Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Shoe-Horn Sonata and Changi – Distinctly Visual Extended Response

The distinctly visual is able to shape perception and meaning of concerns and experiences within the texts Shoe-Horn Sonata and Changi: ‘Seeing is believing’. The use of techniques in both texts allows the audience to understand the effects of war on the individual and the impact of the experiences encountered. The Shoe-Horn Sonata is a play by John Misto that gives an insight into two lives of two female prisoners of war in World War 2. The play explores terrible events associated with prisoners of war and follows the friendship of the two women Bridie and Sheila. Truth, honestly and candour is the central idea of the play. The idea of truth, telling the truth and recognising the truth is located in the interrelationship between the two women during the war. An example of this is when Sheila reveals her secret of ‘giving herself up to a Jap’ to save Bridie which has been kept hidden since the war. In the scene, Misto uses a combination of techniques such as lighting, music and sound to convey emotions from the audience as Sheila tells her story. The scene concludes with both characters isolating in separate spotlights and the music plays to the audience as the scene ends with tension and suspense. This then shapes the perception and meaning of concerns and experiences to make the audience think of the interrelationship between the two women and the heroic deeds of women during the war. Another technique which allows the audience to understand the effects of war and how it shapes perception and meaning of concerns and experiences is the use of visuals such as projected images. These projected images are use throughout the play to reinforce the ideas being presented and to convey to the audience a sense of reality. An example would be when projected images of ships burning in Singapore Harbour, the Japanese invasion and the horrors of war for women and civilians. This then highlights the memories of war and the atrocious ways during the war which shapes the perception and meaning of concerns and experiences of war. Projected images can also be accompanied by music and sound effects. Together it enhances the play’s impact helping to convey the emotions of the characters and the dialogue they are acting out. Songs are also used ironically within the play, which helps to create tension and to reveal the full extent of the horrors of the unfolding drama. This is demonstrated in Act1, where the patriotic English song ‘Jerluselum’ is reaching its crescendo, scenes of Japanese invasions is juxtaposed on the screen behind Sheila and Bridie. The ironic effect of the patriotic, riumphal song juxtaposed with scenes of utter defeat creates an extra sense of sorrow in the minds of the audience, and helps to recreate the scene in their mind. Together these two techniques shapes the perception and meaning of concerns and experiences of war. Nevertheless, the Australian Television Episode ‘Seeing is Believing’ of Changi is able to shape perception and meaning of concern and experiences through the use various techniques. Changi is about the stru ggle of the Australian prisoners of war. It mainly focuses on six young Australian men giving an insight of each character’s deepest struggle within the camp, with the main focus on David Collins. Like Show-horn Sonata the theme power and atrocities is evident in Changi The theme atrocities of war can be defined as the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane as an effect of war. Together both the theme of atrocities and power has been expertly utilised within John Doyle’s Changi episode ‘Seeing is believing’. Within the episode, power is demonstrated through the Japanese people. In a particular scene a Japanese Lieutenant is shown standing on a pedestal stating the rules of the camp to the POW’s. The Japanese Lieutenant states, â€Å"Any man who tries to leave will die, any man who steals food from the Chinese will die, any man who makes trade will die! † Power is portrayed through this quotation by the use of descriptive language, also the positioning of the Lieutenant in comparison to the POW’s signifies that he is in a higher position. Whilst the Japanese Lieutenant states the rules, the camera focuses on a close up shot on his face which remains dominant and strong, the camera then cross cuts to a close up of the POW’s who look afraid and weak. The use of this technique emphasises the superiority the Japanese people contain over the POW’s which then shapes the perception and meaning of concerns and experiences of war. Although it may seem like Changi is all about the characters but in one sense it is about the historiography. This is evident throughout the play including the flashbacks to the past and present which juxtaposes the old and young David. The scene shows David’s past and present thoughts and the experiences that he faced during the war which then conveys this emotion of sympathy to the audience. Conclusively, distinctly visual is able to shape perception and meaning of concerns and experiences within the texts Shoe-Horn Sonata and Changi: ‘Seeing is believing through the use of techniques such as lighting, music, sound, visuals, camera shots and flashback/forward. The use of these techniques then allows the audience to understand the effects of war on the individual and the impact of the experiences encountered.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Augustine Original Sin

