IRIS module Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

IRIS module - Essay Example As the principal, she is held accountable for the outcome; an issue that seems to have confused her, she doesn’t know where to begin. The results have created trouble for the institution as could be read from Ms. Flores statement. Examination or test scores that are used to determine sanctions or punishment in general, accolades, graduation or promotion for students and compensations best describe what high stakes are. According to Ms. Flores, the tests were meant to be used in determining the best school at the district level and grading for students. It was an important decision; knowing the best school in terms of academic performance and accountability for the school administrators. The test was also to be used for promoting students to the next level; that is indicated when she categorically stated that students with disabilities are going to be left behind. These are the reasons why she (Ms. Flores) describes the testing as high stakes. High-stakes testing are relevant to both general students and students with disabilities. However, knowing the weakness in a student with a disability may be difficult compared to general students (students without disabilities). The test will enable the teachers to know the weakness in the students and come up with appropriate solution to help them improve. The test helps in measuring how well the students with disabilities learn; therefore can be used to strengthen and improve overall academic standard of the institutions. It is the responsibility of every teacher to ensure that the student get the required knowledge in the classroom. In this case, the teacher is responsible for the students’ performance since he/she is authorized to give the knowledge. The process of giving the knowledge to the student is done through following the accepted professional standards that meet the demand of accountability. The teachers

How To Make Macys More Competitive Business Essay

How To Make Macys More Competitive Business Essay A larger chunk of the total workforce is at Macys are categorized as employees who are floor managers, supervisors, cashiers, handlers, and sales associates at Macys retail stores. We have found that this category of employees have a really high turnover rate. There are several repercussions associated with a high turnover rate. If the turnover rate is high, the employees become demoralized in their work duties which results in inadequate efficiency. Although, the high turnover is found amongst the lower level staff but still there is a humungous cost associated with turnover. The cost to recruit, select, and train new employees often exceed 100% of the annual salary of the position being filled (Allen, Bryant, Vardaman, 2010). Based on the exit interviews conducted by the management, it is found that most of the turnover is voluntary and controllable turnover. Voluntary turnover is when employees leave the company by their own choice whereas controllable turnover is when employees decide to leave for reasons that are influenced by the employer. Therefore, it is evident that the high turnover rate has resulted due to lack of managerial effectiveness. Macys employs a diverse workforce of more than 167,000 employees because of which it is difficult to have a flat hierarchical structure. As a result the communication between lower level staff and high level staff is almost non-existent. Therefore, it is important for us to restructure the way we recruit our workforce especially for the positions that require managerial activities. The HR department along with the collaboration with the department of IT, Marketing, Finance, and Operations has realized that there is a need for an urgent strategy to reduce employee turnover because reducing this ratio is one of the ways to make Macys competitive again. The strategy will be dual phased. The first phase of the strategy will focus on how to effectively recruit individuals for managerial positions in the stores. For this pre-employment testing will be introduced in to the workplace which will test the managerial skills of the selected candidates for those positions. The first phase will also consist of conducting employee surveys every six months which will focus on employees feelings and attitudes about their jobs and the organization. The second phase of the strategy will be the creation of a blog with collaboration with the IT department. The blog will give a platform for the employees at all levels of management to communicate with each other and discuss their pr oblems, job duties, problems at the workplace, and how they feel about the organization. The strategy to reduce turnover and increase Macys competiveness will be discussed further in detail in the Strategy Formulation and Strategy Implementation Phase. Macys employee turnover rate is 3.726% compared to an industry average of 3.1%. It is computed by dividing the number of employees in the beginning of the year (167,000) by the number of employees remaining at the end of the year (161,000). The resultant figure (1.03726) is then subtracted from one (0.03726) and multiplied by a hundred (3.726%) to determine the