Robert Burns’ “To a Mouse” Essay Example for Free

Robert Burns’ â€Å"To a Mouse† Essay In the poems Robert Burns’ â€Å"To a Mouse† and â€Å"The Mouse’s Petition† by Anna Letitia Barbauld, many feelings and emotions about mice are brought forth. While both poems were written by different authors, many of the feelings they share towards mice are common. The analysis of the two poems will help to find the comparisons and differences in theme, political and social issues, diction, and tone. Examples from the poems will help to show the similarities and differences in the two. The tone of each poet in the poems, many similarities become evident. Both poets portray a sad and guilty tone when talking about mice. When Barbauld begins to write about what she believes the mouse is feeling inside of the test cage, the reader gets an idea how the poet may also feel. â€Å"For here forlorn and sad I sit, within the wiry grate.† (Barbauld, 5-6) Barbauld uses a line in the poem to show how she thinks the mouse is feeling. Robert Burns expresses an equal amount of remorse for the mouse in his poem. He does so by using his sad regretful and remorseful tone, much like Barbauld. â€Å"I’m truly sorry man’s dominion has broken Nature’s social union.† (Burns, l.7-8) Burns makes it obvious how he feels by using his tones throughout the poem to relay a message of guilt and sadness. The two poems share identical endings; Burns as well as Barbauld make reference to the fact that mice are much like men. Barbauld indicates, â€Å"So when destruction lurks unseen, which men, like mice, may share.† (Barbauld, l.45-48) Oddly enough, speaking to a mouse in the same tone, Burns states, â€Å"The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft a-gley.† (Burns, l.39-40) While both poems are written by differen t poets, in different years, the two share the same tone to help portray their views of mice and how they are misunderstood. The themes in both of the poems are very similar also both poems are about mice and their life changing experiences with them. The common theme in Anna Barbauld’s, â€Å"A Mouse’s Petition,† is cruelty and unfairness. The mouse Barbauld speaks of is being used for tests in a science lab, and will eventually be killed in such experiments. Anna writes through poem that this act is unjust and should not happen to such a creature. Through the use of the poem she tries to tell the scientist â€Å"Beware, lest in the worm you crush, a brothers soul you find.† (Barbauld, l.35-36) Barbauld relates that killing a mouse is not morally different from taking the life of a fellow man. The poems theme is effective and pushes the reader to feel sorrow for the poor mouse. In â€Å"To a Mouse† by Robert Burns, the ongoing themes are guilt and fear. Burns knows what mice are up to, stealing his food from his crops and ruining his walls within his home to make homes of their own. Burns however, does not care because he himself feels guilty for the little mice. Burns feels like even though they may be a nuisance to some humans, the mice have no choice but to do these things to live to see another day. â€Å"I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve; What then? Poor beastie, thou maun live!† (Burns l.13-14) Burns explains why he is not bothered that the mice steal his food. Burns also has the theme of fear in his poem. The mice fear men, and for good reason, Burns is aware of this and makes minimal effort to scare the mice while they are at work. â€Å"An’ justifies that ill opinion which makes thee startle,† (Burns, l.9-10) Burns discusses how the fear mice have for men is due to the brutes who have no patience to understand what the mice go through. While the two poems have different themes, one being cruelty and unfairness and the other being guilt and fear, the themes are similar in the fashion that both poets show remorse for the mice and what they go through. Barbauld never once mentions how mice may in fact have it easier than humans do, but in the final lines from â€Å"To a Mouse† Burns does indicate being a mouse may sometimes be easier. â€Å"Still thou art blest compared wi’ me! (Burns, l.43) Burns states that even though a mouse may not want to be a human, Burns believes a mouse has the ability to solely live in the present, and cannot remember the past or have to think of the future. Burns shares the dread he feels when he must remember the past or think about the future. Burns wishes he never had such a burden, and believes mice would not want to have such a burden either. For this reason while the two poems’ themes are very similar, they still have striking differences in how they view mice and men. Many Political issues were raised when the two poems were written. In 1773, the same year â€Å"The Mouse’s Petition† was written, the Boston tea party movement had happened. This happened soon after the British parliament granted it a monopoly to the North American tea trade. While this made the British happy it was the beginning of a revolt by the Americans. They felt they should not have to be taxed for their own goods. The Americans fought back by raiding the tea ships going to the British and dumping all the tea into the ocean. While this was a revolt for the Americans, for the British not much had happened except for the fact they had seen what happens as a result of people being pushed into something they didn’t want to do. This connection can be made to the Mouse in â€Å"A Mouse’s Petition† because the mouse did not want to be a test subject but was forced to do so, left without a choice. Wither or not Barbauld’s writing was affected by the Boston Tea Party movement or not, the two happening in the same year seems to be enough of a connection to assume this was an effect. In 1785, the same year â€Å"To a Mouse† was written, Scotland was under the beginning of the highland clearances. Before 1785 many families and clans were getting relocated to other parts of Scotland so that the land could be used to raise big black sheep instead. The success of relocating humans for the use of their land became so popular that the evil countess of Sutherland used the threat of clearances to blackmail every young man on her vast estates to enlist in her regiment. She then evicted their families later anyway. One is left to wonder if Burns was forced to take part in one of these dreadful moves, or simply had to experience seeing these events happen. Either way having to leave your land unexpectedly would take a toll on your mind mentally and physically. Especially if you were sent to war with promise your land would be safe, only to come back realizing your land had been taken away anyways. In, â€Å"To a mouse,† burns refers by stating through a part of his poem that he does not like the fact that he can remember the past, â€Å"The present only touchect thee: But och! I backward cast my e’e On prospects drear! An’ forward though I canna see, I guess an’ fear!† (Burns, l.49-53) Burns talks about how looking back on the past brings him disappointment and sorrow. Maybe this is because he was in the middle of relocation or had already gone through one due to the highland clearance. While material has not proven or disproven that Burns was a part of the highland clearance one can be left wondering if those events had an impact on his poem. The poetic diction in the two poems is very unique. While both use plenty of metaphors, there vocabulary is much different. This is partly because Burns uses a Scotish accent in his poems to give off the Scottish feel. Barbauld uses regular 1700’s English, much like other poets of the time from Britain. Burns’s Scottish accent is used in the poem to give the reader an idea what it would sound like if he himself was to recite the poem. While the reader may not understand as quickly as if reading in regular English, it helps to read the poem exactly like it would be read. While at first it is a challenging task to understand, it later becomes simple to translate. Barbaulds poem is much more generic for what the poems looked like in her area in the 1700’s, there is no accent used like in Burns’s which makes the initial reading of her poem much easier. One thing â€Å"To a Mouse† and â€Å"A Mouse’s Petition† have in common is there use of metaphors. Burns uses metaphor less often than Barbauld, â€Å"An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin’, Baith snell and keen!† (Burns l.28-29) Burns discusses with the mouse about how the winter winds are sharp like a knife, a metaphor for the winter wind being cold and seeming like it can go right through your body. Barbauld uses metahphors more frequently, â€Å"May some kind angel clear thy path, And break the hidden snare.† (Barbauld, l.47-48) Barbauld is saying metaphorically that she hopes the man has a sudden change of mind and his thoughts are changed for the good, not to use the mouse as a scientific test dummy. The two poems being compared and contrasted show that the two are not so different. While there are many similarities and differences analysing political and social issues, diction, and tone have helped to find these similarities and differences. The two poems about mice are much more complex than the initial read. The reader must dig deep into the meanings of the poems, the diction, the time they were written, the social issues that were happening in those times, and the poet’s tones to reveal the true meanings of the poems. Works Cited Burns, R. â€Å"To a Mouse.† The Longman Anthology: British Literature. David Damrosch and Kevin J.H. Dettmar. Pearson Education, 2010. 359-360. Latitita, A. â€Å"The Mouses Petition.† The Longman Anthology: British Literature. David Damrosch and Kevin J.H. Dettmar. Pearson Education, 2010. 62-63.