Liberty University The Theological Studies of Saint Augustine in Relation to the Doctrine of Original Sin A Paper Submitted To Dr. John Landers In Partial Fulfillment for the Course CHHI-520 Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary By Jaaval Cato Lynchburg, Virginia October 7, 2012 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 AUGUSTINE’S TAKE ON ORIGINAL SIN†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 AUGUSTINE’S TAKE ON ORIGINAL SIN AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO BAPTISM†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 OPPOSTIONS TO AUGUSTINE’S VIEW ON ORIGINAL SIN †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 0 MANICHEAN IMPACT ON AUGUSTINE’S VIEW OF ORIGINAL SIN†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 PELAGIUS, CELESTIUS, AND JULIAN IN OPPOSITION WITH ORIGINAL SIN†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 13 CONCLUSION†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 16BIBLIOGRAPHY†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 17 Introduction The doctrine of original sin has been deliberated by Theologians, as well as Augustine for over fifteen centuries, although it is evidently stated in Romans 5:12 by the Apostle Paul, â€Å"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned† (NRSV).By this statement, the apostle Paul informs the reader that sin and death entered the world through one man (Adam), with the result of it permeating the whole of humankind like a poison. â€Å"The solidarity of the human race with Adam led Ambrose to say, ‘Adam existed, and in him we all existed†¦ In Adam I fell, and in Adam I was cast out of Paradise, in Adam I died. ’† The doctrine of original sin has provoked much opposition amongst religious academia in regards to its teaching.It is one of the most â€Å"baleful† of ideas says, one modern scholar; it is â€Å"repulsive† and â€Å"revolting† says another. I have seen it variously described as an insult to the dignity of humanity, an insult to the grace and loving kindness of God, and an insult to God and humankind alike. Aurelius Augustinus (Saint Augustine) has contributed significantly to the discussion that remains highly contested in our present day, which coincidently i s not primarily exclusive of the church and those who disagree with him.All of Christendom and the entire church as a whole are indebted to Augustine who conveyed the theology of â€Å"original sin† and it implication for Christians today. Augustine's doctrine of justification is rooted heavily in his doctrine of original sin, for his doctrine of 2 justification provides the solution to the problem that his doctrine of original sin creates. This theological endeavor was initiated by Augustine in the late fourth and early fifth century. His full name is Aurelius Augustinus born November 13, 354. He is the major church father of the West and known predominantly as Augustine.Augustine’s view of original sin was initially shaped by early life experience beginning with his own pagan immoral behavior as a youth in Africa, with his time studying Manichaeanism, and the Genesis account of Adam and Eve. Augustine although know for his writings on original sin was not the first t o write about this subject matter, early church fathers such as Saint Ambrose the Bishop of Milan who subsequently was a mentor to Augustine and baptized him said in a commentary written on the Gospel of Luke â€Å"before we are born, we are all infected with the contagion of sin. Augustine provided much greater analysis ever-increasing and fine-tuning these thoughts from opinion into Christian dogma. In the biblical perspective, sin is not only an act of wrongdoing but a state of alienation from God. In reformed theology the doctrine of original sin has a firm biblical support: Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve trust the word of the serpent over the Word of God. Scripture also gives greater insight into the corruption initiated by Adam; this can be observed in two ways. First is the inherit sin caused by Adam, Romans 5:12-21 states that by one man was the 3 onduit in which sin entered the world. Secondly, Psalms 51:5 quotes Kind David as stating, â€Å"Behold, I was brought forth in i niquity and in sin my mother conceived me† (NASB). This statement references the sin all humankind has inherit from the one man (Adam), being passed from one generation to the next. Hence, the sin of Adam defiles all humanity including children, who have no other sins of their own. Therefore, all human beings are condemned because of the sin of Adam (â€Å"original sin†), which they bring with them and for which they become responsible, unless they are baptized.Augustine writes in his Confession poising several rhetorical questions about the sin inherited by children stating, â€Å"Alas for the sins of men! Man saith this, and Thou dost compassionate him; for Thou didst create him, but didst not create the sin that is in him. Who bringeth to my remembrance the sin of my infancy? For before Thee none is free from sin, not even the infant which has lived but a day upon the earth. Who bringeth this to my remembrance? Doth not each little one, in whom I behold that which I do not remember of myself? In what, then, did I sin? Is it that I cried for the breast? Augustine goes even further alluding to the distress he brought upon his mother saying, â€Å"she did weep and mourn, and in her agony was seen the inheritance of Eve,—seeking in sorrow what in sorrow she had brought forth. † The theme of being stained by sin will be broached by Augustine in other writings; such as, City of God, sermons, and letters addressing contemporaries who stood in opposition to his point of view. Augustine Bishop of Hippo began to institute his beliefs on how blemish of sin originating from Adam has corrupted the will of mankind; incidentally this ignited the argument 4 f his era that persists even in the present day church. There were many opponents who challenged Augustine, for instance fellow Bishops, Pelagius, the Donatist, the Manichaeism and the philosophers known as the Platonist. The latter, were two groups that Augustine earlier in his life were aff iliated with; therefore, he comprised a detailed list of those proponents who opposed his belief on original sin in addition to other beliefs he held and debate one another, each contesting the others line of reasoning. In fact these debates continued between Augustine and his contemporaries up until his death in A.D 540 having not completed his refutation of a Pelagian, Julian of Eclanum. Augustine and Julian debated such topics as the theory that grace was not necessary for saving action, free choice and will, baptism, and original sin. Julian would call the idea of original sin a contradiction of logic; being a prolific writer, Julian composed enough writings to comprise eight volumes all of which were sent to Augustine. Augustine was a hard worker and would write day and night, due to the large quantities of letters sent by Julian; Augustine spent a large amount of time in his latter days responding to Julian.The time was a great lost and Augustine was unable to complete his fin al compilation of letters and comments on sermons to be added in his writings called Retratctiones. In this present day, the argument on original sin remains a topic of contention, both in churches (Protestants and Catholics) and in the academic world. If a question were poised to most church parishioners, asking them if they had a view about original sin, one might garner a wide variety of response. Some might say they have no knowledge of this topic, some may refer to scripture as presented by the Apostle Paul in Romans 5:12 believing that it was applicable to 5 hat era and not for the present, to a belief that original sin is a matter relating to physical gratification instead of it being a consequence of Adam’s sin. Augustine, by his own account sheds light on his own personal struggle with lust by including it in his argument on original sin and free will. Augustine clearly gives insight to this matter by stating that sin does not arise from the body’s assault upo n the soul: bodily insubordination follows from the soul’s insubordination to God. This crucial matter is important in the life of all Christian believers, effecting their spiritual ormation and relationship with God. Augustine’s Take on Original Sin Based on his study of Genesis, chapter 1-3, Augustine formulated the foundation what most of Christianity recognizes today as the doctrine of sin. Augustine believed that Adam possessed original righteousness and perfection. He was immune from physical ills, surpassed all others in intellect, and was in a state of justification, illumination, and beatitude. The freedom Adam possessed was described by Augustine as posse non peccare (i. e. , able not to sin).According to Augustine, the fall of Adam thwarted mankind’s ability of being unable to sin. For Augustine there are several factors that have contributed to this loss and the effects have been devastated for mankind. The cunning of evil, free will and the inborn w ill of mankind endows them the capability to persevere and prevail over sin. The essence of original sin consists of humanity's participation in, and co-responsibility for, Adam's perverse choice. All are one with Adam when he made his choice and therefore all willed in and with Adam. 6Augustine focused on the will of man, believing that sin strongly affected and overpowered it primarily because of Adam’s sin. Consequently, humanity was left with little else then that day when they are called home to be with the Lord. Augustine reiterating that the pride of Adam – the deliberate choice to put his will above God’s Adam fell, and took us all with him into a fallen condition. Basically the only freedom mankind has is the freedom to sin, and the ability to receive the grace given by God. Augustine findings are not new discoveries; the topic had been proposed and argued centuries before Augustine.Ireaneus of Lyons had similarly argued that the Genesis account and the disobedience of Adam (failing to obey God) brought about hereditary sin, corrupting the good work God had done. For by summing up in Himself the whole human race from the beginning to the end, He has also summed up its death. From this it is clear that the Lord suffered death, in obedience to His Father, upon that day on which Adam died while he disobeyed God. Augustine having been mentored by the Bishop of Milan, commonly known as Saint Ambrose may have acquired the point view that God held all mankind responsible for the disobedience and culpability of Adam.The solidarity of the human race with Adam led Ambrose to say, â€Å"Adam existed, and in him we all existed†¦ In Adam I fell, and in Adam I was cast out of Paradise, in Adam I died. † Ambrose succeeded in opening the Scriptures for Augustine, arousing in him a desire to discover them for himself. City of God, written by Augustine, attributes disobedience to choice; â€Å"free will in arrogance and disobedienceâ⠂¬  will drive man to his death, this death not being from the natural, which was the 7 common view argued by Pelagius and his followers but as a direct result of man being rebellious to the commands of Yahweh.Augustine also recognized that people being made in the image of God were distinct from the natural world, having a soul but not immortal as the angels, in-between. The Spiritual souls of human beings give access to a saving truth and goodness when they freely adhere to their Creator in friendship available through grace, which was restored by the second Adam, Christ. When man obeys they are granted immortality, as the Angels, and if they are disobedient they will die, not pertaining to the physical death of the body but a spiritual death (eternal separation from God).Augustine’s Take on Original Sin and Its Relationship to Baptism. When points of view are constructed and formulated, most often realization and answers result. A derived result for Augustine was the rela tionship between original sin, and baptism, including infant. According to Catholic tradition infant baptism is a sacrament that must be carried out. Augustine was not the first to recognize this fact, similar to Irenaeus and his perception of original sin. Infant baptism had been practiced by the Roman Catholic Church centuries before Augustine composed his line of reasoning on baptism.According to Augustine the only way to safe guard an infant child against the perils of sin was to baptize them. Augustine postulated that unless infants were baptized and partook of the Eucharist they would not have eternal life. Infants have been born guilty, due to their solidarity in Adam, and stand in need of redemption. When faced with the objection that infants must be exempt from original sin since they cannot will freely, Augustine replied that there is nothing absurd in speaking of their original sin as 8 voluntary since it is derived from the free act of their first parent.Although Pelagiu s and Julian would contest this practice, the Catholic Church, and Protestant Orthodoxy (Anglican and Greek Orthodox) still practice infant baptism in this present time. Augustine recalls his own baptism, Ambrose the Bishop of Milan prepared Augustine for baptism. According to Paulinus, Ambrose was personally involved in initiating all catechumens. Though Ambrose and Augustine had little personal contact, they would have spent considerable time together during the period of Lent leading up to the Easter baptism†¦. eing baptized on Easter in the year A. D. 337. Augustine particular consideration to the baptizing of infants’ remains in controversy today, the Protestant Evangelical church does not hold to the doctrine of infant baptism; salvation is not contingent upon baptism or vice versa. Early on in his life Augustine while in his firt return trip to Africa, he thought it peculiar that infant baptism was practiced professing, â€Å"How could this be truly valuable, doi ng this to babies who have no understanding of what was going on. â€Å"Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us† (Romans 5:5). Augustine comes to the conclusion that baptism brings the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This Gift which is the Holy Spirit is called by later theologians â€Å"uncreated grace. † What Augustine calls the grace of caritas is called sanctifying or habitual grace in late theology†¦ All sins are forgiven at baptism, that is to say, original sin and actual sins if the believer has committed them.Nevertheless, Augustine as a new Bishop felt duty-bound to carry on with the ritual of baptizing infants. Infant baptism caused no harm both spiritually and physically, having an added advantage of removing the 9 blemish of the original sin inherited from Adam. Augustine viewed baptism as a sacrament of regeneration, â€Å"But the sacrament of baptism is undoub tedly the sacrament of regeneration: Wherefore, as the man who has never lived cannot die, and he who has never died cannot rise again, so he who has never been born cannot be born again.From which the conclusion arises, that no one who has not been born could possibly have been born again in his father. Born again, however, a man must be, after he has been born; because, ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God' Even an infant, therefore, must be imbued with the sacrament of regeneration, lest without it his would be an unhappy exit out of this life; and this baptism is not administered except for the remission of sins. And so much does Christ show us in this very passage; for when asked, how could such things be?He reminded His questioner of what Moses did when he lifted up the serpent. Inasmuch, then, as infants are by the sacrament of baptism conformed to the death of Christ, it must be admitted that they are also freed from the serpent's poisonous bit e, unless we willfully wander from the rule of the Christian faith. This bite, however, they did not receive in their own actual life, but in him on whom the wound was primarily inflicted. † As the church began to grow and dominate pagan societies it is evident that infant baptism took root and became a normal sacramental ritual. ubsequently, this turned out to be discernible, established upon the reality that in the ancient church baptism existed as an induction ritual into the body of believers, and those infants that are born into the body of believers are so are baptized, signifying being a part of the community . Another aspect seems to have been the increase in awareness on the matter of original sin and the idea that baptism sluiced away the blemish of original sin. Finally, the rules initially were understood as actually conveying grace and accomplishing something spiritually.Early on, approximately A. D. 400 Augustine petitions to the common observance of infant bapti sm as evidence that the church perceived infants to be born with the blemish of original sin. We find clear mention of infant baptism from Tertullian around A. D. 208. â€Å"The Lord does indeed say, forbid them not to come unto me. Let them come, 10 then, while they are growing up; let them come while they are learning, while they are learning whither to come; let them become Christians when they have become able to know Christ.Why does the innocent period of life hasten to the remission of sins? † Opposition to Augustine’s View of Original Sin In the course of Augustine ‘s life he spent a large quantity of his time contesting claims made by contemporaries of his day; such as, theologians, fellow Bishops, monks, and theorist. Of all his writing the most hotly contested was his writing on inherit sin (original sin) and his greatest opposition came from two men, Pelagius, and a follower of Pelagius, a man by the name of Julian of Eclanum who championed the priestà ¢â‚¬â„¢s ideas after his death.In 412 Augustine single-handedly launched an attack on Pelagius and, until his death in 430; much of his energy was concentrated on writing many anti-Pelagian diatribes. Regarding that â€Å"arch-heretic† Augustine thundered: â€Å"How hostile to salvation by Christ is his poisonous perversion of the truth! † Similarly, in modern times the same tactics take place in debate or public discourse on the idea of original sin, nonetheless, the preliminary groundwork can be attributed to Augustine compositions on the subject in the later 4th and early 5th centuries.The Scripture Doctrine of Original Sin proposed to free and candid examination written by John Taylor is an example of contemporaries who contend with one another, his opponent was John Calvin’s and his writing on the doctrine of original sin. John Taylor like Augustine spends a great deal of time writing on the subject of original sin, particularly on the Genesis account; akin to Augustine, Taylor was enthused by the same section of scripture. In his reflection Taylor