employee turnover in terms of percentage (Department of Labor, 2010). Although, the employee turnover rate is very close to the industry average, a small difference in the percentages could translate into a significant monetary amount. The cost of turnover is usually the cost to find, interview, train, and equip a new hire. Research shows that a minimum of $1,500 per employee is the cost of a turnover. While $1,500 may not be a huge amount of money for a store to cover that cost. Macys Inc. has a net profit margin of only 1.49% which means that the company has to sell million dollars worth of items to cover that cost (Wolfe, 2010). Since most of the workforce at Macys comprises of lower management staff such as floor managers, cashiers, supervisors, handlers, and sales associates, it is important to lower the employee turnover rate because otherwise the employees will become demoralized in their work duties which eventually results in decreased efficiency. In order to make Macys more competitive there are a number of strategies that need to be pursued specifically by the Human Resources department. The strategy consists of developing an internal blog for better communication, conducting exit interviews for valuable feedback, and hiring managers and supervisors effectively and efficiently. The reason to develop a blog is to give the lower management a platform where they can communicate freely with the upper management. This will not only result in increased communication between the two but also, a relationship between the two will be developed. In this blog, the employees will have liberty to write, comment, and share anything they would want coworkers and upper management to consider. This could be complaints, recommendations, opinions, workplace ethics, job duties, or job descriptions. The reason to conduct exit interviews is to primarily get feedback from departing employees. Secondly, it gives the management an opportunity to retain the employee so as to overcome the cost of recruiting a new employee. The departing employees could be given a questionnaire which highlights job duties, management, job variety, work environment. This way the management can review the recommendation and opinion given by the departing employee and take necessary actions. Effectively recruiting managers and supervisors is also related to the high employee turnover rate. It is evident that the current managers were not effectively recruited because they lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively manage and supervise a team of employees. During the hiring process, the HR department can develop a questionnaire which shall test the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the candidates and determine if they have the key competencies to over achieve their job duties. In order to make Macys more competitive, the HR department has developed a three phased strategy. The first phase of the strategy deals with effective recruiting of managers and supervisors. This will require a development of new hiring techniques such as the use of latest technological instruments to filter the best candidates from job postings. Furthermore, online testing and questionnaires will be developed so as to test and hire the most competent candidate. The second phase of the strategy deals with conducting exit interviews from the departing employees. This will require the HR representative to take notes while interviewing the departing employee because his/her comments, recommendations, and opinions will help in improving working conditions and retaining employees. Sometimes, these interviews could save a company from being sued as some employees depart and later sue the company for reasons they were never aware of. The notes that the HR representative takes can become useful in the courtroom. Furthermore, in collaboration with the IT department, this phase will require a creation of a database to store and manage the feedback received from the questionnaires and interview. Phase three is the most important part of the strategy which is the creation of a blog which will be formed with collaboration from the IT department. The costs associated with creating the blog are negligible except the cost of time. Usually, the cost to create a blog is around $100 which includes a domain name, unlimited uploads and downloads, and unlimited backup of data uploaded on to secure servers. Effective recruiting, creation of a blog, and conducting exit interviews will serve as the basis to evaluate and control the high employee turnover. It can also be evaluated by checking the employee turnover rates at the end of first quarter of the year 2011. A low employee turnover would mean more cost savings from the HR department which could eventually be used to for higher profits and higher dividends to stockholders. Additionally, to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy, the HR department will have to collaborate once again with the IT department to develop a database of the departing and departed employees. The reason for doing that would be, as these employees would be already trained and already knowledgeable about the company, it could help cut recruiting costs for the company.

