Using the French Expression Oh làlÃÂ

Using the French Expression Oh l l The French phrase oh l l isnt so much an expression as an interjection. It can indicate surprise, disappointment, commiseration, distress, or annoyance. The phrase is used to express any moderately strong reaction to something that was just said or done, for example: Oh l l ! Jai oublià © mon portefeuille! Oh no, I forgot my wallet! You can strengthen the phrase by adding more  ls, but you need to do so in pairs. Using and Misusing Oh l l A native French speaker might use the expression as follows. Suppose this person is passing through Charles de Gaulle Airport, which is near Paris. Imagine that the man is looking at souvenirs and knocks over a small Eiffel Tower made of glass, causing it to shatter. He might exclaim: Oh l  l l  l l  l!  (Note how he inserted four extra  ls- two pairs of two- to heighten his expression of annoyance or mortification.) Another example might be a French native speaker playing poker. Suppose the card player draws an ace to give her four aces, generally a winning hand. She might use the phrase as follows:   Oh l l l l ! (a beat) l l! Note that in English, this expression is often used in to talk about something risquà ©. It tends to be misspelled in these occurrences and mispronounced as ooh la la. It is also usually said fairly slowly and with the first word comically elongated. That is not the way to use the expression correctly in French. Pronouncing and Defining Oh l l Click the link for [o la la] to bring up a sound file that will let you hear how to correctly pronounce the phrase. Click the link a couple of times, listen carefully, and then repeat the saying until you are able to pronounce it correctly. Though the phrase does, indeed, translate as Oh dear, Oh my, or Oh no, its literal translation is Oh there, there. That would make little sense in English, hence the generally accepted, and more emotional, translations. Using  Oh l l in Conversation According to The Local, there are many ways to correctly use this versatile interjection: For example, you show someone your new ring and they say, Oh l l cest trop jolie!  (Oh my god it’s so pretty!) It is high, light and happy. The Stockholm-based website devoted to European languages and culture, including French, warns that you should not use the phrase for particularly negative situations, such as  a car barreling  through a pedestrian crossing nearly knocking  you over, a biker ringing his bell at you, or someone cutting in front of you in line at the grocery store. There are other  French phrases  that are more appropriate for those kinds of situations. But the expressive phrase is really a useful one to employ if you are visiting France: (There are) moments when Oh l l l l l l  is really the only way you can express your frustration/anger/hanger (hunger anger). It is satisfying. If you live in Paris long enough, says the website, it will become an automatic part of your vocabulary, adding that at this the point, youll know youre really turning Parisian.

Personal case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Personal - Case Study Example I major in Hutment development and leadership with concentration area of the HDL in Murray state. I anticipate graduating on 5th October 2014. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory My life dates back when I was a little girl. I was a jovial and playful baby. The people around me were truthful which led to the elemental sense of my trustworthiness. I depended on my mother and my father for care, comfort and sustenance. By this time, my relative comprehension of the world came from my parents, particularly my mother, and their interactions with me. My parents’ regularity, warmth and reliable fondness exposed me to a world ruled by trust. There was no point in my life that my parents failed to offer a secure surrounding to meet my basic need. Just like noted under Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory, this would have created mistrust which would have resulted to suspicions, lack of confidence, withdrawal and frustration to me. Just like the Erik Erikson’s theory explains, m y mother and father took good care of me as I went through a critical stage of growth. It is essential that a child is taken good care at that age since trust and mistrust can be gained and affect the future life of the child. The theory explains how the child gains mistrust to the surrounding people if he is mishandled. The care giver that I had was appropriate in terms of response and attendance. My parents ensured that they responded on time for any need that required them to attend me. Handling me with great concern was one of the critical factors that shaped me to what I am today. During this age nearing two years, I learned about love from the surrounding. I gained immense affection from the attendance they offered me. When I needed anything, my parents ensured