states, â€Å"Here observe, that for 11 nything that appears in the text, their sin the evil action they committed was personal-setting aside the tempter, no body committed that sinful act of disobedience but they themselves; first Eve and then Adam†¦the evil action was personal and committed by them so the punishment only belongs to them. † This statement is evident to the opposing view to Augustine that Taylor had in regards to original sin, according to him Adams sin was not inherit in humanity or a legacy that all of humanity would have to contend with.John Wesley in 1817 would write, The Doctrine of Original Sin: According to Scripture, Reason, and Experience, in Answer to Dr. Taylor was written nearly thirty years after the death of Taylor, confutes his ideology on original sin. Augustine a prolific writer composed many writings on multiple doctrines, his time as a Bishop was filled with effort to defend the faith against heresies from an earlier period in his life and those in his present. For example, the Donatist, Manichaeism, and Platonist Philosophies would impart and influence Augustine perception, life, and spiritual formation.Bearing in mind that Augustine adhered to some of these ideas during his late teens through young adulthood it is important to discuss their effect on his underlying principle, appraisal, and system of belief. Manichean Influence on Augustine’s View on Original Sin â€Å"As a Catholic Christian reflecting on his Manichaean past, Augustine felt it was necessary to stay away from patterns that had encouraged his pride. Augustine’s writings, especially the Confessions, demonstrate that he came to believe that Manichaean’s in general, and he himself in particular, had taken great pride in their false wisdom, the status it brought 2 them, and their abilities to enlist more people into the sect. † A lthough there is no evidence which may indicate a direct influence by this sect on Augustine’s point of view in regards to original sin, those in opposition to his view had speculated, possibly erroneously that a connection can be made, primarily because Augustine had such a harsh view on the Manichean. The main adherents to this speculation were the followers of Pelagius, â€Å"On account of a superficial resemblance between the doctrine of original sin and the Manichaeism theory of our nature being evil, the Pelagians accused the Catholics and St.Augustine of Manichaeism. † The proponents of Augustine have indicted him misguidedly, the belief that Augustine was the originator of the view on original sin and it being an offshoot of Manichaean fatalism. The apostle Paul speaks on the matter first and then Ireaneus of Lyons following in apostolic succession being trained by Polycarp goes on to quote the writings of Paul in Romans 5:12. Additionally, using the Genesis ac count, Ireaneus sought to bring cohesiveness to the argument in relation to the need of Christ saving fallen man and infant baptism many years before Augustine writes exhaustively and extensively on the topic.The two main features of Manichaean doctrine were, â€Å"Light (good) and darkness (evil) both being equal, timeless, and in great conflict with each other†¦man is lost and fallen in existence, but in essence he is a particle of Light and thus one in substance with God. Individual salvation consists in grasping this truth by illumination from God’s Spirit; Christ appears as merely a prophet and is not really incarnate. † The Gnostic form of belief (Manicheanism) did not believe in the redemptive work 13 f Christ nor did they observe the sacrament of baptism, therefore connecting Augustine writing on original sin to the Manichean belief on good and evil is ill-defined and wanders off the point when compared. Augustine as an older man admits his folly as a juve nile and young man studying the Manichean belief; recognizing his understanding about the nature of God was lacking to say the least because no one had ever educated t him otherwise. Therefore was I repelled by Thee, and Thou resistedst my changeable stiff neckedness; and I imagined corporeal forms, and, being flesh, I accused flesh, and, being â€Å"a wind that passeth away,† I returned not to Thee, but went wandering and wandering on towards those things that have no being, neither in Thee, nor in me, nor in the body. Neither were they created for me by Thy truth, but conceived by my vain conceit out of corporeal things. And I used to ask Thy faithful little ones, my fellow-citizens,—from whom I unconsciously stood exiled,—I used flippantly and foolishly to ask, â€Å"Why, then, doth the soul which God created err? But I would not permit any one to ask me, â€Å"Why, then, doth God err? † And I contended that Thy immutable substance erred of constraint , rather than admit that my mutable substance had gone astray of free will, and erred as a punishment. † This and others statements made by Augustine provide proof of him separating from the doctrine held by the Manicheans and it also demonstrates that the doctrine of original sin cannot be scrutinized in light of Manichaean doctrine or said influenced the doctrine of original sin.Pelagius, Celestiu, and Julian in opposition with Original Sin. There were some who opposed Augustine position on original; however the writings we have today clearer places Pelagius, a disciple of Pelagius named Celestisus, and a Southern Italian Bishop, Julian of Eclanum as the primary opposition Augustine had to contend with in his day. Pelagius (360-420 A. D) was a religious British monk who was extremely distinctive from Augustine and his foundation influential dogma that traditional Western Christendom adheres to today.A clash was inevitable and it came when Pelagius and his disciple Celestius left Italy in 14 409 in the face of an invasion and settled in Carthage, North Africa. The ensuing confrontation has since become known as the â€Å"Pelagian Controversy. † The details of this controversy comprise of several facets, the relationship between God and humanity respecting the doctrines of free will, sin, and grace. Pelagius for all instance and purposes, absolutely believed that the sin Adam committed was not transmitted to all of Humanity. Nothing good, and nothing evil, on account of which we are deemed either laudable or blameworthy, is born with us, but is done by us: for we are born not fully developed, but with a capacity for either conduct; we are formed naturally without either virtue or vice; and previous to the action of our own proper will, the only thing in man is what God has formed in him. † The statement made by Pelagius is in direct contention to the view of Original sin as presented by Augustine which held that the human will was incapable obtaining eternal life without the grace of God through Jesus Christ.Additionally, Pelagius concept of original sin consisted in an â€Å"imitation† of Adam and can be eliminated by an â€Å"imitation† of Christ and also taught infant baptism was not needed for the remission of any â€Å"original guilt. † This view of human nature received a great deal of criticism. Celestius, Pelagius, and their close associates were condemned at Carthage in C. E. 412. Other condemnations followed at Carthage and Milevum in 416 and at the great African council in Carthage in 418. The doctrine was finally anathematized at the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in July of 431. 5 Augustine spent a great deal of time contending with the views held by Pelagius and others who followed his doctrine; Augustine was even asked by an imperial commissioner for instruction on how to deal with Pelagius. Augustine then after so much time disproving Pelagius had to vie with another antagonist , a Bishop and disciple of Pelagius, Julian of Eclanum. Julian Eclanum (c. 386- c. 455 A. D. ) promoted the belief’s of Pelagius several decades after his death. Julian expressed sharply his objection to the idea of a fundamental taint in human nature connected to Adam’s sin.Julian was one of many who had a great deal of trepidation with the theology of Augustine and would write multiple volumes spurning Augustine’s doctrine. Julian made several charges against Augustine and the Catholic Church; however, he would focus primarily on Augustine view of grace, original sin, and infant baptism. Julian charged Augustine with relapsing back into Manichean fatalism by teaching on the need for grace. â€Å"Julian chief charge of Mancihesim is predominantly related to its position that there is an evil principle at war against the good principle.He objected to Augustine’s doctrine of original sin as implying that all are born the power of the devil and have to be re-born in Christ. † Julian like most followers of Pelagius considered the sin of Adam less grave than Cain’s murder of Abel as evil, along these lines of thinking Julian purports a question, â€Å"why would God punish Adam’s sin with quite disproportionate penalty? † Answering the question states, that God would not; therefore, we have not inherited a skewed sinful nature from Adam. Additionally, going to say that man nature is similar to Adam before his fall, all people start off fall when it comes to sin.These and other 16 charges made by Julian would be proved false by Augustine; nevertheless, Julian succeeded in causing great distraction and Augustine would spend the latter part of his life contending with the Pelagian disciple. Conclusion Augustine the Bishop of Hippo is considered one of the greatest church fathers and apologetics in all Christendom; he made an immense contribution to Church dogma, holding people in the early church accountable to s cripture. Although his writings are now centuries old, have stood the test of time and provide fundamental essentials that the church today adheres too.Like some before him, Irenaeus, Origen, Polycarp, and Ignatius, Augustine understood scripture as being delicately shrouded allegorical idioms, purposely arrange by God in order for man to seek Him out through inquiry. Augustine thorough inquiry attempted to focus on and solve many theological and existential questions that many then and many today ponder over. For instance, Augustine writes on the need for sacramental baptism, prevenient grace, freewill, evil, original sin, turmoil, tragedy, human nature, and false doctrine. The answers to these philosophical, heological, and spiritual questions would take a life-time for Augustine to traverse, establishing him solidly as a great apologist, theologian, and more importantly a man of God. Augustine’s theology was shaped and formed through early life experience. Being inclined t o sin (lust of the flesh) saying of himself â€Å"so small a boy, so great a sinner† This brings to light a frame of thought Augustine details in two of his better known writings, City of God, and Confessions. In the compositions Augustine brings clarity and a deeper level of thought on multiple subjects, his candid memory illustrating his early innocence evolving, while 17 t the same time, providing great intellectual thought on substantive issues relating to scripture, dogma, heresies spiritual formation, faith, love, maturity, and much more, which would aid the church in its infancy. Overall Augustine presented a message that reiterated Romans 5:12, and the blessed hope (Christ) that all humanity is certain of, by God’s Grace to atone for our sins. 18 Bibliography Alan Jacobs. Original Sin, A Cultural History. 1st Edition. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2001. Ambrose, Saint (Bishop of Milan: Ide M. Ni Riain). Commentary of Saint Ambrose on the Gospel according to Sain t Luke.Halcyon Press in association with Elo Publications, 2001. Augustine, Saint. Confessions of Saint Augustine. Translated by Edward B. Pusey, D. D. Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library. Augustine, Saint, A Treatise on Nature and Grace in Nicene Post Nicene Fathers, trans. Peter Holmes, ed. Philip Schaff. Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library Augustine, Saint. On Forgiveness of Sin, and Baptism, translated by Phillip Schaff. Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library. Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo, a Biography. 2nd Edition.Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2000. Clark, Mary. Augustine. New York London: Continuum, 2001. Etwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich. Carlisle, Cumbria, U. K: Baker Academic Paternoster Press, 2001. Hall, Christopher. Learning Theology with the Church Fathers. Downers Grove, Ill: Intervarsity Press, 2002. Harent, S. â€Å"Original Sin. † Catholic Encycl opedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. Hiestand, Gerald. â€Å"Augustine and the justification debates: appropriating Augustine's doctrine of culpability. Trinity Journal 28, no. 1 (March 1, 2007): 115-139. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed October 7, 2012). Irenaeus of Lyons, Irenaues Against Heries: Ante- Nicene Church Fathers, Philip Schaff, ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library. McCann, C. (2009). Influence of Manichaeism on Augustine of Hippo as a spiritual mentor. Cistercian Studies Quarterly, 44(3), 255-277. Nassif, Bradley L. â€Å"Toward a â€Å"catholic† understanding of St Augustine's view of original sin. † Union Seminary Quarterly Review 39, no. 4 (January 1, 1984): 287-299.ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed October 7, 2012). 19 Papageorgiou, P. (1995). Chrysostom and Augustine on the Sin of Adam and Its Consequences. St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, 39(4), 361-378. Ph ipps, William E. â€Å"The heresiarch : Pelagius or Augustine?. † Anglican Theological Review 62, no. 2 (April 1, 1980): 124-133. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed October 7, 2012). Smither, Edward. Augustine as Mentor: A Model for Preparing Spiritual Leaders. Nashville, Tenn: B ; H Academic, 2008 Taylor, John.The Doctrine of Original Sin Proposed to Free and Candid Examination. London: New Castle, 1845. Tertullian, Tertullian on Baptism. Translated by Rev. S. Thelwall. Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Nassif, Bradley L. â€Å"Toward a â€Å"catholic† understanding of St Augustine's view of original sin. † Union Seminary Quarterly Review 39, no. 4 (January 1, 1984): 287-299. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed October 7, 2012). [ 2 ]. Alan Jacobs, Original Sin, A Cultural History (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2001), ix. [ 3 ].Gerald Hiestand, â€Å"Augustine and the justification debates: appropriating Augustine's doctrine of culpability. † Trinity Journal 28, no. 1 (March 1, 2007): 115-139. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed October 7, 2012). [ 4 ]. Mary Clark, Augustine (New York London: Continuum, 2001), 2-3. [ 5 ]. Edward Smither, Augustine As Mentor: A Model for Preparing Spiritual Leaders (Nashville, Tenn: B & H Academic, 2008), 103. [ 6 ]. Ide M. Ni Riain Saint Ambrose (Bishop of Milan), Commentary of Saint Ambrose on the Gospel according to Saint Luke (Halcyon Press in association with Elo Publications, 2001). 7 ]. Walter Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Grand Rapids, Mich. Carlisle, Cambria, and U. K: Baker Academic Paternoster Press, 2001), 1103. [ 8 ]. Ibid, 1103 [ 9 ]. P. Papageorgiou. (1995). Chrysostom and Augustine on the Sin of Adam and Its Consequences. St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, 39(4), 361-378. [ 10 ]. Augustine, Saint. Confessions of Saint Augustine. translated by Edward B. Pusey, D. D. (Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library), Book 1, 7 [ 11 ]. Ibid, Confessions Book V, 8 [ 12 ]. Mary Clark, Augustine (New York London: Continuum, 2001), 50-51. 13 ]. Ibid, 121-123. [ 14 ]. Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo, a Biography, 2nd Edition (Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2000), 419. [ 15 ]. Clark, 55. [ 16 ]. Bradley L Nassif. â€Å"Toward a â€Å"catholic† understanding of St Augustine's view of original sin. † Union Seminary Quarterly Review 39, no. 4 (January 1, 1984): 287-299. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed October 7, 2012). [ 17 ]. Nassif, 287-299. [ 18 ]. B. J. Gundlach and Walter A. Etwell ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology: Augustine of Hippo (Grand Rapids, Mich. Carlisle, Cumbria, U.K: Baker Academic Paternoster Press, 2001), 123. [ 19 ]. Irenaeus of Lyons, Irenaues Against Heries: Ante- Nicene Church Fathers, Philip Schaff, ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library), Book V, chapter 23. [ 20 ]. Nassif, 287-299. [ 21 ]. Edward Smither, Augustine as Mentor: A Model for Preparing Spiritual Leaders. Nashville (Ten: B & H Academic, 2008), 104. [ 22 ]. Saint Augustine, Concerning the City of God, trans. Rev Marcus Dodds, D. D. (Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library), Book XII, 22. [ 23 ]. Clark, 95. [ 24 ]. Nassif, 287-299. 25 ]. Smither, 107-108. [ 26 ]. Brown, 387. [ 27 ]. Clark, 46. [ 28 ]. Saint Augustine, On Forgiveness of Sin, and Baptism, translated by Phillip Schaff (Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library), 43:27 [ 29 ]. Tertullian, Tertullian on Baptism, translated by Rev. S. Thelwall (Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library), Book 2. [ 30 ]. William E Phipps. â€Å"The Heresiarch: Pelagius or Augustine? † Anglican Theological Review 62, no. 2 (April 1, 1980): 124-133 . ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed October 7, 2012). [ 31 ].John Taylor The Doctrine of Original Sin Proposed to Free and Candid Examination, (London: New Castle, 1845), 6-7. [ 32 ]. C. McCann, (2009). Influence of Manichaeism on Augustine of Hippo as a spiritual mentor. Cistercian Studies Quarterly, 44(3), 255-277. [ 33 ]. Harent, S. â€Å"Original Sin. † Catholic Encyclopedia. (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911). Retrieved October 7, 2012 from New Advent: www. newadvent. org/cathen11312. htm. [ 34 ]. W. A. Hoffecker,. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Walter A. Elwell ed. Grand Rapids, Mich (Carlisle, Cumbria, U. K: Baker Academic Paternoster Press, 2001), 729. 35 ]. Augustine, Confession, Book IV, 15. [ 36 ]. Nassif, 287-299. [ 37 ]. Ibid. [ 38 ]. Augustine, â€Å"A Treatise on Nature and Grace† in Nicene Post Nicene Fathers, trans. Peter Holmes, ed Philip Schaff (Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library), book V, 14 . [ 39 ]. Mary Clark, Augustine (New York London: Continuum, 2001), 48. [ 40 ]. Nassif, 287-299. [ 41 ]. Clark, 48. [ 42 ]. Hall, Christopher. Learning theology with the church fathers. Downers Grove (Ill: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 134. [ 43 ]. Clark 50-51 [ 44 ]. Hall, 146. [ 45 ]. Ibid [ 46 ]. Clark, Augustine, 2.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Chaucers Canterbury Tales - Idealism in the Knights Tale