The Impact of NAFTA on the U.S. Textile Industry Essay -- Essays Paper

The Impact of NAFTA on the U.S. Textile Industry When the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 1994, many expressed fears that one consequence would be large job losses in the US textile industry as companies moved production from the United States to Mexico. Opponents of NAFTA argued passionately, but unsuccessfully, that the treaty should not be adopted because of the negative impact it would have on employment in the United States, particularly in industries such as textiles. A glance at the data four years after the passage of NAFTA suggests the critics had a point. Between 1994 and mid-1997, about 149,000 US apparel workers lost their jobs, over 15 percent of all employment in the industry. Much of this job loss has occurred because producers have moved production to Mexico. Between 1994 and 1997, Mexico's apparel exports to the United States trebled to $3.3 billion. In 1993, the US jeans maker, Guess?, sourced 95 percent of its product domestically. Now it gets about 60 percent of its clothing from o utside the United States, with Mexico as one of the biggest suppliers. Similarly, in 1995, Fruit of the Loom Inc., the largest manufacturer of underwear in the United States, said it would close six of its domestic plants and cut back operations at two others, laying off about 3,200 workers, or 12 percent of its US work force. The company announced the closures were part of its drive to move its operations to cheaper plants abroad, particu...

Construction Case Study Essay

Resistance to organisational change is a natural reaction to those who want to protect their self-interests in the organisation. However, it is clear from the case study that the employees of XYZ Construction showed little resistance to the change implemented by the incoming managing director. The primary reason that change was welcomed was due to the former Managing Director’s management style which was not widely accepted in the organisation. Employees feared him and it was not acceptable to speak openly and honestly. Employees were aware that this behaviour was often counterproductive, and created a negative impression with the former Managing Director. As the newly appointed Managing Director had previously worked at the organisation, he was aware of certain of the issues and concerns of the employees. The experience gained from working at other companies, and the reputation he built from his career prior to returning to XYZ Construction ensured that the employees had faith in his leadership ability. The new Managing Director’s first step in developing relationships with managers and employees was to incorporate key employees into Senior Management Team activities. His actions made it clear that he was willing to retain the current workforce and promote from within the organisation. This created a positive environment which encouraged employees to work harder and produce results Employees and managers did not fear loss of employment with the new Managing Director, but rather felt included in the decision making process. The new Managing Director’s attitude and actions were clear and concise which addressed the problems within the organisation. His actions were collectively moving in the same direction, to achieve a clear goal of improving internal and external relations and improving the organisations performance. He correctly identified problem areas such as relationships, communication and the structure of the organisation. An incorrect diagnosis of the problems within an organisation may result in incorrect changes being implemented, which can lead the organisation into complete disarray. The new Managing Director identified two crucial activities to be performed in conjunction with each other to enable the transformation of the  organisation. The two activities identified were: To introduce new practices and techniques to improve service to customers and thus improve the organisation’s performance. To change the attitudes and behaviour of employees By identifying the two activities above, the new Managing Director identified crucial steps to improve its performance. Only through improving services to customers can the overall organisation’s performance improve. A satisfied customer is likely to return and recommend the organisation to others. This is directly linked to the growth of the organisation. The new Managing Director is aware that to provide better service to customers, the employees will have to develop and learn new practices and techniques to ensure superior service quality is provided to customers. The implementation of the second activity is critical to the success of the overall goal of improved customer relationships. The employees and managers attitudes and behaviours are to be transformed to ensure the best results are achieved. Employees and managers who were unhappy under the former Managing Director are more willing to adhere to the recommended changes. The willingness to adhere also stems from the approaches presented being feasible and there is no fear for loss of employment. The