British Caribbean struggled to develop individual and collective identities from the persistent remnants of African culture and their new conditions of life, the series of efforts by evangelicals to convert slaves eventually gave rise to a distinct African-American form of Christian theology, worship style, and religious community. The importance of religion among African Americans, as among all people, rests on fulfilling the human need for an understanding of one’s place in both the spiritual and temporal world. While it is difficult, as Frey and Wood concede, to know with certainty what lay behind Africans’ confessions of conversion to Christianity, we can understand how religion played a critical role in defining social relationships among slaves and between blacks and whites. Frey and Wood explain the appeal and success of Evangelicalism among slaves when they assert, â€Å"Deprived of their traditional supernatural means of dealing with recurrent life crises, [African-Americans] discovered in evangelical conversion requirements an opportunity to reassert personal authority based on their ability to communicate directly with God and to bring others to recognize the need for personal repentance and acceptance of Jesus† (109). One early example that supports this link between religiou s involvement and a sense of personal identity, if not between conversion and increasing social prestige or power, is found in a slave woman who tells Moravian missionaries that her people have come from across the sea and lost their father and mother, and therefore want to know the Moravians’ Father above. The displacement of Africans, for whom locality was critical to interactions with the spiritual world, did not deprive them of their religious cosmologies, but required them to learn the spiritual landscape of their new home and reshape their practices accordingly. Come Shouting to Zion details the many religious rituals that Africans preserved in the new world, especially those surrounding fundamental life events such as the birth and naming of children, marriage, burial ceremonies, and ritual dancing and singing to communicate with ancestors and deities.

To what extent is ”Frankenstein’ concerned with the theme of education and what does it have to say about the advantages and disadvantages of this?