Essay --

Case 1 As a presiding judge in this case using the given facts at hand, one have to would vote in favor of the City of Cleveland. The facts of the case show that there was job analysis used to determine eligibility of the perspective candidates. The evidence also shows that with these requirements some of the female candidate did pass both tests and were placed on the eligibility list to be hired. There is no sign that the city had broken the Civil Rights Act or the Inclusion of the Sex Amendment because all qualifications were equal for the candidates to pass (Jasper, 2008). Another factor a judge may consider is the job itself and why those requirements are in place. If the requirements were lowered for females would they still be able to perform the tasks as their male counterparts. For example could a female be able to carry a person out of a burning building if they were not able to lift the same amount of weight as their male counterparts? The testing for certain positions is required because of the physical demand of those candidates. Gender should not be weighed as a requirement for these positions and only the ability to perform the duties as required should be noted. If a male firefighter could not pick up a 300lb man to bring him to safety and a female could then she would have met the proper requirement for fulfilling the job duties over the male candidate. It boils down to very basic skills and in a life or death situation those skills need to be performed without hesitation or assistance unless otherwise required. This should be what any judge should weigh when presiding over a trail of this nature because it is not about gender but more about job requirements. Is this risk of losing two humans lives worth changing ... ...s think of their work. Speaking to the president of this organization I would advise him to sit down with all of his supervisors and share these concerns. It may be even advisable to have an independent committee comprised of the company’s peers or community leaders to make recommendations and to advise what they see needs to be changed. There would be advice on taking small steps to change the way things are being handled because making too many small changes can have the same damaging effect as large ones. People will accept change as long as it is implemented in a slow orderly manner. Ensure that there is an open door policy between supervisors and employees is going to be critical. Ask for ideas on how to improve the flow of communication and empower the ideas that employees have. A happy worker is a productive one and that is how you motivate them to success.