changes bring new opportunities for employees and managers to develop in their current roles and possibly grow into new roles. The potential positive outcomes as a result of these changes are a contributing factor in the lack of resistance experienced by the Managing Director. The cost effectiveness of the changes implemented also contributed to the lack of resistance from employees. The new Managing Director introduced a small-scale Kaizen programme. The programme was introduced with the four goals namely (Burnes, 2009, p. 162); ï‚ · Improvements could be achieved on a quick low cost/no cost basis Promote teamwork Build manager’s confidence such that they can delegate work Empower staff The goals above are all positive resulting in the support of employees and minimises resistance to change. An additional contributing factor was the Managing Directors’ communication regarding his commitment to this initiative. This eradicates any confusion regarding the implementation of this change, and strengthens the â€Å"buy-in† of employees and manager. 3 Introducing a new management style This section will discuss the following statement and to what extent I agree or disagree with the statement; â€Å"the new Managing Director has not changed the culture of XYZ Construction but has merely introduced a new management style†. 3.1 Organisational Culture To understand the statement clearly, the term organisational culture needs to be defined and understood. Organisational culture is defined as â€Å"the  collection of basic assumptions, values, norms and artefacts that are shared by and influence the behaviour of an organisation’s members† (Burnes, 2009, p. 600). Organisation culture is also commonly defined as â€Å"how organisations do things† (Watkins, 2013). 3.2 Management Style The management style of XYZ Construction changed from an autocratic management style to a participative style when the new Managing Director was appointed. The former Managing Director was feared by his colleagues, where open and honest relationships did not exist. Autocratic leadership is an extreme form of transactional leadership, characterised by a manager who makes decisions on his own without input from colleagues. This type of management style has the advantage that decisions can be made quickly and efficiently, however this approach is not suitable in all organisations and is limited in its application. The disadvantage of this approach is that it leads to high employee turnover, demotivated employees and poor performance (Unknown, 2013). The autocratic management style of the former Managing Director was not suitable for XYZ Construction and was identified by the parent company. The parent company’s view was that the company was underperforming due to the poor management and lack of cooperation within the organisation. Once the former Managing Director retired he was replaced by a new Managing Director with the primary objective to improve the overall managerial competency and improve the performance of the organisation. The new Managing Director displayed a Participative management style, which was required for the necessary operation, culture and structure changes in the organisation. A Participative management style is characterised by managers that â€Å"use various decision procedures that allow other people some influence over the leader’s decision† (Yukl, 2013, p. 115). This is clearly displayed in the New Managing Directors action of inclusion of key employees who were not directors to p articipate in Senior Management Team. This action has a significant impact on relationship building within the organisation and an impact on the structure. The organisation under former management was hierarchical conscious which hinders the development  of relationship and the sharing of information and ideas. The new approach in management style results in a culture change in the organisation. 3.3 Discussion I agree with the statement, with the effect that a culture change has taken place in XYZ Construction under the new Managing Director, however this was achieved by the change in the managerial style rather by changing the culture. The new Managing Director’s participative managing style, has allowed for a culture change. Employees and managers are able to speak openly and honestly changing the norms within the organisation. The transformation is a long-term change with initiatives rolled-out in intervals. This allows for employees and managers to acquire and develop the necessary skills and characteristics at each level before moving to the next step of the transformation. The new Managing Director’s management style requires that the attitude and behaviours to be changed of both employees and managers to meet the demands of the initiatives aimed at increasing the organisation’s performance. My agreement with the statement is not significant, as the new Managing Director has brought upon a new management style however the initiatives that he proposed require a change in culture. A culture change of the employees and managers supports that new Managing Director’s management style. 