Visual Arts and Film Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Visual Arts and Film Studies - Essay Example Countries though united by the government, are often divided by religion, political parties, ethnicity and class. Unifying forces in different cultures include trade, belief in common descent and marriage. In any society, common cultural traditions also provide a basis for uniformity. This paper will examine three unifying elements of American popular culture, describing how these elements reflect concerns, interests and ideas in present-day America. One of the most significant elements of American popular culture is communication. Communication refers to the process of circular interaction, which involves a receiver, sender and message. Since Americans are intelligent and symbol making people, the messages may be conveyed either verbally or non-verbally through the use of words, either written or oral, graphs, signs, gestures, pictures, statistics and signs. Americans are versatile communicators and the contemporary American popular culture upholds the need for communication in the conveyance of ideas, views and interests. The capacity of humans to communicate changed from smoke signals to sound of drums to the Internet and TV. As dynamic beings, Americans constantly invent innovative and enhanced ways of communication in line with changing times and desires. Despite the communication symbol utilized in modern American society, a receiver and sender are often involved. Current-day Americans have dissimilar needs from those of ancient times (Storey 161). The means of communication used by Americans today reflect these differing needs. At present, Americans primary use the Internet to communicate. Technology presents a practical application of science to both industry and commerce. The cell phone is currently one of the most popular modern pieces of technology used by Americans for communication purposes. The cell phone helps with the spread of contemporary American popular culture. The invention is a form of wireless communication device, which is quite familia r to American mobile phone users. Cell phones allow communication between distant individuals thereby presents a viable tool for spreading contemporary American popular culture. Another popular element of contemporary American popular culture is football. Although football is only a game, it is presently a popular American spectator sport. For instance, on fall Saturdays, millions of people travel to and from famous college football games. Other congregations also meet in high school stadia while millions of people watch televised football. Notably, almost half of the adult population in the US watches the Super Bowl. Since football is of immense interest to Americans, it plays a significant role as a unifying cultural institution, which demands attention (Storey 116). America’s most popular sport manages to attract fans from different political, ethnic and social backgrounds and genders. The popularity of football, specifically professional football, depends precisely on the mass media, particularly TV. Football is peculiarly an American pastime despite its inherent violent nature. However, football is not popular among Americans on account of its violent nature. Notably, if football were an effective vehicle for the expression of aggression, it would have spread, like other sports, to other countries where people have similar aggressive tendencies as Americans. If the popularity of football centered primarily on a blood thirsty temperament, other bloodier sports such as boxing would be America’s national pastime. The explanation of football’s popularity in the US lies in its symbolism of various key characteristics of American life (Hassabian 82). Particularly, football is characterized by teamwork, which centers on specialization, as well

Property Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Property Law - Essay Example However, in due course the differentiation between a will and a testament has become thin, and people use the term, will, to refer to a statement that both disposes of both personal property and real property. In the event an individual dies without drafting a will, the state proceeds to distribute the person’s estate in accordance with the laws of Descent and Distribution of the person’s stateii. The significance of a will is diverse from the fact that it gives the drafter a chance to choose the people who will be heirs to his property. It also allows the testator to decide the people who will execute their estate, and using fairness in distributing their wealth, in place of the court appointing a stranger to allocate the estate to the family. Another importance of a will is the fact that the testator can protect the interests of the people close to him, and those of his children in choosing who their guardian would be in the event of the testator’s death. When writing a will the law requires the testator give information as to who will take care of their children incase the stated guard dies before the execution of the will. This may include the other benefactors of the will in the event they die before the execution of the will. ... Requirements for a Will to be Valid The first requirement is that the testator, the person making the will must declare himself as the testator and that he revokes any previous will either express or impliediii. The person should also have the mental capacity to make a valid will at the time of drafting of the will. The person making the will to be accepted by the law as making a valid will through mental capability must be at least 18 years and above, bar for any exceptions provided for by law. Another indication of whether the person has the capacity to make a valid will is that they ought to be of sound mind, understanding, and memory. This is to mean that the person ought to be aware of what they are writing and its implications. It is essential to note that the Mental Capacity Act of 2005 does not have provisions for invalidating a will; that has already been prepared by an individual of unsound mind. There is normally the assumption of intention, in that if a will is validly ex ecuted and the person is of sound mind during the process of execution. This is the third requirement of a valid will; that the testator must have an intention to dispose of their properly as per the will upon the testator’s death. The third requirement is that there should be no traces of undue influence, force and/or fraud. If the court can establish that the testator was either pressured into making the will, or if the execution of the will was through fraudulent means, then it may set aside part of the will, or will in its entiretyiv. It is mandatory for the testator to sign the will or have someone sign it for them; the will must not be necessarily in writing. In most