that they provide for me and responded to my cries in the best way possible. This contributed towards achieving the strong platforms that am founded on. The theory explains that when an infant fails to have trust toward s his or her care givers, he embraces mistrust towards the surrounding and the entire care givers. Contrary to this, I gained trust towards them and the entire surroundings. This enabled me to have an interesting life as I went through this stage. I also went on my life embracing the aspect of secure world. As I grew older, I started to choose cloths by myself. By the age of 3, I had gained control over eliminative roles and would make choices in my life while I explored the environment around me. Needless to say, my parents still provided a secure environment where I would carry out my own activities at will. My parents were patient and would wait to look at my choices and would correct me if I had gone wrong at some point. At this time of my life, I had developed a strong interest in reading and played with the radio. My parents gave me a chance to express myself and be using different things inside the house and outside. I realized that I could move my limbs through the support o f items like the table. After my parents realized that I could move through the support of a items, they bought me a walker that I used to move swiftly with. The walker gave me confidence of moving and enhanced my muscles, where I later decided to walk on my own without support. During this period, I was about two years and was going through the stage of autonomy verses shame and doubt. This is a theory well explained by Erik. I learned many things that allowed me to express myself

Role of Nuclear Medicine in the Field of Gastrointestinal Diseases Essay

Role of Nuclear Medicine in the Field of Gastrointestinal Diseases - Essay Example Through imaging the physician can advice the patients with such diseases the cure and treatment. With the help of Nuclear Medicine Imaging, the imaging of IBD may be performed with In-111Leukocytes and Tc-99m Leukocytes. Nuclear Imaging can assess the conditions and situation of the gastrointestinal tract of the patient. With detailed observation the physician can advice the patients on what medicine to take to cure the said disease. Medicine is the science and art concerned with treating diseases so with preservation of one's health. It is a branch of healing art that deals with restoration of life and curing diseases by administration of drugs. Medicine is a very wide subject but it all includes all the sciences that are under the healing art and all varieties of curative treatment. Not only is it all about treating but also about preventive and the discussion of causation (Universal Encyclopedia, 1993). The development and classification of medical science have proceeded by gradual steps from very early times. The year 1543 marks an important point in the development of modern medicine. It was Andreas Versalius who published De Humani Corposis Fabrica (The Fabric of Human Body) in that year. It was a first great achievement for in that book the real structure of human body was revealed. Versalius undermined the widespread of reverence for authority in science and prepared a way for independent observation in anatomy and medicine. After that achievement there was a lot of upgrades in the field of medicine. The works and achievement of Pasteur in the field of Microbiology, Mendel in the field Genetics, and Darwin in Evolutionary Biology has greatly influenced and advanced the field of Medicine. As Medicine has been developing into more knowledge about the art of healing researches and more studies have been done. Among to its advancements are the discovery of tissue grafting. Transplants of organs are now possible and have saved many lives already. Born with the improvement in the field of Medicine is Nuclear Medicine. This field of Medicine is a science of healing that uses radiation to provide or give information about the person's anatomy and the functioning activity of the specific organs. With the information given to the physician, the doctor can provide and recommend proper diagnosis and treatment. Examples of conditions that can be checked with this field are cancer, heart diseases, thyroid disorders, bone disorders and gastrointestinal diseases (Nuclear Imaging, 2006). This field of Medicine is actually a sect specialty with in the field of radiology. The diagnostic examination that results from the images of body anatomy and functionality is comprised in this field. Nuclear medicine is a subspecialty within the field of radiology. The images are developed based on the detection of energy emitted from a radioactive substance given to the patient, either intravenously or by mouth. Generally, radiation to the patient is similar to that resulting from standard x-ray examinations (Nuclear Medicine, 2006). The substances used in this kind of practice are radio nuclides (radiopharmaceuticals). During examinations the radioactive substances are administered to the patience and the radiation emitted is then measured. Mostly of these examinations involves the formation of an image using a gamma camera. Nuclear medicine can

