How has the study of media and communications developed over the last Essay - 2

How has the study of media and communications developed over the last century - Essay Example According Elisa et al (1), many disciplines have contributed to the study and development of media and communications as well. The first work to be discussed is that done by Karl Marx. His influences on this discipline were less assertive. Notwithstanding, the works were very important and well known in the analysis of media and communication (Atton 51). The theory of Marx is inclined to give a strong emphasis on how media and communication leads to situations of status quo among individuals (Elisa et al 1). This is opposed to many scholars who say that media’s role in the society is to encourage people communicating freely. The fundamental characteristic of the Marxist theory is his point of view on â€Å"materialism†, where Marx insists that social being is a great determinant of individual’s awareness. According to his opinion, ideological perspectives of others are not correct on their claim that the social status of individuals determines directly their consciousness and awareness. The researchers view ideology as power of specific system to denote its own meanings as experienced (Ivan 78). Marx’s position on ideology is that the media offers a great persuasion on the people of different groups to embrace capitalism as a natural aspect to them. Antonio Gramsci developed the concept of Marxism in 1920s and brought in a new idea of hegemony. Hegemony is a scenario where power relationship is received and regarded natural or seen as a common sense. Hegemony for example would include lifestyle programs that cover a range of areas of domestic life as well as personal lives of individuals. This could further include programs like childrearing, dog training, clothing, cooking, among others (Emke 57). Chomsky and Herman found out that media has a way of manipulating populations such that they are prevented from being rebellious. They did achieve this by manufacturing consents and controlling the audiences’

Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Islam - Essay Example Islam is not just a religion; in fact, it is a complete way of life which teaches Muslims peace, mercy and forgiveness (Mawdudi 1975). Islam is a relatively new religion as compared to the other religions of the world. Muslims believe that the Holy Prophet was the last prophet and there were many before him starting from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and many more. The Holy Prophet was born in Makah and became the prophet at the age of 40. He was a pious man who had to face many persecutions in order to propagate the word of god. He faced persecutions because Islam taught equality amongst all and people of Makah were not willing to accept that. During his life, he propagated Islam throughout the Arabian Peninsula and beyond. He led his life by example. Today’s Muslims try to follow the footsteps of the Holy Prophet, which is called the Sunnah. They try to live their lives like him in order succeed in the world hereafter. Hadith, the sayings of the Holy Prophet, also provid e Muslims with guidance for how to go about different endeavors. Religions are dogmatic in nature and Islam provides a complete guideline for how to go about our lives in the form of the Holy Quran, Sunnah and Hadith (Understanding Islam and Muslims, 2012). Muslims believe that the Holy Quran is the word of the Almighty Allah himself. ... plete code of life as instructed by Allah and serves as an authentic guideline to Muslims when in need of guidance for economic system, justice system, and proper human conduct; therefore, Muslims hold the Holy Quran in the highest regard. Since its very beginning, Islam was at the gateways of European countries. Merely 12 decades after the fatalities of the prophet Muhammad, Muslims spread out in Armenia, Atlanta, Georgia, Dagestan and elsewhere, such as places of the Byzantine Kingdom. 12 decades later, they were in the eastern places of this particular language (Arabic) and in almost all the places of the Mediterranean Sea from the region of the island of Malta to Sicily, Majorca and Rhodes. Extensive places in South Eastern European countries came under Islamic concept for over 500 decades, finishing only at the starting of the twentieth century (Europe and Islam: Shared History, Shared Identity, 2006). According to history, Muslim scholars have contributions in fields of psychol ogy, philosophy, ethics, education, mathematics, chemistry and humanities. ‘Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi (864-930 A.D.) is a renowned scholar in the history of Islam. He made great contributions in the field of medicine and was a known philosopher. His contribution is of a great value to the people of the religion and is compared to that of another scholar named Ibn Sina. Al- Razi was known to have written many books in the field of medicine which included  Kitab al- Mansoori,  Ã‚  Kitab al-Mulooki  and others.   Kitab al-Mansoori was a book which was translated in Latin and mostly revolved around the subject of Greco- Arab medicine. (Muhammad Ibn Zakariya Al-Razi, 2012). Another famous scholar known as Ibn Sina was born in 980 A.D. He was also known to be a great scholar for the

Fair Trade Movement