4 South African context South Africa as a country has been transforming during the post-apartheid regime. The most significant transformation that is currently taking place in organisations is the implementation of various BBBEE initiatives, one of which is to increase in females in the workplace. The BBBEE initiative focusses on reconciling indiscretions of the past and allowing for the workplace to be balanced based on race, gender and disabilities. There are many examples of organisations in South Africa where this transformation has taken place. An example of this transformation is in PPC Ltd. which  appointed Ketso Gordhan as the new CEO effective 1 January 2013 (Allix, 2012). Ketso Gordhan’s extensive experience in multiple industries such as his role as director-general in the Ministry of transport, serving in the Presidency and head of private equity in FirstRand makes him extremely capable and suitable for the position. His experience in the multiple he roles he has fulfilled has provided him with knowledge as to how to bring change to an organisation. The cement industry had faced a major fall in sales during the financial recession coupled with competitive forces. These factors had started to be addressed by the former CEO with the goal of growing the business and earning a significant portion of profits through operations in Africa (Allix, 2012). It was at this point that Ketso Gordhan was appointed with the crucial task of growing operations into Africa. The approach that was taken by Ketso Gordhan to achieve this goal is based on two key strategies of expanding business into Africa and to keep current operations in South Africa to operate efficiently (â€Å"keep the home fires burning†) (Allix, 2013). Ketso Gordhan made the goals and the direction taken very clear to ensure a collective drive from employees. His actions are the same actions taken by the newly appointed Managing Director of XYZ Construction. Ketso Gordhan made he’s commitment to PPC Ltd. clear through his actions as well as through the acquisition of PPC Ltd. shares summing a total of R30 million (Shevel, 2014). This action indicated internally and externally he’s commitment and faith in the organisation to achieve a significant improvement in the organisation’s performance (Hasenfuss, 2013). Ketso Gordhan’s management style has brought a culture change in the organisation. The culture change has included a more hands-on approach from the CEO with constant  interaction with employees and managers. This once again reinforces his ideas and motivation in the workplace. Earlier in 2014, Ketso Gordhan reduced his salary by R1m in an effort to  support the reduction of salary gap between the highest and the lowest paid employee in the organisation. He took grievances from the lowest paid employees and acted to resolve the items. He approached the top 60 managers, asking whether they would volunteer their increases to be distributed to the lowest paid employees. This approach enabled the organisation to increase 1 200 of the lowest paid employees salary by R10 000 per year and an interest related increase later in the year (Shevel, 2014). This initiative received great response from employees, which was primarily attributed to the feeling that grievances were heard and action was taken. The initiative allowed the CEO salary to reduce from 120 times the lowest paid employee to 48 times with the clear goal to reach 40 times in future. This was achieved through the decrease in the highest paid salary and the increase in the lowest paid salaries (Shevel, 2014). The initiative has an impact external to the organisation. In South Africa which currently is facing numerous problems, one clear problem in the large economic gaps that exists. The actions of Ketso Gordhan are an encouragement to fellow JSE-listed organisation’s CEO to follow suit and attempt to reduce the large salary gaps that exist in many organisations. Collective actions will enable the country to reach goals of social development at a faster rate. Ketso Gordhan is a participative leader which is clear through his engagement with the organisationâ€⠄¢s employees and through the initiative he has developed. He has initiated the â€Å"I Care, PPC Cares† programme coupled with the Kambuku philosophy in the organisation (PPC Ltd, 2014). This philosophy and initiative is aimed at addressing the following (PPC Ltd, 2014): Disparity between the cost of living and salaries of lower-level employees Substandard housing and access to housing for some employees Effectiveness of first-line managers and team members Individual development plans and organisational climate initiatives Improving the perception of employees in terms of job satisfaction The philosophy is aimed at not only improving the internal environment but also the external environment of the organisation, such as the assistance in providing housing for employees. The approach is very fitting in the South African context. References Allix, M., 2012. Ketso Gordhan to replace Paul Stuiver at PPC. [Online] Available at: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/industrials/2012/10/11/ketso-gordhan-toreplace-paul-stuiver-at-ppc [Accessed 3 May 2014]. Allix, M., 2013. Safika deal to help PPC ‘keep the home fires burning’. [Online] Available at: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/industrials/2013/08/08/safika-deal-to-helpppc-keep-the-home-fires-burning [Accessed 3 May 2014]. Burnes, B., 2009. Managing Change. 