Differences between underinsured Immigrant Children and American Research Paper

Differences between underinsured Immigrant Children and American Children, and insured children in United States - Research Paper Example Census Bureau 2). According to census report 2007, there were approximately 45.7million uninsured people in the country which the entire world view as the world’s economic giant. This paper will look into the differences between the underinsured immigrants and American children, and the insured children in the United States. Depending on one’s definition of underinsurance, 8 to 26% of privately insured population under 65 years of age is underinsured. Enrollees with group insurance constitute 90% of persons with private insurance and they are a substantial majority of the underinsured (U.S. Census Bureau 1). However, from one-third to two-third of all groups of enrollees are underinsured. Under some definitions of underinsurance, women and their dependants are underinsured at about twice the rate for men and their dependants. Even though vulnerable populations are more likely to need healthcare services, many are not able to access them. A number of reasons are cited for this phenomenon, but one of the most problematic is the lack of healthcare insurance. More precisely, in 2007, more than 45 million people in the United States did not have health insurance benefits. These groups are particularly affected by escalating healthcare costs and reductions in service within a community. The elderly, po or children and growing numbers of individuals who are not properly represented in employment are the most affected (Sered and Fernandopulle 19). According to the Child Health web page of the Children’s Defense Fund’s web site, of the nine million uninsured children, 40.8 percent are White, 31.7 percent are Hispanic, 19.8 percent are Black, 5.1 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander and 2.6 percent are American Indian or Alaskan Native. According to United States Census Bureau website, the population of Miami Dade stands at 3.7million. Of this population, 21% of the people are not insured. Of this

Agency Theory Accounting practices

Agency Theory Accounting practices Agency theory the contribution of agency theory to the development of current accounting practices Introduction The aim of this report is to develop a relationship between agency theory and the existing practices of accountancy. In the report, the problem of agent-principal will be described with the main consequences for business-related relationship. After identifying the problem, the accountancy practices will be linked to the issues addressed in model that will be explained. The report will look at a case study related to agency theories and its affects within accounting practices. Finally it will show the ways the accountancy practices meet the problems raised by the agent-principal relationships. The agency theory is a mixture of the relationships between principals and agents, it occurs when principal and the agents create a delegation (Donaldson, L. Davis, J.H., June 1991). Berle and Means 1932 stated that the Agency theory argues that in modern corporation, where share ownership is widely held, managerial actions depart from those required to maximise the shareholders return, this was also backed up by Pratt and Zeckhauser in 1985. According to Jensen and Meckling, 1976, In Agency theory terms, the owners are principals and the managers are agents and there is an Agency loss which is the extent to which returns to the residual claimants, the owners, fall below what they would be if the principals, and the owners, exercised direct control of the corporation (Donaldson, L. Davis, J.H., June 1991). The long term strategies for agency theory include the principle of company, business, franchise, etc providing incentives such as increasing commission, continuing to provide advertising, training and motivation to increase outlet operations. To argue this Carney and Gedajlovic stated that regarding of the exogenous factor, outlet managers have an incentive to shirk and misrepresent their abilities because the firm is hard to differentiate the managers performance behavior (Mathieu, 1997), While the short-term strategies include balancing supply with demand at the shortest turn around time. Agency theory tends to impact business decisions by focusing on establishing incentives as mentioned in the long-term strategies above. However, it may be very costly and may create moral hazards if top management tries to over maximise profits for themselves instead of for the employees. The cost to manage and monitor