In Frankenstein, education cannot simply be considered as an ordinary theme, because there are so many differing angles which are represented throughout. It primarily depends however on what actually counts as education in the first place; does it have to be necessarily formal, or does it also count if it is information passed on from one family member to another, or even if it is simply something gleaned from the environment that surrounds us. This is the question that must be answered, as well as deciphering what methods Shelley uses to convey the fact that education is essential for the books' events to occur. In Frankenstein from the very beginning, whenever Victor is mentioned, it is in the context of learning, or of having learnt something crucial. This is in comparison to Walton, whose knowledge appears to come from his exploration, from his search for a true companion who can accompany him throughout the rest of his life, someone who will truly understand him. Walton's knowledge is not just from experiences, but also from studying, from academia, as well as from his perceptions of the world around him, and from what his morals command him to either do or not to do. However, despite all of his academia, he is still astonished when he is told about Frankenstein's creature, and even more so when he views it for himself. This proves that despite formal education, there will still be gaps of knowledge, and the power to surprise will always exist. Victor relates to Walton all about how his education was formulated, what exactly he had learnt from his bad experiences with books and at Ingolstadt, and by focussing on outdated science such as those ideas thought of by Cornelius Agrippa and Albertus Magnus. The point blank refutation by his father of these theories and ideas did not mean that Victor realised they were hopelessly incorrect; on the contrary, he ‘continued to read with the greatest avidity'. This reading eventually led to the creation of the creature, which although being a tremendous achievement in its own right, is something which directly contravenes the natural order of things, and is therefore a sin. By studying such ‘wild fantasies' and not instead reading something far more ‘real and practical', he allowed himself to be taken into the world of unnatural occurrences, where he would be able to achieve incredible things, but at the same time ‘terrible'. At Ingolstadt, Victor was further mislead from the path of true science by Krempe who did not capture his imagination, and possessed a ‘repulsive countenance' and instead continued to strive towards conquering death through reanimating and creating his own perfect being. It does bring up questions of who ought to be able to control life and death, which the creature then follows through killing, through controlling the manner and time of death of those that Victor held dear. However, despite the creature's education through learning from his surroundings, there is still some quality to him which is not human. This is indeed the lack of any sort of moral structure; he is not able to empathise, or realise that what he does is wrong. This can be shown by ‘you belong then to my enemy-to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim.' Perhaps in some way he acknowledges it as wrong, but due to his previous experience with the people in the cabin, he now no longer wishes to be like them, and wants to separate himself from society. This separation means he then becomes particularly cold blooded, but he does know that it will prove effective in affecting Frankie. Due to the creature describing his ‘heart swelling with exultation and triumph', it demonstrates that to some extent the creature has developed sophisticated planning, because it was not spur of the moment (the fact that there is no regret mentioned proves this). The creature has learnt to be cold from his ‘father's' abandonment of him, and the people in the cabin rejecting him solely on the basis of physical appearance. Therefore he has learnt that to cause emotional suffering is the best way to commit revenge; the preferred method of hurt is to destroy someone's heart. The creature's knowledge did not turn out to have a positive effect on anyone's life, but rather ended up causing several deaths and miserable lives for many. Whether or not the creature deserved to be given a full education is still unclear, but it shows that knowledge can be very harmful. However it did not appear to be so for Safie, who was also learning at the same time as the creature, albeit it not as surreptitiously as it, because Safie simply learnt the language and was not mentioned as having later committed acts of evil. The creature learnt from afar, much as an infant does, by listening to language and eventually picking up the ability to manipulate it in one's own way, although he evidently learnt from books as well for research and insight. Despite all this, he still isn't an intellectual, and primarily learns about his strength, about others and about others' perceptions of him through trial and error. There is the question of whether or not the creature was solely spurred on by William's being such an unpleasant child or whether it was simply in the creature's blood. Nevertheless, this proves that to some extent, people learn behaviours from what they experience of what occurs around them, and it is not just pre-learned behaviour. It raises the question of whether the creature would have been more docile if either Victor had directly cared for him, or provided a creature as a friend. He has learnt to become so disillusioned with humanity, that now they are now worthless to him, even a defenceless young child. This heinous crime doesn't mean anything to him, in the same way that it didn't technically mean anything to Victor to about the creature; only disgust about what he had created was realised. This disgust can be easily understood, because he has managed to reanimate dead flesh; who is to say that there might not be some imprint of the personality of the old owner of these body parts existing still? Despite the addition of ‘luxuriances' such as ‘lustrous black, flowing hair', it is still a crime against nature, and also raises the moral question of whether or not the creature learns from scratch with his blank slate of a ‘child brain', or whether he simply possesses the mind of the old brain. How a new creature made from death can still have life, particularly have its own mind is uncertain, especially when we consider that the creature must suddenly have had a consciousness emerge out of oblivion, but all we know is that there must be something real about it for it to be able to affect the lives of real humans. Whether or not education is simply learning how to live by gathering and experiencing simple pleasures, having sufficient food, and utilising fire depends on what and who is being asked, but surely anything that is learnt counts as a sort of education in its own way. Learning through experience means that on the plus side, you know what you have learnt is true, and you know what will work best in a certain set of circumstances, but when you arrive at something new and unfamiliar, trial and error (error being the key point) is the only way forward. Frankenstein in a way is all about education, particularly when it comes to the misuse of formal education, and mistakes made, but because not all of the plot details in the end come down to a matter of education, it therefore cannot be deemed to be the key theme of the novel.

Cotract Law

Contract law A contract is an agreement between two or more parties, with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. And it can be made orally. This agreement creates a legal relationship of rights and duties on the parties and if these obligations in the agreement are not fulfilled then serious action could be taken by the courts on the party. There are three key elements for the conception of a contract. These are offer, acceptance, consideration and an intention to create legal relations.Generally the parties to a written contract comprehend that they have entered into a binding agreement, but they do not always grasp this point when making an oral or implied contract. It is always difficult to prove the terms of an oral or implied contract than those of a written one. Elements of a contract An offer: an expression of willingness to contract on a specific set of terms, made by the offer or with the intention that, if the offer is accepted, he or she will be bound by a contract. Acceptance: an expression of absolute and unconditional agreement to all the terms set out in the offer.It can be oral or in writing. The acceptance must exactly mirror the original offer made. Consideration: each party to the contract must receive something of value. But it is not necessary that it should be specified in the contract. An agreement made without consideration is void. Persons competent to contract All persons are legally authorized to enter into a contract except for the following: †¢ Minors †¢ Mentally incompetent persons. †¢ Person who is ineligible from entering into the contract by law.

