Religious Artifact Analysis Essay Example for Free

Religious Artifact Analysis Essay The artifact that we intend to examine is the hit song â€Å"King Without a Crown† by the reggae music artist, Matisyahu. This music artist interests us because he is a popular performer who we have listened to voluntarily, with the particular song â€Å"King Without a Crown† ranking in the top 40 songs in America at one point in his career. Additionally, choosing a Matisyahu song is of interest to us as students at the University of Maryland because of Matisyahu’s live performance at UMD last year. Music is a particular form of rhetoric for artists to communicate ideas and inspire their listeners to adopt or understand belief systems. In the case of Matisyahu, the artist sings about his relationship to God and his religion, Judaism while making various references to religious and cultural aspects of his religion. As an Orthodox Jew, Matisyahu provides his audience with music specifically tied to religious belief. However, Matisyahu’s music may be universally enjoyed by people of any religion, as demonstrated by his various appearances on MTV during the time that his single, â€Å"King Without a Crown†, was popularly played on the radio and bought on iTunes. Matisyahu is known for being a Jewish figure in the music industry who is able to incorporate his religious passion to musical talent in a quite unique manner, through the production of reggae songs. Although music is a central part of the Jewish religion, especially in the practice of Orthodox Judaism, reggae music sung in English is an unconventional means of musical expression compared to other types of Jewish music, which include klezmer or traditional singing of psalms in Hebrew. At first glance, we noticed the symbols that Matisyahu uses in his song to represent different experiences in life. For example, Matisyahu incorporates a juxtaposition of darkness and light to demonstrate emotions and situations that are both positive (light) and negative (dark). Additionally, the artist uses much religious jargon, referring to God by the different names that Jewish people use to address a higher being. There is also an element of religion and/or God as a type of source that may protect and help people if they reach out and ask for such assistance, which is a fundamental Jewish belief. Matisyahu alludes to ideas of prayer, belief, and the Messiah, bringing important Jewish concepts to his song in an inspirational way of expressing his love for God. In studying this artifact, we will look at the lyrics of the song, â€Å"King Without a Crown† primarily to analyze the language that Matisyahu uses to communicate his  ideas. Additionally, we will draw upon the images used in this particular song’s music video to complement the lyrics that we study. In order to have a complete understanding of our text, we will research the biography of Matisyahu, including a focus on recent events, such as the scandal that occurred within the religious Jewish community when he shaved off his beard in the fall. Finally, to understand all of the Jewish references that Matisyahu makes in his song, we will research specific Jewish concepts, beliefs, and approaches to religious topics, such as the waiting for the Messiah to come from a Jewish lens. Studying a Matisyahu song is worthwhile because this particular artist is one of the most visible and popular Jewish representatives and role models in the secular world of music production. It is important to note that Jewish people do not exclusively enjoy Matisyahu music. Rather, his songs have been popular throughout America, especially among reggae fans. Especially as Jews are a minority religion in nearly all countries in the world, Matisyahu is a positive representation of Judaism and the Jewish people to the world, working to deconstruct religious stereotypes and serve as an example for devout people of all religions to embrace both their passions and their religious beliefs. Descriptive Analysis Purpose- Its about the power of trusting G-d in everyday life. also from a Jewish standpoint, it refers to the wait for a Messiah that will come; communicating his dedication to g-d. He is trying to convince his audience to follow that lifestyle Audience- His fans; mostly Jewish listeners now that he is not as famous anymore Controversial- Religious, some people do not share the same beliefs, minority religion, he is Orthodox and was affiliated with Chabbad at the time. He speaks about G-d and there are people who do not believe in G-d. Rhetor’s (Matisyahu) Purpose: â€Å"King Without a Crown† Following listening to Matisyahu’s â€Å"King Without a Crown† and reading its lyrics it seems as though he is referring to someone, use as a model representative of people in general that his targeted audience can relate to, who is lost spiritually and more specifically neglecting/ignoring the Torah. His identity with Chasidism is evident from even first glance at his  everyday attire consisting of a dark hat, matching long dark suit and coupled with the Chasidism orthodox braided hair hanging down from either temple and long beard. When analyzing Matisyahu’s lyrics and his