Idealism in the story of Cavalier The life of the chivalry of the gentleman is celebrated, but the story of Cavalier has proved to be more than a tragic romantic story with a happy ending. With such a dress, you can explore the trivial world of aristocracy at the time. Here, the substance is replaced by the appearance, reality replaces the classic of disillusionment, and emotions are sacrificed as honor. The innocent idealism became the main feature of seemingly perfect knights, and as a reader we were asked to identify the influence of this unique quality on the entire story. The story of Cavaliers in the Canterbury story of Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the 22 Canterbury collections by the famous British writer Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400). To summarize the story, Joe began writing in 1386 and plans to complete it in his life Each story has various roles in medieval plots as well as interesting dramatic interactions hold. Completed by 1400. Canterbury story: In the first part, Geoffre y Chaucer will introduce all the characters involved in this fictional journey. One of the more interesting characters included in this introduction is the Cavaliers. Joe was originally called Cavalier the best man, in fact, his knight's sketch is very complementary. In this article we compare Joe's ideal knight with his contemporary equivalent knight. Joe, Joe said that there are excellent horses in the Cavaliers, But he is not wearing gorgeous clothes. Knights of the Canterbury story of Geoffrey Chaucer, Nostalgia, Priorres, monks, monks are defined by the setting of the Canterbury story in Geoffrey Chaucer's Prologue. 1. Portoy is a commentary by Jojo and states as follows. The general prologue is like a mirror, reflecting that person's appearance and defining the character of that person. (281) Scanno supported Potnoy in his speculative article The explanation of that character inevitably appears in the original intention of Joe's text or reflects its persistent value (128) 3.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Critical Success Factor Report (Alley Cafe) Essay