transactions can affect both the domestic and global financial managers due to the strategy becoming very expensive; nevertheless this strategy can have the negative impact upon the organisations survival. Conflicts of agency theory There is a conflict between principals and agents (shareholders and managers) that can potentially have a devastating business consequence. The cost of monitoring efforts, measuring results and opportunities lost can be substantial. Incentives and disincentives may not result in wanted outcome, when businesses should scan their environment constantly to seek opportunities to meet the interest of their own stakeholders. Agency theory is a small entity of financial economics that looks at conflicts of interest between people that have different interests for the same assets, this means that their will always be constant conflicts between: shareholders managers and shareholders bond holders. These are the reason why organisations make constant acquisitions that tend to be bad for the shareholder, why convertible bonds are preferably used while normal bonds are often sold with warrants and finally shows the importance of capital structures. According to Eisenhardt (1989a), agency theory is devoted to the solution of two problems that can arise from agency relationships. The first problem is goal related and arises when: i) there is a conflict between the goals of the principal and the agent; and ii) the verification of the agents behaviour is difficult or expensive to be verified by the principal. The second problem is risk-related. If the agent and the principal have different attitudes towards risk, it is likely that both will behave differently and in accordance to their risk preferences. Identifying conflicting positions between any two agents and explaining the governance mechanisms underlying these relationships (that limit the agents behaviour) is known as the Positivist agency theory (Eisenhardt, 1989a). A different position is found in the principal-agent research (as opposed to the positivistic agency theory) and relies on a more mathematical and abstract approach to the problem. Although in different perspectives, these two approaches can be complementary as it can be seen in the quotation below (Eisenhardt, 1998a: 60): â€Å"Rather, the important point is that the two streams are complementary: Positivistic theory identifies various contract alternatives, and the principal-agent theory indicates which contract is the most efficient under varying levels of outcome uncertainty, risk aversion, information, and other variables†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Problems of agency theory The major popularity of the application of the agency theory to the relationship between shareholders and the board if directors produced a vast amount of research devoted to this issue. In fact, this phenomenon relates to those cases in which ownership and management are represented by different individuals. Being each individual maximising its utility leads to the existence conflicting positions between the agent and the principal. This became the main focus of research, and justifies the need of such an agency theory. This problematic is in the basis of the role of agent theory in the accountancy practices. According to Bricker and Chandar (1998: 488-489): â€Å"Contracts between shareholders and managers are written in order to reduce agency cost, and thereby, the dead weight loss in firm value as a result of the separation of ownership from control. Accounting is considered to play an important role as an integral part of the contracts that define a firm. For example, lending arrangements between a firm and its creditors often contain several accounting based covenants. Accounting-based bonus plans are frequently a component of executive compensation plans. Accounting measures are commonly used in the performance evaluation of a firms cost and profit centers. Watts and Zimmerman argue [1986, p. 196]: if accounting is an important part of the firms contracting process and agency costs (and hence, firm value and/or managers compensation) vary with different contracts, accounting procedures have the potential to affect firm value and/or the managers compensation. This rationale has given rise to several hypotheses regarding the role of accounting information in market valuation of firms and managers use of accounting discretion.