passionate performance of â€Å"King Without a Crown,† it is feasible to argue his ultimate purpose from a rhetorical standpoint is to advocate a more Chasidic expression of faith and encouraging more attention and adherence toward prayer and the Torah. By calling his targeted audience (his fans) to reflect upon their daily lifestyle in contrast with the teachings of the Torah, he brings our attention toward our personal daily conduct and instills his audience members with feelings of personal accountability for each of our actions and the lives we choose to live. Ultimately the song, â€Å"King Without a Crown† is aimed at the nature of altering people’s perception of living a faith-bound righteous life in the eyes of G_d and calls for change in social action, more specifically, our everyday lifestyles and behaviors so that it emulates the Torah’s teachings. s exemplified by his lyrics such as: You’re all that I have and you’re all that I need Each and every day I pray to get to know your peace Wanna be close to you, yes I’m so hungry You’re like water for my soul when it gets thirsty If you’re drowning in the waters and you can’t stay afloat Ask Hasheem for mercy {and} he’ll throw you a rope Encouragement to trust and turn to G_d, not only when we desire something or are in need, but ydaily and it should be reflected by our actions. asking for G_d to help you do so. Apparently Matisyahu was a heavy drug user earlier in his life, and the video and song are obviously an autobiographical depiction of someone who overcame their demons. I have heard a lot of Christians say they like his music. I agree that his music is good†¦ but if someone is looking to Matisyahu as a prophet proclaiming God’s Word, I’m afraid he is very far from it. The title of the song is â€Å"King Without a Crown.† Such a title may sound familiar to Christians. Jesus is often described in such a way. However, this is not at all what Matisyahu is referring to in his song. He continues: If you’re drowning in the waters and you can’t stay afloat Ask Hasheem for mercy {and} he’ll throw you a rope (You’re) lookin’ for help from God; you say he couldn’t be found Searching up to the sky and looking beneath the ground Like a King without his Crown You keep fallin’ down You really want to live but can’t get rid of your frown You(‘re) try(in’) to reach unto the heights and wound bound down on the ground Matisyahu’s King without his Crown is not Christ, it is himself. The chorus of the song reveals more: What’s this feeling? My love will rip a hole in the ceiling (I give/Givin’} myself to you {now} from the essence of my being and I sing to my God, songs of love and healing †¦..I want Moshiach now so it’s time we start revealing Here he depicts the afflicting emotional torment of a spiritually lost and broken soul , and finally comes to recognition that he is powerless without G_d. He’s at the lowest breaking point in his life and surrenders his will to seeking out Moshiach for hope of healing. Matisyahu uses this experience to exemplify the saving strength and power of loving G_d, reinforcing once again, the significance of faith in our lives. Slavery is also a major theme of Matisyahu’s music, and is emphasized in the live version of â€Å"King Without a Crown.† Matisyahu sings of the slavery in which human beings sometimes bring upon themselves through materialism and hubris: â€Å"Youre a slave to yourself and you dont even know/You want to live the fast life but your brain moves slow/If youre trying to stay high then youre bound to stay low/You want G-d but you cant deflate your ego/If youre already there then theres nowhere to go/If youre cups already full then it’s bound to overflow.† â€Å"King Without a Crown† is †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Its widespread popularity is illustrated by the fact â€Å"song has been the band’s biggest commercial success, breaking into the Modern Rock Top 10 and peaking at #7 (citation needed).† When critically analyzing the rhetor’s (Matisyahu’s) purpose and underling significance of his song â€Å"King Without a Crown,† from a theoretical/conceptual perspective; 3 primary inferences can be made. 1.) Observe/abide by the Torah 2.) G_d is all you need 3.) Only lust for salvation; avoid materialism Conclusion Statement: Consider the rhetor’s purpose: 1.) What is the nature – call to action, altering perception, maintain social action? 2.) What was the cost the audience was faced with in terms of the rhetor’s appeals? Reevaluate their faith and lifestyles from a critical standpoint and evaluate the impact faith has to the contribution of our beliefs and actions and recognize what changes must be made for us to fulfill a life in accordance with the teachings of the Torah and walk a path that will lead to heaven and fill the with void/ provide direction in our livees felt by each of us exemplified by â€Å"a King Without a Crown† or in other words without a spiritual beacon to guide/ inspire leadership. The cost at critically in-depth analysis of our life is the resulting uneasines/weariness/ relucantce/ dislike/ unfavorable/ flaws/causes uncomfotableness associated with identifying and accepting our flaws.