5th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Hasenfuss, M., 2013. PPC chief Ketso Gordhan splashes out on cement firm’s stock. [Online] Available at: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/industrials/2013/09/12/ppc-chief-ketsogordha n-splashes-out-on-cement-firms-stock [Accessed 3 May 2014]. Investopedia, 2014. Definition of ‘Kaizen’. [Online] Available at: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/k/kaizen.asp [Accessed 16 April 2014]. PPC Ltd, 2014. Our People. [Online] Available at: http://www.ppc.co.za/about-us/our-people.aspx [Accessed 3 May 2013]. Shevel, A., 2014. Ketso Gordhan: Laying the foundations for a fairer workplace. [Online] Available at: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/management/2014/03/23/ketso-gordhanlaying-the-foundations-for-a-fairer-workplace [Accessed 3 May 2013]. Stroh, U., 2005. Chapter 3: Approaches to Change Management, Pretoria: University of Pretoria etd. Unknown, 2013. Leadership Styles. [Online] Available at: http://ofd.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Leadership-Styles-1_11_13.pdf [Accessed 30 April 2014]. Watkins, M., 2013. What Is Organizational Culture? And Why Should We Care?. [Online] Available at: http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/05/what-is-organizational-culture/ [Accessed 30 April 2014]. Yukl, G., 2013. Leadership on Organizations. 8th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Mid-Term Break and On My First Sonne Comparison Essay

Discuss the ways in which these poets explore the universal themes of grief and loss. (Seamus Heaney’s ‘Mid-Term Break’ and Ben Johnson’s ‘On My First Sonne’. In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting the two poems ‘Mid-Term Break’ by Seamus Heaney and ‘On My First Sonne’ by Ben Johnson. I will be focusing on their elegaic qualities aswell as their universal themes of grief and loss. ‘Mid-Term Break’ is about the aftermath of Seamus Heaney’s 4 year old brother’s tragic death and how his family and friends express their emotions and cope with the sudden loss. Whereas the 17th Century poet, Ben Johnson is writing to express his sorrow for the death of his 7 year old son dealing with his feelings of loss rather than thinking about the reasons for the death or the effects of this on the rest of the family. These are the intended effects they both have which I will be exploring and I shall be outlining reasons for this aswell in the rest of this essay including the interesting poetic devices and structure Ben Johnson and Seamus Heaney use and how they are similar and different from each other. ‘On My First Sonne’ was published on the year 1616 and is therefore more religiously based as at that time life was dominated by religious views. ‘Mid-Term Break’ was published in the 1980s so this will help me analyse the views of the 20th Century in comparison to the 17th Century and this is a main area I will be focusing on after an in-depth analysis of the intended effects of these poets when writing their poems. ‘On My First Sonne’ has a different intended effect overall in comparison to ‘Mid-Term Break’. One of the main reasons for this is that Ben Johnson is writing as a literal attempt to reach out to his son to say his final farewell with lines such as ‘Rest in soft peace, and, ask’d, say here doth lye’ which makes it seem that Johnson is communicating with his son. Seamus Heaney’s poem is more of a narrative describing what happened on the day of his four year old brother’s sudden death. In my opinion it seems as if Seamus Heaney is sharing his experience with other people who may have suffered in the same way and is exploring the emotions of more than just his own. To exemplify this point, on lines 4 and 5 it says ‘I met my father crying – He had always taken funerals in his stride.’ This contrasts between ‘On My First Sonne’ and ‘Mid-Term Break’ on two levels, the first being that Ben Johnson has only included his own feelings in this poem such as on line 2 which says ‘My sinne was too much hope of thee, lov’d boy’ This has the effect that his poem is private between him and his son and is like a one-sided conversation. Whereas ‘Mid-Term Break’ has a different intended audience altogether, I know this because the style of Heaney’s poem is a first-person point of view in the format of a story and there are more emotions and feelings described including his parents and family members’ aswell as friends. By analysing the poetic voice and intent I can confidently make an opinion that ‘Mid-Term Break’ elegizes Heaney’s loss of his brother and ‘On My First Sonne’ is a lamentation for the loss of Johnson’s son. Both poets explore the themes of grief and loss in their poems. An example of the emotions of grief in ‘Mid-Term Break’ can be explained