Critical Success Factor Report (Alley Cafe) - Essay Example Apart from that, it has created a personal niche by conducting events with budding local talents. The Cafe offers a platform where talented enthusiasts perform live as well as display their arts and paintings on gallery walls of the Cafe. The gallery wall is a place where paintings and artworks of numerous new talents are displayed. Some of the well-known and preferred menus are baked organic beans, toast and scrambled eggs (Alley Cafà ©, 2014b). The objective of the report is to evaluate and analyse critical success factors for Alley Cafe. The current report is a retail audit of a medium sized retail organisation, Alley Cafe, with major focus on its critical success factors. The retail audit will help in identifying the current market demand and make future forecasts accordingly. This information will be subsequently used for recognizing success factors specific for the industry in which Alley Cafe operates. The research methodology includes both primary and secondary research. Primary research has been done by conducting a customer survey in order to analyse present market demand for Alley cafe and competitor’s positioning in the market. Secondary research includes extensive review of the company and competitors through literature study, articles, journals and authentic websites. Out of 177 respondents surveyed for retail audit, 83 never visited the Cafe (Figure 6). Taking the higher margin in each category for money spent, average monthly income for Alley Cafe is estimated to be around 1011 Euros. Also, majority of customers spend less than 15 Euros while visiting Alley Cafe. The demand for coffee is more during the winter season. Apart from that, United Kingdom is a majorly coffee consuming nation. Many new small and local coffee shops and snacks bar are being launched, increasing overall competitive environment of the local market (Figure 8). Also, survey results showed that customer demand for full English

Assignement Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assignement - Assignment Example Test of Written English, The Cambridge Certificate and the Diploma of English Studies, and the FSI Oral Interview Test. In order to prepare the students for these tests, we must make sure to prepare them by providing them with mock tests in the areas of pscychometric, linguistic, integrative, and communicative tests. The psychometric tests can be done using the Educational Testing Service practice psychometric standards. As teachers, the practice tests that we administer using their guidelines determines the competence of the student in relation to his grasp of the English language and its practical uses. The standardized test allows students to take the test based upon their level of expertise in the language by allowing them to modify and edit their answers. On the other hand, the integrative tests have been proven to test merely the surface knowledge of the student. This can be done using an oral interview method or composition testing which is done via essay writing. Even though dictation is also considered an integrative test, it has proven to be inconclusive in its results since listening skills vary from learner to learner. Teachers will most definitely be inclined to test the students using these formal assesment types but, they also have the option to informally test the students in the form of an oral interview. These oral interviews will not provide the same overview of the student's skills that the formal tests provide but it will give the teacher an idea as to the degree of learning that the student has actually acquired and retained from the lessons. Each of the testing types can be administered to the students depending upon their level of learning or difficulty in following the lesson. In formal schools, the more formal testing methods suggested by the Education Testing Service decides the learning accomplishment of the students since they have more time for practice runs. It is important to note however, that informal testing via oral response tests will also function in the same capacity should the teacher not have enough materials to back up the multiple testing methods of ETS. Of course testing results will vary for the EFL/ESL elementary and high school learners. That is because their mental capity and development in terms of ELLs, such as speaking, listening, and writing, vary with the intellectual maturity that the students are developing. An educator cannot expect a child of 8 to be able to carry on a conversation with an adult at the level of a high school student / English speaker. That is why the tests that are given to the elementary and high schools students of EFL/ESL are as different as night and day. The elementary student's interests, verbal, and written capacities are limited by his age and exposure to life, including his degree of practice in the English language so therefore, he cannot be tested and judged at the same level as a high school student. A high school student on the other hand is assumed to have been studying English far longer and already has an established foundation for the ELLs that will allow him to perform at a higher level than his elementary counterpart. Most EFL/ESL teachers these days fail to properly test their students and rely mostly on the practice tests because it is easier for them to test students from the textbook

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Epidemiology of Childhood Obesity Research Paper