Wal-Mart?s SMART Inventory System Essay -- essays research papers

After extensive last minute digging, I finally found a manager who trusted me enough to supply me with the name of the inventory system that is used. Unfortunately for me this is all I could uncover from my employer, but it is a start. Wal-Mart uses the SMART system. Because of the way it is spelled I can only assume that it is an acronym. I have been searching for over an hour on Google.com and finally produced some meager results, but here they are. Background From the results produced, I am at the deduction that SMART is not an acronym after all. SMART is basically a tracking system, it keeps track of all our inventory, the on-hand counts, and can automatically reorder product that is low or empty. As stated last week, most interaction with the SMART system is through the Telxon. Just to recap, the Telxon is a 900 MHz wireless handheld terminal equipped with a barcode scanner. When a barcode is scanned, almost instantly the item number, a short description, on hand counts and amount on order are displayed. The technicalities are a mystery to me but I can only assume that the Telxon is linking to the SMART database to retrieve all of this information. All from a simple thing like a barcode which is just a set of numbers that are unique, like a primary key. Strengths of SMART The actual database has to be enormous. There are so many products that the Wally keeps track of. All of which must be in the same database because products we don’t carry will still scan and give...

Declaration of Sentiments Essay

The Declarations of sentiments was arguably the most significant document in history for the advancement of women in the nineteenth century America. It was made famous at the first Woman’s Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls, New York, in July of 1848. Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the declaration outlined a series of grievances resulting from the unfair treatment of women and proposed eleven resolutions arguing that women had the right to equality in all aspects of their lives, including the right to vote. Despite the declarations significance, however, it would be seventy-two ears later that women finally won the right to vote. In early societies, women bore children, cared for the home, and helped maintain the family. Males dominated in early society from the time of the earliest written historical records. It was believed that women were naturally weaker and inferior to men. Therefore, in most traditional societies, women generally were at a disadvantage. Women were not allowed to vote, work, get an education, or be involved in the church. Married women were legally dead in the eyes of the law and had no property rights. Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation. In early society, women were robbed of their self-confidence and self respect. The events leading up to the 1848 convention date back to 1840, when Stanton attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London and was denied a seat at the convention because she was a woman. She then attended a small social gathering near her home in Seneca Falls, where she laid out her list of grievances about the treatment of women in society. From this small gathering the convention was then planned and the Declaration of Sentiments was formed. The Declaration proposed reforms in all areas of women’s lives. Included in the declaration was a list of eighteen injustices endured by women, ranging from the lack of equal educational opportunities and the denial of the right to vote, to the exclusion of public participation in the affairs of the church. It also protested unequal employment opportunities. Stanton read the declaration paragraph by paragraph, and over the two-days of discussion, the Declaration of Sentiments and 12 resolutions received agreement endorsement, one by one, with a few amendments. The only resolution that did not pass unanimously was the call for women’s authorization. The Seneca Falls convention generated widespread ridicule and even hostility, primarily from religious leaders and the press. An article in the Philadelphia Public Ledger and Daily Transcript (September 1848) opined that, unlike the Seneca Falls women, the women of Philadelphia were â€Å"celebrated for discretion, modesty, and unfeigned diffidence† rather than â€Å"standing out for woman’s rights. † After all, the writer reasoned, â€Å"A woman is nobody. A wife is everything. A pretty girl is equal to ten thousand men, and a mother is, next to God, all powerful†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦The ladies of Philadelphia, therefore†¦.. re resolved to maintain their rights as wives, belles, virgins, and mothers, and not as women† (Stanton, Anthony, and Gage, p. 804). Women’s rights conventions were held on a regular basis until the start of the Civil War. Elizabeth Cady Stanton traveled the country lecturing and organizing for the next forty years. Winning the ri ght to vote was the key issue, since the vote would provide the means to accomplish the other reforms. The campaign for woman’s right to vote ran across continuous opposition and took 72 years for the women to win. During the Women’s Rights Movement, women faced incredible obstacles to win the American civil right to vote, which was later won in 1920. At a time when traditional roles were still very much in place, the declaration caused much controversy. Many people respected the courage and abilities behind the drafting of the document, but were unwilling to abandon conventional mindset. An article in the Onida Whig published soon after the convention described the document as the most shocking and unnatural event ever recorded in history of womanity. Although it would be many years before women finally won the vote, the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention had set the wheels in motion. Without question, it was Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments that first politicized the issues that would take center stage in the struggle to attain equality for women. In today’s society, women now are more respected and are accepted to do many jobs. Women of those years effected the women of today by giving them hope and acceptance of their right to decide how they would like to live.

The United States Deteriorating Education System Essay

Despite recent attempts to reform, there is no question that the United States education system is falling behind the education systems of other developed nations. The Programme for International Student Assessment, also known as PISA, is an international organization which measures performance of high school students throughout the world (United States, Highlights from PISA iii), and the results of its most recent series of examinations have shown that high school students in the United States are desperately trailing behind their peers in the rest of the developed world (United States, Highlights from PISA 12). Recent initiatives such as the No Child Left Behind Act have attempted to improve the state of our deteriorating education†¦show more content†¦Finland, for example, requires a grueling matriculation exam in order to pass high school, composed of one native language test and three other tests chosen by the test taker, in a broad range of subjects such as physics, philosophy, history, foreign languages and mathematics exams of varying difficulty (Finland). Results from the matriculation exams determine the students prospects for postsecondary education, which is free for Finnish citizens (Gamerman). One consequence of Finlands intense matriculation exams is that students arrive at universities fully prepared for their studies, and students who do not wish to continue on into college have sufficient preparation for a career. Japan, on the other hand, has an entirely different method of encouraging its students to perform well in school. 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