Fair Trade Movement The Aims and the Effects of the Fair-Trade Movement â€Å"What aims and purposes motivate the fair-trade movement? To what extent do you think that the methods adopted by fair-trade organizations achieve those aims?† Introduction In 2006, Fair trade certified sales amounted to approximately $2.3 billion worldwide, a 41% year-to-year increase. And fair-trade products generally account for 0.5-5% of all sales in their product categories in Europe and North America. In October 2006, over 1.5 million disadvantaged and marginalised producers worldwide were directly benefiting from fair-trade while an additional 5 million benefited from fair-trade funded infrastructure and community development projects. It seems fair-trade becomes more and more important in the social life. So it is better to understand what is fair-trade. 2. Definition of fair-trade In 2001, a common definition of fair-trade was developed by FINE, an informal association of four international fair-trade networks (Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, International Fair Trade Association, Network of European Worldshops and European Fair Trade Association): Fair trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, which seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers especially in the South. Fair trade organizations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade. The fair-trade movement advocates the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods. It focuses in particular on export goods from developing countries to developed countries, most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, tea, and some other products in agriculture. 3. Motivation of the fair-trade movement In this section, we will try to answer the first question: What aims and purposes motivate the fair-trade movement? We can find the answer to this question on the website of FLOI (Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International), the aims and purposes of the fair-trade movement, or called fair-trades strategic intent is: â€Å"deliberately to work with marginalised producers and workers in order to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency. to empower producers and workers as stakeholders in their own organizations. to actively play a wider role in the global arena to achieve greater equity in international trade.† The first aim is about marginalised producers and workers. They are the object and reason of the movement. Normally, they are easily hurt economically and treated by unequal conditions. And the fair-trade movement deliberately tries to protect those producers and workers. The second aim pays attention on the role of producers and workers in their own organizations. Normally, those marginalised producers and workers do not have enough power in their own organizations to protect themselves. But the Fair Trade movement aims to strive for more power for them in their own organizations. The third aim focus on the equity in international trade environment. It is important to create the opportunities and equity conditions for those marginalised producers and workers in domestic environment. But at the same time, we also need to take account into the international situation. And the fair-trade movement tries to reduce the gaps in different industries in different countries. IFAT (International Fair Trade Association) prescribes 10 standards that fair-trade organizations must follow in their day-to-day work and carries out continuous monitoring to ensure these standards are following: Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers Transparency and accountability Capacity building Promoting Fair Trade Payment of a fair price Gender Equity Working conditions Child Labour The environment Trade Relations I think these can be seen as a very good addition and explanation to the three main purposes of the fair-trade organizations. Those standards tell us how we can identify the aims of the fair-trade movement in practice. One can visit the website of IFAT for details. 4. Effects of the fair-trade movement Now, we should consider the second question in this section: To what extent do you think that the methods adopted by fair-trade organizations achieve those aims? 4.1 The methods To answer the question, we need to know which methods are adopted by fair-trade organizations. In nowadays, the main method adopted by fair-trade organizations is Fairtrade labelling. Although Solidarity trade occurs in 1960s, but the sales of fair trade products only really took off with the arrival of the first Fairtrade labelling initiatives. In 1988, the first Fairtrade labelling initiative, Max Havelaar, was created in the Netherlands The independent certification allowed the goods to be sold in the mainstream stores, reaching a larger consumer segment and boosting fair trade sales significantly. The labeling initiative also allowed customers and distributors alike to track the origin of the goods to confirm that the products were really benefiting the producers at the end of the supply chain. In 1997, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations (FLO) International was created, an umbrella organization whose mission is to set the Fairtrade Standards, support, inspect and certify disadvantaged producers and harmonize the fair-trade message across the movement. At present, over 20 Labelling Initiatives  are members of FLO International. Before my own comments of the question, I would like to introduce some popular argument of the fair-trade movement. It will be good if we can learn others opinion firstly. 