Epidemiology of Childhood Obesity - Research Paper Example In epidemiology, there are certain steps done systematically to successfully cure diseases (Page, Cole & Timmreck, 1995). The first step is to identify the problem, or the disease, then make a community or a population assessment by determining whether there are actual or potential health problems present. In this step, questions such as which among the population is the least or the most susceptible is determined. By performing demographic profiling, it can determine the percentage of individuals affected, and can be a reliable indicator of the overall health of the population (Yarnell, 2007). This step is followed by the determination of the causes of the disease. After having a conclusion as to how an ailment affects individuals, epidemiologists give out information on what the disease is, as well as causes, effects and prevention methods. The last step would be on the hands of an individual and his or her personal decisions after being informed about a certain disease. The person can choose whether to do actions that could prevent the onset of the disease or just do nothing to prevent it (Page et al., 1995). Diseases can be studied either by the number of affected individuals in a given population (quantitative epidemiology) or by studying the causes and effects of the disease in the affected individuals (qualitative epidemiology), which are both important in determining risk factors (Yarnell, 2007). In order to search for the causes of diseases, a model is used in determining those factors. Figure 1. The Epidemiology Triangle The epidemiology triangle is a traditional model used in determining the causes of diseases (Page et al., 1995). The vertices consist of the host, or the carrier of the disease, the agent or the cause of the disease, and the environment where the host and the agent are brought together (ibid.). Another part of the triangle is TIME, or the incubation period before a disease becomes full blown (Merril & Timmreck, 2006). After all compon ents of the formation of the disease are identified properly, epidemiologists break the legs of the triangle, disrupting the connections between environment, host and agent in order to prevent the outbreak of the disease and prevent it from spreading. However, in non-infectious diseases this triangle model is not always reliable due to some particular components that are not easily classifiable whether they are agents or environmental (Page et al., 1995). This paper would be tackling the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, and attempt to create a disease model as well as to list the steps in its prevention, focusing on presentation of qualitative obesity epidemiology. Definition of Obesity Body mass index or BMI is used to determine whether a person’s weight is below normal, normal, or above normal, which can be overweight, obese or morbidly obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2011). A percentage of at least 25-30% fat in the body can consider a child as fat (Williams et al., 1992). BMI that is 25 up to 29.9 is overweight, and beyond that is considered obese. Being obese, or obesity is defined as an excessive or abnormal accumulation of fat that presents various risks to health (WHO, n.d.). Problems that can arise from excessive fat include high blood pressure and cholesterol, increased impaired glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance, breathing

Friday, July 26, 2019

Carters Bakery Business Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Carters Bakery Business Report - Essay Example Hill (2005) describes operations management as â€Å"the field of study that focuses on the effective planning, scheduling, use and control of a manufacturing or service organization through the study of concepts that affects the organization†. (Hill, 2005) This business report presents an analytical analysis of Carter’s bakery business in terms in production, management and selling. The report will look at the areas that should be improved in the business. Operations management is very important in any business organization. The main aim of undertaking operation management should be to increase productivity, reduce costs of productions, and enhance flexibility to match customer requirements and at the same time improve quality and customer care services. (Ruffini, et al, 2000) As business organizations formulates plans and ways of dealing with the business opportunities and daily challenges that come up within the business environment, it is important that the business formulates a system which is able to produce quality services and products in required amounts and within the required time frame. In relation to Carter bakery, the operations were not well formulated and market research carried out was not enough to give them enough information about the market. Designing the business system starts with developing product. Development of a product entails determining the features and characteristics of a good product to be sold. When designing a product it is important that the customer needs should be incorporated in the designing process. The facilities and tools which will be used in product production are in this category. Also information system that is required in monitoring and controlling the performance of the product are included in this stage of designing. As Slack et al, (2007) points out manufacturing process of a business or a company are integral part of the designing process and will determine the failure or the success of the business

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Business Law - Essay Example The primary concern of the questioner is whether his concern can be referred to the court. The other two concerns are: 1. Position of the concerned court with respect to end-of service gratuity for the previous period of the visa. 2. Salary difference of the actual received and mentioned in the labour contract. Response: Al Shaiba clarified about the right of questioner that he has full right to get compensation based on his actual employment duration which is three years. Regarding the salary difference, Labour Law calculates the compensation based on the current salary drawn by the employee. Therefore, both the concerns addressed clarify that the employee shall get his case referred under the concern court through the Ministry of Labour. Query#2: Gratuity Calculation The questioner worked in a company under unlimited contract for one year before tendering his resignation. Questioner has two queries: 1. The end of service gratuity was calculated on the basis of 21 days salary. 2. If the questioner is legally entitled for a return ticket to his home country as the contract was signed in the home country. Response: Al Shaiba gave the reference of Article No 137 of the Federal Labour Law No.8 of 1980. This article clarifies the doubt of the respondent. The article states, "Where a worker under an indefinite term contract abandons his work at his own initiative after a con ­tinuous service of not less than one year and not more than three years, he shall be entitled to one-third of the severance pay provided for in the preceding article. Such a worker shall be entitled to two thirds of the said severance pay if his continuous service exceeds three years up to five years and to the full severance pay if it exceeds five years". The second doubt is clarified that the employee is entitled to get the return tickets to home provided he returns back to home country and does not work with a new employer. Query 3: Arbitrary Dismissal This is a case of dismissal of an emp loyee who was working for his company from more than two years. The nature of the contract was for unlimited period. The employee received dismissal due to his absence from work for five consecutive days without excuse, 6th day he was present at work but again 7th and 8th day he went absent. The dismissal was justified under pursuant of the Article n. 120 (Labour Law) and employee was explained that he was not entitled to end-to service gratuity even after producing medical report for the absence period. The queries were: 1. Questioner wanted to know the Article 120 in detail. 2. Questioner wanted to clarify what should he do if the dismissal is not in conformity of the Article no.120 of the Labour Law 3. If there is no conformity; could he get reinstated by his company under legal obligation of Ministry of Labour/Competent court? Answer: The article No.120 of the Federal Labour Law No.8 of 1980 is as follows: "An employer may dismiss a work ­er without notice if and only if the w orker: 1. Assumes a false identity or na ­tionality or submits forged certificates or documents; 2. Is engaged on probation and is dismissed during or at the end of the probationary period; 3. Commits a fault resulting in sub ­stantial material loss to the employ ­er, provided that the latter notifies the labour department of the inci ­dent within 48 hours of his becoming aware of its occurrence; 4. Disobeys instructions on

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Modernity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Modernity - Essay Example They have sought to find out the ways through which modernity could get transformed into an ideal feature, rather than following the path of returning to the idealized past. Marx’s perception regarding modernity was built up by three developments – the French revolution of 1989, and 1848, and the French theorists; the industrial and agricultural revolution in Great Britain and the economists of Britain; and finally decline of Churches credibility. He actually tries to make some projection regarding what kind of shape all these developments will take in future. Very often it is perceived by many economists and politicians that Marx’s analysis of capitalism is mainly based on the experience of the textile industry the Manchester. According to Marx capitalism has lead the way to ultimate modern society, which can also be termed as stateless communism. According to Marx modern world has also taken its birth through class struggle. Marx treated the classes in the society as the agents of social change. The determinants are nothing but the organization of production. This kind of assumption stemmed from the consideration of some philosoph ical ideas in the very early days. In past, each society no matter whatever be it form – tribal, feudal or capitalists, was characterized by how its member used produce their basic needs for living. Each society had a tradition of creating a ruling class and a subordinate class on the basis of the mode of production they used. Since it’s impossible for any individual to live without work, and to propagate his own style, each individual has a tendency to enter into relationships with other and form family. People use different tools to fulfill their needs, and as old needs get satisfied, new needs arise and along with it, there also arise the need for improving or inventing new technique of production. This kind of technological innovation results in division of labor which affects societal arrangements too. Division

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

The influence of business tycoons such as Andrew Carnegie, John D Research Paper

The influence of business tycoons such as Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan on modern history, Economy, and American lifestyle - Research Paper Example Until today, the economy and the living standards of people in the country are better than other countries. Andrew Carnegie supported Booker T Washington by giving money to an institute called Tuskegee, which was founded by Washington. American history celebrates the live of Carnegie, which transformed from a person who never owned a dime to a person who lead financial empires of great power. Currently, the individuals in American still remember Carnegie and the way he influenced the lives of Americans and the economy of the country. The kind of corporate that he was dealing with is the steel industry. He started the industry in the year 1865 and when he died, he was a multimillionaire like the other tycoons. Before becoming rich, he was running errands for a telegraph office. After the time of relatively unrestrained capitalism, the tycoon in steel had made great development of a powerful financial system that some individuals enjoyed (Net Industries). The rapid economic development made by the tycoon laid a foundation for the modern economic growth of the United States. Together with other tycoons, many discoveries were made during their era. Still today businesspersons follow their paths by being single minded when pursing financial achievements and power (Net Industries). The tycoon played a great role in the creation of the modern America. Because of him and others like him, he made the country to be the wealthiest and a country with a lot of creativity as far as business is concerned. The man was very determined in raising the economy by making America to be a state that actively participates in the economy. This was not happening before the tycoons’ time (Net Industries). The tycoon actions in the past still affect the American, lifestyle today. As a pioneering philanthropist, he has had major influence of the lives of many individuals. Since he helped in upgrading the financial system of the state, individuals in America have