Apush Dbq American Revolution

Though some may try to argue that the American Revolution was not a real revolution since the upper class was not displaced, it was in fact a revolution because it transferred power from an entrenched British monarchy into the hands of local state legislatures. The American Revolution was representative of a great change which occurred in the way that in Britain, parliament viewed Americans as a small cluster of people who could be taxed without representation, to where in America the government was able to see how each individual could contribute to the economy, government, and the overall well-being of America.This idea came about from the increasingly more harsh and authoritarian taxes that were being placed on the colonies, without representation, from British monarchy. In reaction to the Tea Act, one of the taxes placed on imported goods to America, the New York Sons of Liberty wrote several resolutions to protest against it.These resolutions were signed by all different social classes, which signifies a change in society, because while in Britain only the wealthy and educated were permitted to participate in governmental choices, a very broad spectrum of society was able to be an active participant in how they wanted their government to be run. Although the lower class was not necessarily in congress, their ideas were able to represented by the people that they elected to express their ideas.Some who wish to argue the idea that the American Revolution was not a full revolution may bring into light the women of the revolution, and how there was not a huge change for them. Even though their was not an extremely significant change for them, American women were given a multitude of rights that were not given to women in Britain at the time. The women of America were able to go out to war with the men to protect them, and at times even take their place when a man was wounded and could not fulfill his duties on the battlefield.Additionally, they were often left in charge of the business and upholding of the household when their husbands went out to war. In summation, American women played many roles that were not typical of them in that time period; showing a revolutionary new way of thinking that involved women. After the surrender at Yorktown, a cartoon by James Gillray was made as a warning to the British that since they were able to defeat the British once, they could do it again should they try to overtake America and their freedoms again.While this act in itself was not a revolution, it was representative of the revolutionary ideas in the works of the United States of America. The American Revolution was the transference of power from a monarchial government to that of a representative democracy that was able to reflect the ideas and desires of all free white men of America; indicating that it was in actuality a revolution and not an expeditious rebellion.

The Representation of Muslim Australians in the Media Essay

The Representation of Muslim Australians in the Media - Essay Example Introduction In the modern world, the media plays a major role in the society in not only informing people daily events and issues but also takes a central position in shaping how people perceive certain elements. With a ubiquitous presence that signifies the vast potential it has in informing people about societal affairs and groups of people, the media is viewed as having the ability to shape peoples’ opinions by the way it presents certain versions of reality. Although other various forms of new media have come up in the recent past including the electronic media, their impact on the society is not different from that of the traditional media. Moreover, the widespread presence of the media and their designated role as the reliable conveyors of news and information gives it a central position in defining the society’s perception of minority groups1. How the media articulates certain issues about these minority groups informs the basis and framework through which the m ajority audiences come to think and form opinions about them. Due to their small number in the society, the media generally fail to represent minority groups in the society by marginalizing them, thereby making them invisible. On the other hand, when representation of minority groups is present in media, it is more often than not restricted and takes a negative angle, or is totally constructed due to held stereotypes2. It is imperative to note that these continued negative representation and stereotyping of minority groups in media is not unconnected with how the society reacts towards them. The role enormous role of media in determining how the majority perceive minority groups is further made clear by Van Dijk3, stating that that media discourse is the major source of people’s knowledge, attitudes and ideologies. It follows that when the discourse is directed at minorities coupled with limited interactions with these groups; this role becomes amplified and more critical. Re presentation of Muslims in Australian Media There has been considerable debate and discussion regarding the representation of Muslims in the media particularly in the recent past following the September 2001 terrorist attacks. The above ideas can be directly applied in examining the way in which the worldwide Muslim community and the Australian Muslims in particular are represented in the media. Religion in general has always suffered in the hands of the media but there seems to be a distinct repugnance towards Islam and Muslims. This continued media coverage of Islam and Muslims has elicited considerable response from the Muslim community in Australia for some time now. There is a considerable amount of literature and research that illustrates Western and Australian media discourses that regarding Islam and Muslims and more often than not it is found that most of the representations are negative albeit with a few neutral standings. Since the terrorist attacks in September 2001 in t he United States, the media coverage of Muslims and Islam in Australia has tended to be taking two very different positions. The media either totally ignore the Muslims and discussion of Islam, making it the ‘invisible minority’, and in effect denying them participation among the urban citizenry. Conversely, the media has represented Muslims in