4.2 The debate Fair-trades increasing popularity has drawn criticism from both the leftist who flavor fair-trade very much, and the rightist who against fair-trade. These arguments can be divided into three different categories: The price distortion argument, advocated by the Adam Smith Institute, and The Economist magazine calling fair-trade a misguided attempt to make up for market failures encouraging market inefficiencies and overproduction. They believe that this kind of artificial intervention of market price is easy to mislead and cause market failure. This is the opinion of rightist who oppose fair-trade. The creation of insider/outsider markets argument is defended by the Booth and Whetstone. They do not explicitly criticize the ideals behind Fair Trade, but rather current certification, production and pricing systems. They just try to improve the effects of the movement by adjusting current method mildly. The mainstreaming argument is defended by French author Christian Jacquiau, which criticizes segments of the fair-trade movement for working within the current system, rather than establishing a new fairer, fully autonomous trading system. It is a very extreme suggestion from the leftists. One can read their articles for detailed discussion. But we can see lots of different points of view, by considering the different aspects of the Fair Trade movement and its main method, Fairtrade labelling. Now the question is, does Fairtrade labelling help the movement to achieve the aims? I think the answer is yes. 4.3 The effect By using Fairtrade labelling system, those marginalised producers and workers can gain more power in their own organizations and achieve greater equity in international trade, so to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency. They really benefit from this movement, no matter more or less. As the mild people said, we can redesign the current certification, production and pricing systems to make it more efficient to help the marginalised producers and workers. Or as the leftist suggest, we can adopt a complete new trading system. Maybe this extreme suggestion is best for those producers and workers in developing countries. So we can say that the Fairtrade labelling system help fair-trade organizations achieve their aims. And we still have some methods to make the whole system more efficient. But, on the other hand, we should notice that current Fairtrade labelling system, or the advices of system changing and creation, are harmful to the market. On the point view of economics, the more often fair-trade organizations disrupt the goods market, the more possible market failures occurs. So market failure may be the price of Fair Trade movement, and we know that is bad for the whole society. Other people in economy may be worse off because of this fair-trade movement, which is also unfair to them. 5. Conclusion As a conclusion, I should say that the three main aims of the fair-trade movement are found. And Fairtrade labelling system, as the main method adopted by fair-trade organizations, is helpful to achieve those aims. But we should be careful about those misleading effects on market and other people in economy. References

How Shakespeare Makes Othello 3.3.435 - 480 Significant :: William Shakespeare

Shakespeare makes this scene significant and dramatically effective through dramatic irony and by using two very different, charismatic figures. In this extract, Othello has a dramatic change of character. No longer serene, he is cast into a state of madness and confusion. He is tormented by jealousy and disbelief. He feels betrayed. However, he is not yet convinced of his wife’s treachery. He looks at her and cannot believe that she might commit such a crime. As she enters, he says, ‘If she be false, then heaven mocks itself, I’ll not believe it.’ Later, provoked by Iago’s words, he proclaims, ‘I’ll tear her all to pieces.’ As Iago shows him ‘damning evidence’ of Desdemona’s adultery, Othello cannot help but believe him. Why would his trusted subordinate lie? It is interesting to note that, although Othello demands ‘ocular proof’ that Desdemona is false, Iago does not provide it, merely telling him how he saw Cassio wiping his beard on her handkerchief. Othello grows increasingly violent and aggressive. His well cultured European manner deteriorates rapidly. His speech is filled with abuse and curses. In many theatrical productions, Othello is seen to become much more of the Moor that he is stereotyped to be. He wears African style garments and is seen to become less Christian. Perhaps Shakespeare is insinuating that Othello has lost hope in Christianity, feels betrayed by the Europeans whose taunts he so long withstood, and feels the need to become exactly that which he was accused of being. There is huge dramatic irony through out the scene. The audience sees Othello falling through the trap laid out for him, but can only watch. It is very frustrating. The more Iago deceives him, the more Othello lays his trust on him. He addresses him as ‘faithful Iago.’ The seen is ended by Iago’s words, ‘I am your own forever.’ This is deeply ironic, as he is no longer really inferior to Othello. As Othello goes mad, the hierarchy reverses. Iago is the one holding all the strings, manipulating him like a puppet. Othello, blind to the deception, effectively lays himself at Iago’s feet and at his discretion. Iago’s reaction is of great importance. The audience cannot see his true thoughts, but only the mask that he uses on the outside. One can guess that he would feel a certain degree of smugness at his success. However, he may too, like Othello, be experiencing inner turmoil. It is possible that he feels guilt and regret for his actions.