Principles That Define the Culutral Level of Analysis Essay Example for Free

Principles That Define the Culutral Level of Analysis Essay Explain how principles that define CLOA may be demonstrated in research. ’ The first Principle states that Humans are information processors. Cognition refers to the mental tasks or thinking involved in human behavior. Thinking may involve memory, attention, perception, language and decision making at any one time. Cognitive psychologists see these cognitions are active systems; In between taking in and responding to information a number of processes are at work. Information can be transformed; reduced, elaborated, filtered, manipulated, selected, organized, stored and retrieved Therefore the human mind is seen as active system processing information, and cognitive psychologist’s aim to study these processes. Central to this information processing approach is the computer metaphor. One of the difficulties facing cognitive psychologists is that they were trying to study processes that are not directly observable. Consequently the computer revolution of the 1950 provided the terminology and metaphor they needed. People, like computers, acquire information from the environment (input). Both people and computers store information and retrieve it when applicable to current tasks; both are limited in the amount of information they can process at a given time; both transform information to produce new information; both return information to the environment (output). This information processing approach was adopted by Atkinson and Shiffrin in their Multistore Model of memory (1968). This model sees memory as an active process. Information flows in through the sensory stage (input). It then flows to the short-term memory before it is transferred to long term memory where it can be stored and later retrieved. A further example of information processing is the organization of information into schemas in the LTM. Schemas are mental models of the world. Information in LTM is stored in interrelated networks of these schemas and these schemas can affect retrieval. Simply put, schema theory states that all knowledge is organized into units. Within these units of knowledge, or schemata, is stored information. A schema, then, is a generalized description or a conceptual system for understanding knowledge-how knowledge is represented and how it is used. According to this theory, schemata represent knowledge about concepts: objects and the relationships they have with other objects, situations, events, sequences of events, actions, and sequences of actions. A simple example is to think of your schema for dog. Within that schema you most likely have knowledge about dogs in general (bark, four legs, teeth, hair, and tails) and probably information about specific dogs, such as collies (long hair, large, Lassie) or springer spaniels (English, docked tails, liver and white or black and white, Millie). You may also think of dogs within the greater context of animals and other living things; that is, dogs breathe, need food, and reproduce. Your knowledge of dogs might also include the fact that they are mammals and thus are warm-blooded and bear their young as opposed to laying eggs. Depending upon your personal experience, the knowledge of a dog as a pet (domesticated and loyal) or as an animal to fear (likely to bite or attack) may be a part of your schema. And so it goes with the development of a schema. Each new experience incorporates more information into ones schema. The second principle of CLOA states that the mind can be studied scientifically. Cognitive processes are difficult to study. They often occur rapidly, and inside the mind so they cannot be observed directly. It is only the responses that participants make when given some cognitive task to perform that can tell us about cognitive processes. These tasks usually take place under tightly controlled lab experiments where the main aim is to isolate a particular component of the cognitive process for the study. One of the earliest and most famous experiments into cognitive processes is the Stroop Effect. The Stroop effect is a phenomena involved in attentional processes. Although we will actually focus on the process of memory this is a good study to look at. People are often introduced to the Stroop Effect in beginning psychology classes as they learn about how their brains process information. It demonstrates the effects of interference, processing speed (reaction time) and automaticity in divided attention. The effect is named after John Ridley Stroop who first published the effect in English in 1935. In his experiments, J. R. Stroop administered several variations of the same test for which three different kinds of stimuli were created. In the first one, names of colors appeared in black ink. In the second, names of colors appeared in a different ink than the color named. Finally in the third one, there were squares of a given color. In the first experiment, 1 and 2 were used. The task required the participants to read the written color names of the words independently of the color of the ink (for example, they would have to read purple no matter what the color of its ink was). In the second experiment, stimulus 2 and 3 were used, and participants were required to say the color of the letters independently of the written word with the second kind of stimulus and also name the color of the dot squares. If the word purple was written in red, they would have to say red, but not purple; when the squares were shown, the participant would have to say its color. Stroop, in the third experiment, tested his participants at different stages of practice at the tasks and stimulus used in the first and second experiments, to account for the effects of association. Stroop noted that participants took much longer to complete the color reading in the second task than they had taken to name the colors of the squares in Experiment 2. This delay had not appeared in the first experiment. Such interference was explained by the automation of reading, where the mind automatically determines the semantic meaning of the word (it reads the word red and thinks of the color red), and then must intentionally check itself and identify instead the color of the word (the ink is a color other than red), a process that is not automatized. This is a classic laboratory experiment that involves the manipulation of an independent variable (colour or name of word) to see what effect it has on the dependent variable (reaction time). It attempts to control the influence of all other extraneous variables – such as other cognitive processes or skills. It also allows us to establish a cause and effect relationship between task and mental process. The strengths of the experiment are that it got valid results but however was still very unethical which not usuall in psychology is. One more strength is that it is an easy experiment which does not need a lot of input to carry out. The study can be considered cross cultural as any human would act the same in this situation. Obviously the reaction times would be different but in the end anyone would take longer to read the words writte in a different colour. Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors, is the statement which forms the third principle. Although cognitive tasks such as memory and attention are universal, there are cross cultural variations in processing mechanisms. Bartlett’s study demonstrates how memory can be distorted by cultural schemas. Schemas are representations of knowledge based on experience. In his study in which British participants were asked to recall a native American folktale. He found that the story of ‘The War of the Ghosts’ was difficult for Western people to reproduce exactly because of its cultural content which was unfamiliar to them so in fact they encoded the meaning of the story adapted to their existing cultural schemas. As a result Bartlett concluded that interpretation plays a large role in remembering events or stories. We reconstruct the past and try to make it fit into our schemata, the more difficult this is to do, the more likely it is that elements are forgotten or distorted so that it fits and remembering is integrally related to the social and cultural context in which it is practiced. Cole and Scribner (1974) studied memory skills in both American and Liberian children. They argued that cognitive processes are universal but not cognitive skills. Cognitive skills are dependent on the environment – education, social interaction, culture and technologies make up the environment they observed the effects formal schooling / education (culture) had on memory they compared recall of a series of words in the US and amongst the Kpelle people using word lists that were culturally specific. They found that in general educated Kpelle children performed better in the recall of list than no educated Kpelle children and those overall American children performed better than Kpelle children. Although this could be interpreted as memory skills being better amongst Americans children than Kpelle (African) children such an interpretation would overlook the influence of culture. Western schooling emphasizes certain cognitive strategies such as clustering / categorizing. It is unlikely such parallels exist in traditional societies like the Kpelle People learn to remember in ways that are relevant for their everyday lives, and these do not always mirror the activities that cognitive psychologists use to investigate mental processes The strengths of this lab study are that it was carried out ethically and the with the results we can almost confirm the cross cultural validity but of course we cant confirm it with 100% as exceptions will always be there. The applications of this study are basically already demonstrated within the study as it can be used for memory in schools or even at a working place.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Immune System and New York Essay Example for Free

Immune System and New York Essay HIV And Its Effects Elizabeth Grundy Psychology 102 Dr Peggy Peach October 10, 2001 HIV And Its Effects 2 HIV AND Its Effects The effects HIV has on a person, symptoms, risks, history and prevention will be explained. HIV is on a rise among sexually active people. According to Packer (1998), HIV, the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), is a member of a family of viruses. The first member HTLV-I and related to STLV-I researchers believe they both have a common ancestor in Africa. (P.13). This will be explained in the following questions: 1. What are the symptoms of HIV? 2. What are the risks to getting HIV? 3. What is the history of HIV? 4. What is the treatment for HIV? This research paper on HIV will be focused on these four questions. 1. What are the symptoms of HIV? According to Nash (1997), when a person infected with HIV has symptoms such as fever, night sweats, weight loss, fatigue, and lymphadenopathy (persistent, unexplained swelling of the lymph nodes), but no opportunistic infections (illnesses that healthy immune systems fight off) or Kaposis sarcoma, he is said to have AIDS-related complex (ARC). The acronym ARC is not used as frequently as it was in the early years of the epidemic. AIDS is now thought of in term of a HIV continuum. It begins with HIV-positive diagnosis in a person who is not experiencing any symptoms. It continues to a symptomatic stage in which the person has opportunistic infections, HIV and Its Effects 3 andKaposis sarcoma, or any of the conditions previously used to define Arc, and the HIV-positive continuum ends with full-blown AIDS diagnosis (p.22). 2. What are the risks to getting HIV? According to Nash (1997) No one is safe if his or her behavior is not safe. You do not get HIV because of a group you belong to; you get HIV from exposure to the virus. HIV can be contracted through unprotected sex with an infected person, by sharing needles when using drugs, or by tattooing or piercing body parts with a needle that has been used on an infected person. (P 24). According to Draimin (1995) the four common most ways HIV can get into the  body, Dirty needles used to inject drugs, unprotected sexual intercourse, mother to fetus or new-born baby, and blood transfusion. (P.11) HIV is transferable through any kind of sexual contact: heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. The means of transferring the virus is unprotected sex. The safe guards against contracting HIV are to have sex only when you are ready, to know your partner, and to protect yourself from possible infection every time you have sex by using a condom. The HIV virus, like some other viruses cannot live outside the body. It is killed by air. HIV requires a warm, wet place to live and be carried only in blood, sexual fluids, and possibly saliva. Sexual transmission of HIV means that the virus goes from fluid to fluid (semen, vaginal, and blood). The virus has to pass from fluid to fluids to stay alive. (Pp25-26) 3. What is the History of HIV? HIV and Its Effects 4 Hyde and Forsyth (1 996) In 1981, when the first mysterious cases of an unusual type of pneumonia began to appear, scientists have accumulated a large body of knowledge about HIV. The first alarm sounded before aids even had a name, when doctors realized that some formerly rare diseases were becoming common among homosexual men in the United States. The first well-documented cases of what was later called AIDS were found in San Francisco and New York in 1981. A young gay man in San Francisco was found to be suffering from severe fungal infection to which he had little immune reaction. In fact, his immune system did not respond to any disease. Then he developed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), a type of pneumonia that is caused by a parasite. This disease is usually found only in severely malnourished individuals or people whos immune have been impaired by drugs such as those used in treatment of cancer. (p.56) According to Nash (1997) In 1982, three non-drug -injecting heterosexual men with hemophilia A developed AIDS and were reported to CDC. Hemophilia A, a blood -clotting defect, requires transfusions of blood-clotting factors derived from whole blood. (p.29) In June 1981 the first report of what AIDS, published by CDC described the new disease as a collection of characteristics symptoms among various population groups. It was a narrow definition, involving the presence of one or more opportunistic infections or cancers, and signs that general failure of immune system had occurred. (Nash, 1997) 4 What is the treatment for HIV HIV and Its Effects 5 According to Nash (1997) AIDS symptoms typically takes years to develop after the initial infection.  Scientists are researching what they call immunotherapy. Vaccines to prevent or stop a disease from taking hold; immunotherapy intervenes before symptoms arise and rids the body of infection. Management drugs have come out such as; Azidothymidine (AZT), this is the first of its kind. It interferes with HIV reproduction inside the cell; it slows the process of AIDS down. An HIV- positive person who takes AZT before AIDS symptoms appear lives longer than those who did not. Dideoxycytidine (ddC) and dideoxyinosine (ddI) offer another approach to combine therapy. Death rates are lowered when ddC and ddI were taken in combination of ddC and AZT or ddI and AZT then those patients who took AZT alone. Ampligen-, which did not help the patients when administered, alone-used in combination with AZT increase the effectiveness of both drugs. Epivir (3TC) became the first new initial therapy since AZT. The combination therapy of 3TC and AZT lowered the amount of HIV in patients and boosted their immune system. Invirase (protease inhibitor) is designed to cripple an enzyme vital in late stages of HIV reproduction, which is used in combination of other anti-HIV drugs. They reduce the levels of the virus in some people and increase the number of immune cells in some patients previously depleted by the virus. In 1996 Ritonavir, another protease inhibitor was also approved. HIV and its effects on those we know and love are about learning to manage the illness. People need to practice safe sex and to and to pay attention to safe behavior. HIV and treatment have come along way. Medical science has along time to go before a cure. HIV and Its Effects 6 References Packer, K. (1998). HIV Infection The Facts You Need To Know. New York: Venture. Draimin, B. (1ed)(1995). Working Together Against AIDS. New York: The Rosen Publishing group. Nash, C. (1997). AIDSs Choice for life. Springfield, NJ: Enslow. : Hyde, M., Forsyth, E. (1996). AIDS What Does It Mean To You? New York: Walker.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Factors affecting customer perception