Islamic history Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Islamic history - Term Paper Example The Rise of misunderstandings between the Crusaders and the Muslim was mainly because few Muslims, even those in Andalus, had any contact with the Franks before the era of the Crusades. There was a wide spread of assumption among the Muslims, even those who are educated. According to, â€Å"the Franks through Muslim eyes† in Egger text, the Ibn Munqidh, Usama regarded them as being slow because they lived in cold climates.1 The misunderstanding arose because the Crusaders and the Muslims had different cultures A good example is in the legal process, the Franks believed in trial by combat where the accused could challenge tha accuser theough a fight. The community believed that the righteous person will be favoured by God. The theory also believed that a person can also name someone to take his place in the fight and God will favour the righteous. This theory is different as compared Muslim legal system. The Muslims had developed ruled of procedure and evidence under the sharia law. The Franks also dis not make any effort to understandIslam or learn Arabic and therefore, did not make any contribution to the cross-cultural understanding. On the other hand, the Muslim groups were divided in a countercrusade against the Franks. Individual Muslims led campains against the Franks and those who were not affected by the crusades had little interest in the conslicts. These interactions clearly shows that there are differences in the state of medicine between the crusaders and the Muslims. In the memoirs of Usamah Ibn-Munqidh, the Franks are seen to have more sophisticated medicines that could even cure scrofula and they are willing to share medicine for free.2 This is clear when a Frank prescribed this medication to Abu al-Fath. The interaction between the Franks and the Muslims also show a difference in the relationship between the sexes. The muslim, specifically Usamah

Emirates Airlines Cabin Crew Strategic Development System for Essay

Emirates Airlines Cabin Crew Strategic Development System for Effective Staff Motivational Management - Essay Example The industry took a long time to recover the lost trust and business momentum. Once the sector managed to engage more air travelers the worldwide financial crises again put hit and harnessed the growth momentum. This hit is still pressing airlines and entire industry setup is changing with increasing deregulation, privatization, and open skies policies etc; all intent to meet growing challenges and align with the pace of change. Hence the industry though has high barrier for competitors to enter but it has agility to respond to the happenings round the world is very high. Aviation industry as matter of research has taken place in the recent past and researcher asserts that attention to aviation industry has recently grown and still requires to be explored. However, attempt to explore the commercial airline has barrier of cooperation from managers who are very resilient in sharing the relevant information. Hence, the researcher following the strategy of many other researchers has cont ented on the available researches from secondary sources. This report has objective to explore the cabin crew component of the human resources of airline industry. Cabin crews are frontline representatives of airline and like every front line representative of the business or brand they carry entire brand within their on-flight behavior with passenger. Hence, this resource is equally important as other human resource such as pilot who is carrier the technical expertise while cabin crews are entire company and reflection of its strategy to passenger. As the cabin crew aspect is itself a completed domain to explore, the scope of this study has been defined or limited to explore the cabin crew resource management at Emirate Airline; among the leading airlines in world and the leader in Middle East. Emirate Airline has managed to gain the continuous improvement and hence growth while giving equal focus to the employee. The airline attributes its all success mainly to the efforts of its people. This report has been developed in three sections; first section focuses on the development through background regarding aviation industry its current position and expected future trend. Since the domain of the study is human resource the researcher has provided detailed discussion of the aspects of human resources including the importance of recruitment, training and motivation in context of the cabin crew. The study follows with shedding light on the importance of these understudy front line representatives. Role, challenges and the impact of other factors such as 9/11 incident and psychological factors have been developed. Followed is information related to recruitment and selection, productivity as well as the future prospects has been discussed. One developing the literature about the human resource management with respect to cabin crew in general, second section of the report has analyzed the Emirates airline conduct of operation in the understudy segment of the human r esource. The research has provided the initially provided detailed background of the airline. Later the study examines the recruitment and selection, performance measurement and motivational tools used by emirates to keep the crew member turnover controlled. In third and last section, the researcher on based on the knowledge developed on the basis of this research has provided some suggestion for improvement with concluding remark. 1.1- OVERVIEW OF AVIATION INDUSTRY