Sociolgical Imagination

Sociological Imagination Sociological Imagination can be defined as the ability to notice a difference in people due to their social circumstances, how their â€Å"social norms,† influence their lives. Sometimes these situations can lead to an outcome and it gives you an understanding as to why things happen the way they do. You understand what causes led to that specific outcome. Basically, you understand peoples lives because you can see how the outcome effects their lives and the people around them.Having an understanding of sociological imagination helps in the field of sociology because it alps you have a different perspective on peoples lives. I started dating a guy at the beginning of my senior year of high school. Not long after, we become inseparable. It didn't take very long for me to think I was in love. When I felt like it was the right time, we decided to have sex. I never thought that I would get pregnant the first time because we were safe, and I was on birth co ntrol. Fortunately, I didn't. As the months went on we would risk not using protection and I was still not getting pregnant.Stupidly, I thought well maybe I Just can not get pregnant since it has not happened to me yet. After about a year of dating, I missed my birth control for a week. About eight weeks after that I get really sick and can not keep any food down. My grandmother takes me to the doctor and I will never forget that moment when the doctor came back in and said the words I thought I would never hear. I was pregnant. My sister had gotten pregnant while she was still in high school, so my mother really depended on me to be the daughter that finished college and then started a life of my own. She was so disappointed in me.But the rest of my family viewed it as normal that I had gotten pregnant at 18. Many of my cousins started a family instead of going to college. 9 out of 11 of my cousins were teen parents. Along with the younger generation, my grandparents, aunts, and un cles also started their families very early. While I did not purposely try to start a family at my age, my family did not see it as a bad thing. My boyfriend stepped up in this situation and decided early on that he was not going to be like every other young dad and run off. He has changed every part of his life to give our baby the best life possible.A long time ago getting married at a very young age was socially acceptable, now it is morally wrong in many ultras. Since girls were married at a young age, teen pregnancy was accepted, also. In this generation teen pregnancy is still Just as common as it was then, but without the girls being married or even in a relationship. â€Å"1 . 3 in 10 teen American girls will get pregnant at least once before ago 20. That's nearly 750,000 teen pregnancies every year. 3. Less than 2 percent of teen moms earn a college degree by age 30. 5. The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the western industrialized world. 10.Al most fifty percent of teens have never considered how pregnancy would affect their lives. (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy) Due to teen pregnancy rates being so high, Americans have to learn to accept and adapt to this being a new custom. â€Å"Based on a teen survey his organization conducted in 2009, a vast majority (eighty-seven percent) of teens who watched the MAT show 16 and Pregnant reported that they felt the show helped demonstrate to them the true hardships that teenage pregnancy can bring to both girls and boys. In contrast, very few (seventeen percent) felt the show actually glorified teen pregnancy. (Silvers) These shows help to show the struggles that all he young girls starring in them face. By putting their stories out there they are helping to reduce teen pregnancy rates. Even though there are shows to help try to reduce teen pregnancy, there are also movies and shows that make being sexually active teens look â€Å"cool,† or â €Å"popular. † Many movies show the virgin being made fun of for not being sexually active. Making sex look fun or cool results in teens having sex, which may lead to teen pregnancy. The social norm for young people is to graduate high school, go to college, get a career, and start a life of their own.

Hazel

Where did the ritual take place? Villa Maria College Chapel, Christopher, New Zealand 2. Why did you choose this location? I went to school at Villa Maria College and I had an affiliation with the location. I liked the quaint, small size of the chapel where the guests felt closeness to the wedding ritual. I chose a Catholic chapel due to Roman Catholic being my religion. 3. What symbols were used in the ritual? What significance did they have? Rings- Symbolism our everlasting love that we bound as one, wedding dress- white homebodies my purity and is a tradition. . How were these symbols Important In the ritual for you? The rings symbolized for me our love and commitment for the rest of our lives, they were important as we picked them together. The wedding dress was special to me as it was white, it made me feel beautiful and it was traditional. I chose a traditional wedding dress, as it is apart of the Christian ritual. 5. What was the purpose of the ritual for you? Because for us, It was a commitment for the rest of our lives and It meant that we would raise children In the Catholic community. It also expressed our everlasting love for each other. 6.In your opinion, what was the climax of the ritual? When we said our vows and exchanged rings. 7. Did you have to do anything Involved with the ritual before the ceremony? Engagement, apply for a certificate of marriage, planning the ceremony. 8. Did you have to anything involved with the ritual after the ceremony? Honeymoon. 9. Which parts of the ritual were most special to you? The exchanging of rings and vows was most Important to me. Also, In the ceremony my mother sung, â€Å"Love changes everything† by Michael Crawford because It was meeting that she loves to do and it was special as it played an important part of the ceremony. 