Factors affecting customer perception CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Introduction This is a report on the survey of the factors that affecting the customer perception in choosing their mobile service provider. The use of customer perception is to require the company figure out what their customers think. Customers always evaluate the perceived benefits before they decide to purchase a particular product. They also include costs of usage, the lost opportunity to use other offering, potential switching costs etc. Consumers always value these added benefits when making a purchasing decision. Therefore this is making it important for company to understand the customers need when marketing to their customers. Recently, the hottest topic in the Malaysias mobile industry which is Mobile Number Portability (MNP) are discussing by everyone. In simple, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is taking our Mobile Number from one mobile phone network to another. It enables us to maintain their existing mobile phone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another mobile network operator. This removed one of the major restrictions on changing mobile network operator, and allows users to freely select from among the mobile network operators on offer. In Malaysia, there are four main mobile service providers Celcom, Maxis, DiGi and U-Mobile. A desire for cheaper calls is the reason that most consumers cite for possibly changing to a new network. Everybody is looking to change networks give a heavy weighting to four major factors: cost, coverage, technology and service options. This indicates that service providers need to take a multidimensional approach to managing their corporate custom er bases. MNP will allow further flexibility in the mobile phone market, as a result of which mobile network operators will be subject to other competition. This will cause mobile network operators to clarify their features in various policies such as fees and services. We have seen some of the mobile network operators introducing measures such as fixed price for calling other users of the others mobile network operator. There are five factors that has been found out how on what factor that influence the customers to select the certain telecommunication service provider- peer influence, product quality, customer service quality, promotion and network coverage. The consumer are getting the benefits from the result of this fierce competition among the telecommunication service provider in Malaysia because these company will keep improving and offer more attractive promotion in order to maintain and attract the new customers. Background of the research Malaysias telecommunication infrastructure market was opened in 1989 when a second mobile operator, Celcom, launched service. From 1993 to 1995, the market was further opened when three additional companies were granted various operating licenses such as fixed, long distance, mobile cellular allowing them to compete as full service operators. The telecommunication companies are competing among each other and create a competitive environment in the telco industry. There are some of the companies had merged with others big company and some of them gone bankruptcy. Today, four companies make up the major telecommunication market segment. The companies are DiGi, Maxis, Celcom and U-mobile. Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad is the oldest mobile telecommunications company in Malaysia that was established in 1988 and Celcom had transform itself as the market leader by offering the quality services to the customers. It continues to spread its wings and is undeterred by the dynamic nature of the mobile communications industry. Currently, Celcom offers its mobile postpaid and prepaid services under the access codes 019 and 013, serving a combined customer base in excess of 5 million with network coverage spanning over 95 per cent of the populated areas in the country. Furthermore, businessman was the major user of this Celcom service provider due to the stable network coverage. According to the Maxis website, Maxis Mobile Sdn Bhd, which started operations in 1995, Maxis has steadily built up its role to become leading telecommunications service provider in Malaysia by focusing its core business, adding 600 base stations during 2003. In 2003, the company acquired an additional 25 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band and with a 3G license which launched by 2006. Being the leader within the telecommunication industry, the corporation is the fifth largest Public Company in Malaysia with total subscribers of 6.4million, providing a wide range of innovative mobile, fixed and international network services to their customers. Maxis Mobile Sdn Bhd first used the Cardax System (CC Unix) since 1998 when they moved their operations into Menara Maxis, owned and managed by Tanjong City Centre Property Management (Tanjong Plc Group of Companies). DiGi Telecommunications is smallest of the major mobile service provider that is majority controlled by Telenor, is holding its own in the face of its two bigger rivals. DiGi is supported by Telenor with the financial and technical stability. DiGi as the smallest of remaining mobile cellular companies has benefited from the sustained growth in market demand for cell phones in Malaysia. DiGi tend to serve their customers with high quality services and products by offering an affordable price, convenient and easy to access the broadband services in order to enrich the customers life. DiGi is the first mobile service provider to launch the prepaid concept for mobile services in Malaysia and till today, DiGi Prepaid remains the market leader. To achieve the quality and innovation services, DiGi is placing a lot of emphasis upon backend systems, efficient billing system and customer relationship management system. Now they had come out the broadband package which has a higher speed so cal led 3.5G. U mobile Sdn Bhd is Malaysias new established mobile service provider by offering value added services such as 3G video call to attract the youth market. U Mobile is using 018 prefix and provide the call charges with per second per block charges. This uniqueness had become their strength and a point to attract the light users of mobile. They just need to pay as how many second they are using. In April 2007, U Mobile signed Malaysias first ever nationwide roaming memorandum of understanding as a precursor to an agreement with Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd. This initiative allows U Mobiles customers to experience nationwide coverage from day one of service availability, whilst U Mobile continues to progressively rollout its own unique HSDPA driven mobile network. KT Freetel of South Korea and NTT DOCOMO of Japans combined investment of USD$200 million in December 2007 marked an exciting new chapter for U Mobile. This strategic partnership supports U Mobiles rapid go-to-market and product enha ncement and diversification plan. U Mobile introduced 3G mobile phone bundling packages for its U38, U68, and U98 Postpaid plans at attractive prices in August 2008. These few companys core business is segmented of the Malaysia telecommunication market, mobile markets and also the broadband markets. Besides, the telecommunication companies are also provided mobile services such as Short Message Service (SMS), Wireless Application Protocol, subscription services, General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), and Third Generation known as 3G that enable the customer to connect with a video call. These companies are offering the price promotion in order to attract the customers. Now there is an aggressive competition among these companies, so the company should figure out the factors of playing a vital role to choose the telecommunication service providers The Malaysia mobile industry is going the new era of competition. Therefore, all these mobile service provider need to differentiate themselves from others and presence itself well to become the one of the market leader in telecommunication industry. They can differentiate themselves by delivering more value added service such as the superior call charges and quality and improve their network coverage to maintain their market position and generating more innovation in their performance to meet the customer expectation. Problem Statement To what extent do the peers influence, customers services quality, products quality, promotion and network coverage affect the customer perception in choosing their mobile service provider? Research Objective The overall goal of this study is to determine and identify the factors that affecting customers perception in choosing their mobile service provider. The following objectives are built to achieve the goals of this study: To access that how peer influence, customer service quality, product quality, promotion and network coverage going to become the factor for customer to using specific telecommunication service provider. To determine whether the customers like the mobile service providers marketing activities To determine the mobile service provider positioning strategies in serving their customers. Justification for the research The telecommunication industry is undergoing in a dramatic changes. The value of the paper will indicate the consumer behavior in the competitive market. This study provides insights of the factors that affecting the customer perception in choosing their mobile service provider nowadays. This research is done for the contribution that will bring for the family; society, country, and it also lead us to a better living environment with advanced technology. The result of this research will be beneficial for the telecommunication operator to serve as a guideline in implementing their business strategy. With the information, those telecommunication provider will be able to design packages that satisfying consumers to improve their company performance as well as to maintain their market share. This research is important because it can outline what the factors that affecting the consumers perception in choosing their mobile service provider. Also, this research able to provides the factors that cause the switching behavior. When service provider understand what is the wants and needs of the consumer. Thus, it helps to reduce their cost in research and development. By then, service provider can focus to increase their product features or quality that serves to the consumers. Superior customer service and products quality can affect customers perception in choosing their mobile service provider. Through this study, service provider can focus on what is the best business quality and services to consumers in order to maintain their life long relationship to create maximum life time value to the company itself. This research can figure out the relationship between product and service quality with the customers perception in choosing the mobile service provider. Therefore, Telecommunication Company should emphasis on its product quality and customer service aspect in order to improve customers satisfaction. Before taking any actions to change the customer perception, the most crucial thing is to understand what factors influence customer satisfaction, and then try to make improvements in these critical areas so that they can have more satisfied and loyal customers. Methodology The methodology used for the survey to collect data in this research is through questionnaire. The population of this study is individuals who are mobile users in Malaysia. It is impossible to get all mobile users to conduct the survey; therefore survey will conduct to selected samples to gather the data. Besides, non-probability purposive sampling method will be used as this is an exploratory study. Other than that, the questionnaire conducted would be self-administered and made from secondary data obtained from journals from other researchers due to the lack of local research on the topic. The methods used for this research also come from review of literatures and books from the internet as it is more time saving and less costly. Limitations of the research Despite the useful findings of this study, this empirical study has several limitations to be acknowledged. First, the findings in this study depend on the honesty of the respondents. It is known individuals would agree more on socially desirable answers and disagree more towards socially undesirable answers rather than fully and truly express the feeling and opinions. Next, the limitation of this research is that the data of this study is collected through the surveys, so there is a high probability of inaccurate information. The sample size of 300 is not enough to determine the actual factor. There are too many factors that will affect the customers perception. More researches need to be conducted on the higher population in order to get the actual factors. Outline of the research project report This research paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1: Introduction The background of study is mentioned in this chapter. The discussion of the overall question and the relevance topic are being carried out. This chapter includes the objectives and the problem statement of this study. Besides that, the explanation of who is gaining benefits from this study is included. Lastly, important terms are clearly defined to avoid confusion amongst readers. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter is the part to cite those relevant studies from authors and year of the study. Both dependent and independent variables will then be identified and highlighted as the foundation to build the theoretical framework and hypotheses development. Arguments and opinions from different authors are included to support the study. During this chapter, readers will have a clear idea about the problems and the possible solutions that can be made to solve. Chapter 3: Research Methodology Theoretical framework and hypothesis of study will be stated. Theoretical framework shows the relationship between variables. Next, testable hypotheses will be developed based on their relationships. These hypotheses are to examine whether or not the framework is valid by using appropriate statistical analysis. Chapter 4: Data Analysis Before proceed into this chapter, data collection is needed from respondents through various methods. The results will then be tested to analyze the response in order to get a clearer and more concrete result. Chapter 5: Discussions and Conclusion Chapter 5 contains the conclusions and justification on the hypothesis constructed in the research. Other than that, the chapter also summarized the research findings and suggestions on the future findings are given supported by assumptions made from the research. Figure 1 below shows the outlines of the research. Definition Peer Influence Past research shows that peer influence has emerged over the last 50 years to be the chief source of values and behavioral influence in adolescence, replacing the influence of adults. By examining the peer influence on the consumer perception, we can know why peer influence is a factor that affects consumer perception in choosing their mobile service provider. Customer Service Quality Customers service quality includes trust, reliability and responsiveness of the company in telecommunication industry. This study will figure out how this factor affects the consumers perception. Product Quality Product quality is the characteristics of a product that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. Customers always focus on the product quality when they purchase a product/service. Promotion Promotion is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. Promotion able to attract the customers to disseminate the information of a product. This study will discuss how promotion works as one of the factors to affect the consumer perception. Network Coverage Network Coverage is the range of mobile network signal provided by the telecommunication mobile service provider. This study will also discuss about how the network coverage will affect the consumer perception. Scope This research is particularly interested in investigating consumers behaviors and perceptions such as motivations of changing or remaining with mobile operators with the introduction of MNP. This paper is tending to find out what are the factors that affecting customer perception in choosing their service provider through this study. All respondents are assumed to have basic mobile knowledge. There are many factors that cause the consumers to choose their mobile service provider. The study will also include the implications of switching cost on the telecommunication industry, service providers and consumers. Conclusion This research is aim to complete successfully within the time frame so that the result would accurate and will achieve the research objectives. This research had confirms the significant positive relationship of peer influence, customer service quality, product quality, promotion and network coverage to affect the consumers perception. It is expected to provide a broader understanding of mobile service provider in Malaysia and explore the real factors that affecting the consumers perception in choosing their mobile service provider. It is also hope that the successful completion of the survey would have positive impact on the mobile service provider strategies in order to grab the customers and maintain their customer relationship. Chapter 2 Literature Review Dependent Variable Customers perception in choosing their mobile service provider The understanding of consumer perception in a virtual environment is limited. It is important to develop an understanding of the factors that affect consumer perception in this market space. This will enable mobile service provider to develop more effective and focused strategies for optimizing the visibility of their product offerings and to attract more customers. There are various factors that can affecting the consumer perception when making buying decision on a product. Independent Variables Peer Influence   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Peer influence is commonly defined as the extent to which peers exert influence on the attitudes, thoughts, and actions of an individual (Bristol and Mangleburg, 2005). There will be some of the people will affect the perception of the customer when they decide to buy a product. When they decide using which mobile service provider, most of customers will think which mobile service providers are currently using by their friends and family. Peers influences include the spread opinions of friends, family, colleagues and reference group. Mostly individuals will be influenced and get into following their trend and take their opinions as a standard of their purchase decisions. Peers can influence each other either in a positive way or negative way. The potential power of WOM (Word of Mouth) as a form of promotion is generally accepted (Arndt, 1967; Buttle, 1998; Dye, 2000). WOM is a strong factor to affect the customers perception. If the customer is less well understood the product, he/she will refer to the people around them. WOM can be negative or positive, so the company should utilize the effectiveness of WOM as a good promotional tool and build goodwill of the product in order to enhance their company reputation. The influence that a sources word-of-mouth information exhibits on the receiver has traditionally been explained by models of interpersonal influence (Bansal and Voyer, 2000; Bone, 1995; Cohen and Golden, 1972). Within this stream of research, it has often been suggested that interpersonal or social influence can be categorized as either informational or normative influence (e.g. Deutsch and Gerrard, 1955). Word of mouth can operate through both channels: Informational influence occurs when information is accepted as evidence of reality (e.g. Burnkraut and Cosineau, 1975). In contrast, normative influence operates through compliance, which means that the individual conforms to the verbalized expectations of referent others (Kelman, 1961) Customer service quality Service quality had become an important attention to the company due to its strong impact on their business performance. Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction. That is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation. Customer service quality is the perceived quality of service obtained by a customer when using the current mobile service providers. Customer service is what an organization provides to its customers and is relatively easy to measure. Typically the measures include response time, time required to provide service, ability to handle a customers issues on the first call, procedures for handling customer complaints. Customer service is always important and companies should enhance all the ways in which they touch their customer, the service they provide and their measures to continuously improve that service. Superior service quality measurably increases a firms overall profitability. Mobile users always requested the fast connection either in calling or sending short message from the mobile service provider. They will make judgment based on the service quality given by their mobile service provider in order to change the mobile service provider or being loyal to their current mobile service provider. If the customers maintain loyalty to their mobile service provider, thus it will bring continuous revenue to the company. Service quality is associated with the relationships between server and customer, The customers will consider the politeness, helpfulness, speeds of delivery, and pleasantness of the service (Berry, 1987) when they received the services from their mobile service provider. Customer service is playing an important role in mobile service provider; it helps to maintain the loyalty of consumer towards the company. According to Taylor, 1992, service quality enhancement differentiates the service providers from competitors. Consumer often compares the service quality within other mobile service provider companies. There is huge amount of support in the service quality literature for a link with customer loyalty and future purchases. Customers always put the service quality they receive as the factor that affects them to do purchase of the product. If the service is bad, the customer will tend to change to mobile service provider.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Service quality is very important that companies have gone to great efforts to evaluate and keep records of service quality levels. Service quality is about the consumers judgment about the overall excellence or superiority of a service (Zeithaml, 1988). If the mobile service providers provide the bad services in handling the customers issues, it will leave a bad impact of the brand name in the customers mind. In order to have a better understanding about service quality, there are few attributes about services: services are intangible; services are heterogeneous, meaning that their performance often varies with respect to the provider and the customer; services cannot be placed in a time capsule and thus be tested and re-tested over time; and The production of services is likely to be inseparable from their consumption (Gronroos, 1990). The service evaluation can be associated with service delivery process, along with output (Cody and Hope, 1999). These two underlying processes generally explain the contribution of service quality to profitability. First, service quality is regarded as one of the few means for service differentiation and competitive advantage that attracts new customers and contributes to the market share (Venetis and Ghauri, 2000, p. 215). Second, service quality enhances customers intention to purchase again, to buy more, to buy other services, to become less price-sensitive and to tell others about their favorable experiences (Venetis and Ghauri, 2000, p. 215).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reichheld and Sasser (1995) had proposed that the high level of satisfaction lead to increase the customer loyalty. There is growing evidence that customer perception of service quality they received when using the mobile service provider will affect their behavioral intention. Nowadays, the telecommunication industry is become more competitive and there are more new entrants of other small mobile service provider to grab the market. According to Melody (2001) public utilities is derived from the law in any country. Where the demand for a good or service is considered a common necessity for the public at large and the supply conditions are such that the public may not be provided with reasonable service at reasonable prices. Service is a form of attitude which is related to satisfaction and also leads to consumer loyalty (Johnson and Sirikit, 2002) and future purchase. In particular consumers prefer service quality when the price and other cost elements are held constant (Boyer and Hult, 2005). It has become a distinct and important aspect of the product and service offering (Wal et al., 2002). According to Leisen and Vance (2001) service quality helps to create the necessary competitive advantage by being an effective differentiating factor. Service qualit y was initiated in the 1980s as the worldwide trend when marketers realized that only a quality product could not guaranteed to maintain competitive advantage (Wal et al., 2002). Competitive advantage is a value-creating strategy, simultaneously which is not implemented by any existing or potential competitors (Barney, 1991). Service quality is essential and important for a telecommunication service provider company to ensure the quality service for establishing and maintaining loyal and profitable customer (Zeithaml, 2000; Leisen and Vance, 2001). Conversely, Johnson and Sirikit (2002) stated that service delivery systems have the ability to allow managers of company to identify the real customer feedback and satisfaction on their telecommunication service. Since, quality reflects the customers expectations about a product or service. Lovelock (1996) stated that this customer driven quality replaced the traditional marketing philosophies which was based on products and process. Product quality The quality of a product is a conceptualize service quality as the relative perceptual distance between customer expectations and evaluations of service experiences and service quality using a multi-item scale called the SERVQUAL model.(Parasuraman et al., 1988). The SERVQUAL model includes the five dimensions of tangibles which is the physical facilities and the appearance of personnel, reliability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately, responsiveness as the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service, assurance where employee knowledge base which induces customer trust and confidence, and empathy which is the caring and individualized attention provided to customers by the service provider.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To get products or services in good quality is a must in customers perception. Especially for telecommunication industry, customers cannot touch the physical product before they make their decision. To gain trust in consumers, it is necessary for the mobile service provider to provide the identity and complete information of the company such as their physical location, pass record, product quality approved. Besides, telecommunication company have to ensure they provide only good quality product or service to consumer because can gain word of mouth. Once they fail to do it, they will suffer it. According to lemons model (Akerlof 1970), product quality is the basic idea in a competitive market. Products only differentiated by their exogenous quality. If product quality is undistinguishable beforehand by the buyer, then there is one price. If cost are increasing in quality, then at that price the highest quality products may not be offered, and as a result buyers become reluctant to pay high price. They learn to expect low-quality products which mean the price must fall. Product quality is always an important aspect of a purchasing decision and in market behavior. Since, consumers regularly face the task of estimating product quality under conditions of imperfect knowledge about the underlying attributes of the various product offers with the aid of personal, self-perceived quality criteria (Bedeian, 1971 adapted by Sjolander, 1992). According to Sjolander (1992), the consumer behavior in modern market is different from the theoretical case of consumer decision making in free markets. Promotion In order to promote a companys product, a company often uses advertising to create brand and or product differentiation in order to soften the price competition. To the extent that persuasive advertising create customer loyalty through perceived differentiation over essentially identical products, they create market power in the sense that consumers may be willing to pay more for preferred brands, thus allowing Telco Company to raise prices above marginal costs. The most preferred outcome by firms is where one advertises while its competitors dont, leading to market share and profitability gain at the expense of its rivals. In the price promotion, the Telco companies are using game theoretic model (Axelrod and Hamilton, 1981) to provide a homogenous product and have sufficient capacity to serve the market demand. It is a non-cooperative game as there werent any enforceable agreements between them as they compete in the marketplace. It is a repeated one-shot simultaneous game as they were driven by quarterly performance accountable to shareholders. As such, they would decide on their pricing strategies independently and aware of rivals prices in the market while forming certain expectations about rivals pricing strategies. Actions available are Maintain Price and Undercut Price. Payoffs are ranked in order of preference (higher number is preferred). The most preferred outcome by firms is where one undercuts price while its competitors maintains price, leading to market share gain at the expense of its rivals. When all firms maintain prices, there is no change in market-share and profitability. When all f irms undercut prices, market-share remains with reduced profitability. Price plays a vital role in telecommunication market especially for the mobile telecommunication service providers (Kollmann, 2000). Its included not only the purchase price but also the call and rental charges. Generally, a price dominated mass market leads to customers having more choice and the opportunity to compare the pricing structures of different providers. Therefore, the company that will offer lower charges, the more customers will commit themselves to the telephone networks, so more call minutes will achieved. It will be interesting to study the impact of the two or more mobile service provider having price competition. One of the impact will be the customers will keep switching from one mobile service provider to another one. For example, there is a new customer will think of reducing its switching cost. The customers that keep changing their customer due to price promotion offered by the mobile service provider