† The table presented below summarises some of the key issues associated with agency theory and relates them to several assumptions of different nature: Key idea Principal agent relationship should reflect efficient organisation of information and risk-bearing costs Unit of analysis Contract between principal and agent Human assumptions Self interest Bounded rationality Risk aversion Organisational assumptions Partial goal conflict among participants Efficiency as the effectiveness criterion Information asymmetry between principal and agent Information assumptions Information as purchasable commodity Contracting problems Agency (moral hazard and adverse selection) Risk sharing Problem domain Relationships in which the principal and agent have partially differing goals and risk preferences (e.g. compensation, regulation. Leadership, impression management, whistle-blowing, vertical integration, transfer pricing) Table 1: Agency theory overview Source: Eisenhardt (1989a) Development of agency theory Agency cost is a major problem with organisation and with constant fraud cases that are growing around the world their needed to be major development of the theory in accounting practices. A way of developing the theory is to minimise agency costs that can be accomplished through communications, sharing risks and benefits and seeking to balance the scorecards. The theory has developed by establishing performance standards, using cost effective processes, cost management tools and incentives have all helped the problem of managing agency problems. Accountancy provides information to base future decisions on historical performances. Providing accurate information about costs it is possible to predict the result of future production. This perspective is particularly important in the case of, for example, government contracts, in which an agent- principal relationship is also established. For example, Reichelstein (1992) draws upon the agency models to explain government contracts, showing how agency theory can be used to design incentive contracts, and demonstrating that the agency models have actually influenced managerial economics. A different perspective is that accounting provides an opportunity of control from the agent over the principal. In this respect, the insights about the relationship between the shareholders and management were particularly important in demonstrating the role of accountancy as key information provider. To that extent, it was suggested that accountancy reporting is a result of the separation of ownership from management phenomena. Hence, it can be argued that the reporting practice is a result of the agent problem and serves the control needed to verify the agents performance. Another perspective was the budget development based on historical accounts. Contracts usually include a price for production which has not taken place yet. The pricing of these contracts has to be based on historical costs that can only be provided by accountancy. To that extent, accountancy practice is not a result of the agent-principal problem but is originated to avoid uncertainty in principal-agent relationships. case realted study to agency theory Taking a prime example of Enron and its relationship with accounting practices clearly show the affects of agency theory within an accounting practice can affect organisations. The collapse of Enron was entirely related to the accounting practices adopted by the company. It has a number of these questionable, and in some cases straight out fraudulent, accounting practices that pertained to the most dramatic collapse of a major company in years. An analysis of some of these accounting practices brings to light the problems with the use of concepts such as mark-to-market accounting and the use of special purpose entitys (SPEs), the interrelation of agency theory suggests that the basic ideals surrounding agency theory applied to the Enron Case at some point in time, however the continuation of this principal deteriorated as time went on. The agency theory was clearly an issue in Enrons case because the managers of the firm were transferring wealth from the shareholders to themselves in the form of stock performance. Not only were there the Shareholders to Management agency problem there was also an employer to employee agency problem. With regard to the shareholder to management problem, the shareholders had placed a large amount of decision-making capability onto the management team and had not successfully monitored the agents behaviour. Given that the managers had all come to Enron with a strong reputation, it was expected that they â€Å"would act in the interest of the shareholders. [As such the shareholders] had monitored the managers performance very little† (Godfrey et al, 2008). As a shareholder, it would have been in the best interests to implement monitoring costs to â€Å"measure, observe and control† Schillings behaviour. Unfortunately this would not have been enough. The introduction of Fa stow, described as â€Å"a genius† in a number of sources, allowed for the performance of Enron to appear strong even in dire times. The use of SPEs and mark-to-market accounting allowed for the â€Å"reduction of monitoring costs by incurring bonding costs [in the form of quarterly statements]† that allowed Enron to perform better than it appeared. Another point that links is that the agency theory is the â€Å"the principal will remunerate the agent according to the