0. How did the ritual change you as a person? I changed my social status and there felt a real deference between living together 1 1 . Who attended the ritual? The wedding part y, family and close friends. 12. What roles did the participants play? My mother sung as said previously and my mother in law and close friend said a reading at the ceremony. My close friend was a bridesmaid and my brother in law was the best man. My nieces were flower girls and nephew was ring bearer. 13. How was the community involved in the ritual?The Villa Maria College nuns that lived next to the chapel, helped to prepare the chapel for the ceremony. 14. What features in the ritual displayed your religion? The bible where the readings were from, the prayers of the faithful and the hymns. One reading I chose was Corinthians 13: 4-7 as it displays what real love is like. ORAL Good morning, my name is Hazel Faulkner and today I will discuss a rite of passage, marriage, from the variant Roman Catholic. A ritual is a ceremony that involves different actions, symbols and writings which are performed according to a set order.Rituals are apart of everyday life and can even be as simple as a morning routine. Religious rituals are important as they help adherents connect with their deity. A rite of passage is a ceremony or event that marks a change or transition in someone's life from one phase to another. They include birth, adolescence, marriage and death. Over the years, scholars of religion have provided ways to analyses rituals. For example, Arnold Van Genes argued that a rite of passage involves three stages: pre-lamina, lamina and post-lamina. Sacred refers to the adherent being connected o or dedicated to their deity.Profane or secular is the opposite of sacred, it means something or someone is not concerned with religion. Marriage is a rite of passage and getting married is an important part of Christians lives. Marriage is a life long commitment between husband and wife made in the presence of God. Catholics generally have a Nuptial Mass which involves Eucharist and takes place in a church. The transition in marriage is being single to becoming one with y our bride or groom. Catholic marriage fits most appropriately into Van Genie's model and Love's five-step approach.The difference between a marriage and a wedding is that the marriage is the life long commitment where as a wedding For the investigation of a Catholic marriage the interviewee was my mother, Sue Faulkner. Her role in the rite of passage was the bride. Some of the questions asked were where did the ritual take place, what symbols were used, what significance did they have and what was the climax of the ritual. The interviewee's marriage took place at Villa Maria Chapel in Christopher, New Zealand. The questions helped to find useful information on the ritual and to discover an individuals view on marriage.A Catholic marriage has a clear structure. The first main element of a Catholic wedding is the wedding procession. It includes the bride walking down the aisle either by herself or with one or both of her parents as well as the wedding party. The symbolism of this elem ent is the beginning of a change of status and new life. Another element includes the readings from the Old Testament and New Testament. The purpose of the readings is to outline the importance of a Catholic tradition and make the presence of God in the marriage clear.The declaration of intention is also an important part of the wedding. This stage outlines the promises of commitment to each other throughout the struggles in marriage. The blessing of rings and exchanging of vows is often seen as the most important part of the wedding as the couple expresses the love they shares for each other and the vows symbolism commitment. Christians believe during the vows Christ becomes present. My interviewee saw this element as the climax of the ritual. The pronouncement of marriage is the stage where the change in status is almost completed.The signing of the register is a formal and legal recognition of the marriage and completes the stage f status for the couple. The recession concludes t he ritual ceremony, thus the change of status is final. As stated before, marriage suitably fits into Van Genie's model. He argued that there were three stages of a rite of passage, one being pre-lamina. The pre-lamina stage is the first stage in a rite of passage. It involves the separation from the couple's previous life. In a Catholic Marriage, the pre-lamina stage involves the bridal procession as it marks a beginning of a new status for the bride.It also involves the declaration of purpose where the priest outlines the significance of marriage and its repose in a Catholic context. The lamina stage involves transitioning from one stage to another and is often seen as the most important stage. The lamina stage in a Catholic marriage takes place after the giving away of the bride to the end of the exchanging of rings. The blessing of rings and exchanging of vows physically marks the change in status and transition. The post lamina stage in a Catholic marriage is the reincorporatio n stage where the couple is now ready to enter society with their new status.The post lamina stage in a Catholic marriage would include the signing of the register where the couple omelets their change in status and the recession where their change in status is Another model that is suitable to show and explain the structure of the ritual is Love's five-step approach. The model includes five steps, the first being the entry in which the participant leaves the ordinary world and enters the ritual. In a Catholic marriage this would include the proposal and declaration. The couple is now engaged and candidates for marriage.The second step