by line 4 which identifies the many elements he has incorporated in a subtle and in this case a distinct manner which says ‘I met my father crying’, this blatantly shows the mourning of a close family member. But this feature does not appear in ‘On My First Sonne’, not only that he has not described anyone’s feelings other than his own but he does not show expressions of grief in such a blunt form as in Heaney’s poem. Johnson has described in line 5, ‘O, could I loose all father, now. For why’, that he has intense grief and is questioning faith for why it happened to him. But the abrupt features account for the theme of loss in each poem aswell which is similarly very open in ‘Mid-Term Break’ leaving nothing to the imagination, it paints a full picture of the scene in line 16, saying ‘Snowdrops and candles soothed the bedside I saw him for the first time in six weeks. Paler now,’ this tells the reader the loss that everyone suffered and a place of mourn was set up for a long time in Heaney’s brother’s old room. Also, the themes of loss do not only reflect on what family members and friends suffered. It suggests the loss of a childhood in two forms, Heaney and his brother. The reason being that obviously a child has passed away, but Heaney had to act very mature and throw away his child-like naivety to be told the horrible truth and to cope with the situation. I know this because it says ‘When I came in, I was embarrassed by old men standing up to shake my hand’ which is on lines 8 and 9, he was uncomfortable with the maturity and attention he had to face and so shows embarrassment when he had to deal with people in a mature manner. On the other hand, ‘On My First Sonne’ does not fully show the reader that Johnson has encountered loss but with such lines as ‘Seven yeeres tho’ wert lent to me, and I thee pay,’ (line 3) it tells the reader that he has had seven years of joy with his son and relates it to ‘borrowed’ time that was paid back to god, subtly including his religious views which dominated the era of the 1600s. The themes of grief and loss are overall shown in a more distinct manner in Heaney’s poem whereas Ben Johnson has mainly kept these descriptions more subtle and suggestive. There is a highly effective word, ‘father’, that in context of line 3 ‘could I loose all father, now’ is a great example to the religious as opposed to secular world of the 17th century as it has two meanings; the first is that father is another name for God, Christianity was the dominant religion and is a very dramatic word even in the 21st Century for religious believers as he is questioning his faith for why God has bestowed a horrible life-changing experience against him. In other words, he is saying ‘could I lose all faith, now’. The other meaning for ‘father’ is that Johnson had lost his son and status as a parent. Alternatively, in Seamus Heaney’s poem he has used next to no religious suggestions and phrases at all. Instead, he has entered a mainly secular approach with sentences that have hidden meanings such as ‘The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram’ which represents the care-free, naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve life of a child. Each poem has a completely different structure from one another; the first factor I can clearly see is the layout of the stanzas which in ‘Mid-Term Break’ has a clear 3 line pattern. But underneath this outline shows enjambment from stanzas 3 to 5 which is very effective in linking the stanzas together. This technique is used probably to tell a story of what happened when he went into his home on the first day home from college since his brother had died and is effective at creating a scene as it wasn’t limited to 3 lines in a stanza. ‘On My First Sonne’ is entirely different altogether in the fact that the full poem has only one stanza which is 12 lines long but is similar in a way that it isn’t limited to a number of lines in separate stanzas. A small factor I can also see is the final line in ‘Mid-Term Break’ which has a great effect in compelling the reader to make up their minds on how he was feeling in an eerie final sentence. In terms of the language choice he has used in my opinion he is expressing anger by using the dramatic metaphor ‘A four foot box, a foot for every year’ which means that his brother was only four years old. Ben Johnson has included a dramatic sentence that represents the bad influences and effects the world has on a child and that his son has escaped it in line 7 which says ‘To have soon scap’d worlds and fleshes rage’, this represents that he has escaped evil and temptation (In the Lord’s Prayer). Overall, my opinion on these two poems is that Seamus Heaney’s ‘Mid-Term Break’ and Ben Johnson’s ‘On My First Sonne’ although similar in representing the themes of grief and loss, are two very different poems in factors such as their intended audiences and religious / secular views. The structure of the poems are very different in stanzas and grammar (Because of era when published) and both of the poems do explore the themes in a similar way but for different intended purposes.