principals expectations of how much the agents behaviour is likely to be contrary to the principals interests† (Godfrey et al, 2008). Given that managers of Enron were all major shareholders of the company the focus was on driving the share price up which was done by a process called â€Å"pump and dump; this process involved buying up the share price and then selling out† (Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room) this allowed the directors to maintain high remuneration because they were achieving high share prices for the principals and also allowed them to gain from share price rises before selling out at the top. Finally, the principal-agent relationship that occurs between Skilling and Fastow (CEO of Enron) is that of an employee to employer. This relationship is important because it â€Å"emphasises the importance of the ability to monitor employees work efforts† (Akdere, Azvedo, 2004). Skilling and Ken Lay claim that they were unaware of what Fastow was doing with regards to the financial statements, however, Skilling and Lay were acting as the agents for the shareholders as well as acting as the principals for Fastow. Their involvement in such transactions as the one with LJM were â€Å"not only disclosed to the board at a meeting which took place in 1999, but the board approved of [Fastows] participation, following a recommendation to this effect from the then CEO and Chairman, Ken Lay† (Deakin, Konzelmann, 2004). From this we can clearly see that Lay, Skilling and Fastow were all part of the agency problem that occurred. conclusion This report has shown that several areas of accounting have been affected by the agency theory model. This theory has defiantly had implications in the financial accounting, management accounting and in corporate finance. Nevertheless, the strongest argument that relates to agency theory with accountancy mainly relies in the nature of both, the accounting and agency theory rely on the existence of contracts, these contracts rely at the core of the relationship between agents and the principal. Furthermore agency theorys core role is the risk associated with the relationship whereas accountancy reduces risk by providing information about the agents in action. Additionally reporting previous behaviours of the agent showing that the historical agent has kept the conditions of contract, may provide indications for the principal about the future behaviour of agents; increasing trust levels in the relationship and reducing the risk associated with relations. In conclusion, the current features (and practices) of accountancy meet the agency model problems proving the information to avoid opportunistic behaviours and ensuring that relational contracts are met. Referances Journals Davis, J.H., Schoorman, F.D., Donaldson, L. (1997), Toward a stewardship theory of management, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22 No.1, pp.20-47. Berle, A. and G. Means, 1932, The Modern Corporation and private property (New York, Maacmillan) Jones, D. R. Butler, J.E, 1992, Managing internal corporation entrepreneurship: an agency theory perspective (Journal of Management) Bricker, R. and Chandar, N. (1998). On Applying Agency Theory in Historical Accounting Research. Business and Economic History 27(2): 486-99 Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989a). Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review, Academy of Management Review, 14 (1): 57-74. Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989b). Agency- and Institutional Theory Explanations: The Case of Retail Sales Compensation. Academy of Management Journal, 31 (3): 488-511. Kaplan, R.S. (1984). The Evolution of Management Accounting. The Accounting Review, LIX(3): 390-402. Reichelstein, S. (1992). Constructing Incentive Schemes for Government Contracts: An Application of Agency Theory. The Accounting Review, 67 (4): 712-731. References for Enron case study: Serwer, Andy. 2002, ‘Dirty Rotten Numbers: Enron has made us shine a light on the books of Americas public companies. Now, if your company carries even a hint of bad accounting, the stock will be savaged, Fortune. Vol 145, i4, p74+. Shleifer, Andrei. 2000, ‘Are Financial Markets Efficient Oxford Scholarship Online Economics and Finance. Pp 1- 5. Akdere, Mesut and Azevedo, Ross. 2004, ‘Organisational Development, Agency Theory, and efficient Contracts: A Research Agenda. Pp2-8. Deakin, Simon and Konzelmann, Suzanne. 2004, ‘Learning From Enron Corporate Governance. Vol 12, pp134-142. Haldeman, Robert G. 2006, ‘Fact, Fiction, and Fair Value Accounting at Enron The CPA Journal. Pp1-10. Thompson, Robert B. 2004, ‘Corporate Governance after Enron. HeinOnline. Pp99-117. Godfrey, Jayne. Hodgson, Allan. Holmes, Scott. Tarca, Ann. 2006. ‘Accounting Theory: Sixth edition. Wiley, Australia. ‘Enron: The Smartest Guys in The room 2005, DVD, Dendy Films. USA. ‘Encarta: Online. Copyright MSN Encarta, 2008, Accessed 15/05/08 from http://encarta.msn.com/media_701610605/the_fall_of_enron_stock.html