is called the â€Å"preparation† in which the couple is involved in some sort of preparatory rite. This would include pre- Raritan counseling. The third is the climax of the ritual, which is the central, or highpoint of the ritual. In a marriage ceremony, the climax would be the exchanging of rings and vows. My interviewee agreed with this. The forth step includes the celebration which would be the wedding reception and the fifth step is called the â€Å"return† where the participants (bride and groom) leave the ritual and return to the ordinary world.The marriage ceremony marks separation from the ordinary or profane for the couple. The declaration of the couple as ‘husband' and Wife' displays that they are prepared from the community as they are now married. One element in a Catholic wedding which reinforces doctrinal teachings, is the readings. A common reading used is Psalm 103:8 which is a responsible psalm. â€Å"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. † The message of the psalm is that the Lord is kind and merciful. The four major rites of passages are birth, adolescence, marriage and death.These passages will happen whether or not they are acknowledged with a ritual. Although, Christians choose to mark them with a special ceremony as they are important ruinatio ns in people's lives. The models by Van Genes, Turner and Loved are important as they help to break down rites of passages to better understand them. Catholic Marriage fits best into Van Genie's model as well as Love's. Marriage is important to Catholics as it promotes the same love that exists in the Holy Trinity and for the procreation of life, another aspect that mirrors the Trinity. Marriage creates a union between spouses.It is a sacrament and an institution created by God. B. WRITTEN SUBMISSION This investigation has helped to expand my knowledge on rituals, rites of passage ND marriage. I learnt that a ritual can be as simple as a morning routine and that there are many varieties of a ritual. Before the investigation, I had only a brief understanding of the models. The investigation helped to develop my knowledge on the particular models by Van Genes and Loved. The models helped me also to better the pre-lamina stage (separation), lamina stage (transition), and post-lamina st age (reincorporation).Love's model involves five steps: the entry, preparation, climax, celebration and return. These models are not only used for Christian rituals but for tails of any religion. The Buddhist view of marriage is considered a secular affair and is not seen as a religious duty. Buddhism marriage is a personal and social obligation. In Islam, marriage is a legal contract and the religion is a strong advocate for marriage. Referring to Hinduism, Hindus view marriage as a sacrament. They have similar views as Christianity in terms of marriage, believing that marriage is a union and Joins two individuals for life.Judaism also has similar views as marriage is viewed as a bond commanded by God in which a man and woman come together to create a legislations in which God is involved. Also, Jewish married couples are traditionally expected to have children. Australia is a multicultural society and therefore, we have a variety of different religions such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism and many others, which are continually developing in Australian society. This means marriage ceremonies in Australia significantly differ depending on the religion. The participant's culture may be expressed through clothing or music.My interviewee's wedding did not take place in Australia but New Zealand. Australia ND New Zealand are very similar thus my interviewee's wedding did not significantly differ from a traditional Australian wedding. In an Aboriginal marriage ceremony, couples are commonly involved in a traditional smoking ceremony which makes the couple feel cleansed and free, going into the marriage with no bad spirits to bring them bad luck and it is also performed to create a lifelong bond between the couple. Marriage in Aboriginal societies is complicated and has puzzled anthropologists for centuries.In a Catholic marriage, the most important or common symbol is the rings. The rings present a never-ending circle of eternal love. They al so represent the union and commitment of the couple. Other marriage symbols include the veil, wedding bells, the wedding dress and the bible. Marriage successfully draws participants beyond the ordinary and into the transcendent as it is does not Just simply include the man and woman being in love. It is something larger in which the partners have a special ceremony which expresses the very meaning of their life together.Even though the institution of marriage that binds the couple together is invisible actions such as the stating the vows and exchanging of rings expresses the love and union. Although my speech mostly discusses the wedding ceremony, the preparation of the doesn't Just involve getting the wedding dress, flowers, rings etc. Couples are encouraged to attend pre-marital counseling which helps them prepare for marriage. After the couple is officially married, they may decide to go on a honeymoon. Also, the couple may decide that they want to have children, as marriage is essentially the ideal foundation for the making of children.The investigation was interesting yet difficult at times. The most challenging part of he investigation was finding what the pre-lamina, lamina and post-lamina stages of a Catholic wedding are. Information on the internet told me that pre-lamina stage of a Catholic wedding is the engagement, lamina is the ceremony and post-lamina is the honeymoon. However, I wanted to find the stages in the specific ceremony, as it was my main focus. The investigation helped me to better understand the concept of a ritual and a wedding ritual. Bibliography Austere, L, What is transcendence and why does it matter?