Pro-Choice Abortion Essay -- Freedom of Choice, Pro-Choice Essays

Abortion Abortion is one of the most personal, widely discussed, and controversial topics in American culture today. In most cases, people on both sides of the argument take worthy and moral positions. Who can blame someone who wishes to prevent the termination of a teen pregnancy to save the life of an unborn child? On the other hand, who can blame anyone who advocates the soon-to-be mother's right to make such a personal, heartbreaking choice? No matter what she chooses to do, should anyone have the legal right to force her to bear an unwanted child? Most people in the US are pro-choice, and believe that abortion should be a legal, confidential decision that only a woman can make for herself. However, some are against the idea of terminating life, regardless of its current stage. People advocating this pro-life opinion believe that de-legalizing abortion will make it go away. Sadly, that is incorrect. Throughout American history, despite complications of legality, women have managed to have abortions without much difficulty, whether from a doctor, a back-alley abortionist pretending to be a doctor, or even themselves. Fittingly, about 80% of women are pro-choice, while 60% of men follow the pro-choice ideal. This is exemplified by the fact that nearly half of all American women (including teenagers) have had an abortion at least once. Abortion has been a very common part of American life since the eighteenth century. Both in times of public scrutiny, and acceptance, abortion has always been present in the United States. At the start of the 1900?s, it was common practice for doctors to refuse medical care to woman suffering from abortion complications, until she confessed to having an abortion. This cruel practice ... ...responsible, naÃÆ'Â ¯ve adolescent. For example, the possibility that a girl whom is ?flamboyant? in her physical excapades, demands an abortion every other month, is purely ridiculous. I do not condone such behavior, but I do believe that abortion is sometimes the most logical, least heart-wrenching choice. Although I do not whole-heartedly agree with the concept of terminating the possibility of life, it is sometimes necessary to prevent or even end one life, to save a massive amount of suffering, and rescue the livelihood of many others. Furthermore, the opinion of corrupt political officials and the twisted view of society should have no say in the personal matters of a single, suffering woman. As a result, it is the right of every woman in the United States to judge how serious the circumstances are, and make the decision to accept or decline abortion for her self.

On the Idle Hill, The Drum and Drummer Hodge Essay

Poets often write poems to express their ideas, opinions, emotions and experiences of life. Choose three poems you have studied to show how writers have been influenced by the events of war. War, in any shape or form, affects people in many different ways. Many people choose to express their feelings and experiences of war in poems. The three poems I have chosen all have different moods, structures and rhythms but their meanings are all the same – war is ruthless terrifying and pointless. The poem ‘On the Idle Hill’ is by A.E. Housman. Housman wrote the poem in 1896 and he was not writing about any particular war but just the horror of battle in general. Housman never partook in any war but heard about the terror of it from other people’s experiences. The first stanza portrays a peaceful, happy, warm scene. Words such as ‘summer’, ‘sleepy’ and ‘streams’ emphasise this. However, the ‘steady drummer’ cuts through this peaceful atmosphere. It is the sound of the army coming, looking for new recruits to go to war with them. The first stanza seems to be about the drum and how it calls people to war and tears them away from their homes. The line; ‘Drumming like a noise in dreams.’ makes the drum seem like a nightmare, something everyone dreads. In the second stanza, the tone is a lot sadder and darker. The phrases, ‘Far and near’ and ‘low and louder’ are suggesting that war is everywhere, and can be seen in different levels all over the world. Probably one of the most striking and powerful lines in the poem, ‘Dear to friends and food for powder’ is very shocking and adds a more personal theme to the poem, because the soldiers are now being seen as friends, fathers and real people instead of just toys in war. The ‘powder’ is gunpowder so the poet is hinting at the fact that the men are just food for the war. The war is made to sound like a real living thing; this is a good example of personification. The final line of stanza two, ‘Soldiers marching, all to die.’ is depressing and it emphasises the pointlessness and horror of war. Stanza three maintains the sad, depressing tone. There is more powerful and graphic imagery such as, ‘bleach the bones’, which is very sinister and shocking, and, ‘of comrades slain’. ‘Slain’ does not just mean killed, it means murdered and it outlines the brutality of war. Another graphic phrase is, ‘Lovely lads and dead and rotten’. These are contrasting images, and the writer is trying to put the idea across that innocent, good people can be killed in war for no reason. The final line of the stanza, ‘None that go return again.’ sums up A.E. Housman’s view on war – that it is just something which takes the lives of anyone who fights in it and has no point whatsoever. The rhyme in ‘On the Idle Hill’ is ‘abab’ and it keeps a slow, steady rhythm throughout the poem, giving a sad, melancholy tone to the poem. The form in which the writer has set out the poem, in four stanzas, is effective because each one talks about a different aspect of war. This poem shows A.E. Housman’s hatred of battle and how pointless and ruthless he thinks it is. War has obviously effected him deeply and we can see from his language throughout the poem that he feels very strongly about it. The poem ‘The Drum’ was written by John Scott, who was a Quaker. The significance of this is that according to Quaker beliefs, he was a pacifist and so was completely against war and violence. His poem concentrates on the famous recruitment drum which called people to was. He opens the poem directly by saying, ‘I hate that drum’s discordant sound,’. We immediately know what Scott’s feelings about war are – he hates it. Even the rhythm is drum-like, as seen in the repetition of the word ’round’. This has a hypnotic effect, just like the drum was to knew recruits. Scott is bitter about the drum and criticises its ability to hypnotise young men, as seen in the phrase, ‘To thoughtless youth it pleasure yields.’ The poet is saying that the drum almost takes advantage of the young men. The next two lines, ‘To sell their liberty for charms Of tawdry lace, and glittering arms.’ are suggesting that was takes your freedom for something material and worthless, the uniform and the weapons. The poet’s thoughts here are that was may seem exciting and a chance to be a hero but it is really taking your freedom and life. Scott uses the words ‘tawdry’, ‘charms’, and ‘glittering’ to create an image of honour and glory. In the following line, Scott makes the word ‘Ambition’ seem like a person – this is a good example of personification. He is stressing the fact that ‘Ambition’, or the war officers, only have to give one order to send you to your death. The final line of stanza one, ‘To march, and fight, and fall in foreign lands.’ is used by the poet to tell us that in war, you are always matching to die. Stanza two begins with the same two lines as stanza one, with the hypnotic repetition of the word ’round’. The poet now puts his personal feelings into the poem by saying ‘To me it speaks’. He uses powerful imagery, as seen in the words ‘ravaged’, ‘burning’ and ‘ruined’, to create a scene of destruction and death. Also, words such as ‘mangled’ and ‘dying’ provoke horror and terror in the reader’s mind. The following line, ‘And widow’s tears and orphan’s moans.’ is depressing and it shows the aftermath of war – the families ruined. The final two lines, ‘And all that Misery’s hand bestows, To fill the catalogue of human woes.’ are summing up Scott’s view on war, it is terrible, destructive, pointless and terrifying. Again, he uses personification and makes ‘Misery’ seem like a person. The form in which ‘The Drum’ is set out is quite effective – the first stanza is about the recruitment of men and the pointlessness of war and the second is about the aftermath and the death. The rhyming scheme ‘abab’ is used throughout the poem and it is drum-like in sound, which is very fitting to the subject of the poem. In summary, ‘The Drum’ shows John Scott’s hatred of war. Being a pacifist, he obviously did not fight in any wars but he knew enough about them to know of the destruction and death which came with them. He has written the poem to express his views on war and also to try and dissuade people from going to them. ‘Drummer Hodge’ was written by Thomas Hardy after he read about a local drummer boy who had been killed at war. He thought how sad it was that a young boy, who didn’t know the horror of war, should be buried in an alien landscape so far from home. The boy died in the Boer War (1899-1902), which took place in South Africa. The poem has a very pessimistic, sad tone. The first stanza is about how the young boy is buried. The phrases ‘they throw’ and ‘uncoffined’ suggest to us that no thought was put into his burial and he had no proper funeral. He wasn’t even given the luxury of a wooden box, he was just thrown into a hole. Hardy emphasises the fact that he is miles away from home with the phrase ‘foreign constellations.’ The reader feels sorry for the poor boy, buried away from everything familiar to him.