Accounting treatment for capitalizing

Thank you for CA for accounting treatment in regards to your venture capital stake in Historiographers (Western). In our introductory meeting, you requested this firm to research on the accounting treatment for capitalizing the accumulated Meatball marketing consultancy charges uncured and the staff salaries. I am able to confirm that the marketing consultancy charges and the staff salaries can be capitalized and amortized over more than one taxpayer.In reaching this conclusion, I referred to relevant authority from codifications from the Financial Accounting Standards Board. In addition, I have also reviewed the documents provided to this firm during our earlier meeting. Facts The facts as was provided to us are as follows: Western hired a high-priced marketing consultancy company, Medievalist, to come-up with an integrated marketing strategy for computer game â€Å"Project. † Medievalist was tasked to develop a very catchy slogan that Western will use in a multimillion dolla r advertising campaign long with other things.Before the winning slogan was developed, they had presented others that Western rejected as unsuitable for Project's image. Therefore, Western has Incurred a marketing expense of $750,000. Western wants to capitalize charges for the rejected phrases but they reason that the rejected phrases were an integral part of developing the winning slogan. Western will also capitalize the costs of staff salaries of $300,000 for the time they spent in meetings with Medievalist. Western intends to amortize the capitalized amounts over the expected product-life f the game.Applicable Codifications The applicable codifications from Financial Accounting Standards Board (FAST) which addresses Westerns plans to capitalize the accumulated Medievalist charges and capitalize the staff salaries are as follows. Codification paragraph 720-15-55-3: The following costs that might be incurred in conjunction with start-up activities are subject to the provisions of this Subtopic a. Travel costs, employee salary-related costs, and consulting costs related to feasibility studies, accounting, legal, tax, and governmental affairs.Codification paragraph 720-15-45-1: Because is marketed to others, the expense shall be charged to cost of sales or a similar expense category. Codification paragraph 720-15-45-2: In an entity's balance sheet, capitalized software costs having a life of more than one year or one operating cycle shall be presented as another asset because the costs are an amortize intangible asset. Analysis Based on the provided facts of your venture stake in Western, it is clear that charges incurred through a consultancy contract with Medievalist is a part of the product placement under the implementation guidance paragraph.In addition, the staff salary is also a part of the implementation guidance paragraph as well. Recommendation Due to the shortness of time to turn this research project around, I suggest that we see the more detailed invoices from Medievalist along with the billable hours of the staff salaries allocated to working on the marketing development of a catchy slogan. Please call me at (415) 297-8060 , if you have any further questions concerning these findings.I also suggest that a follow up meeting next week to discuss the additional accumulation which may be needed to better conclude this research into the accounting treatment of your situation. Sincerely, for Golden Gate & Associates, Spas IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (I) avoiding any tax penalty or promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

Quotations From Enders Game by Orson Scott Card

Enders Game is a science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card, who was inspired by Isaac Asimovs Foundation series. Enders Game centers on Andrew Ender Wiggin, a young boy who is being trained to become a leader in the war against an alien race. The story first appeared as a novella, which Card expanded into a series of books. The book has become suggested reading for those thinking of entering the military. Here are a few quotes from the novel. Chapter 1 And there are doubts about him. Hes too malleable. Too willing to submerge himself in someone elses will. It was not his fault he was a Third. It was the governments idea, they were the ones who authorized it - how else could a Third like Ender have got into school? I could kill you like this, Peter whispered. Just press and press until youre dead. Chapter 2 And do you know why you dont mean it? Valentine asked. Because you want to be in the government someday. you want to be elected. And they wont elect you if your opponents can dig up the fact that your brother and sister died in suspicious accidents... Youre his monitor now, said Peter. You better watch him day and night. Chapter 3 Knocking him down won the first fight. I wanted to win all the next ones, too. So theyd leave me alone. It was what I was born for, isnt it? If I dont go, why am I alive? Chapter 4 With Ender, we have to strike a delicate balance. Isolate him enough that he remains creative--otherwise, hell adopt the systems here and well lose him. At the same time, we need to make sure he keeps a strong ability to lead. Were going to make him the best military commander in history. And then put the fate of the world on his shoulders. Chapter 5 Make friends. Be a leader. Kiss butts if you have to, but if the other guys despise you-you know what I mean? Enders isolation was over. Chapter 6 Im a murderer, even when I play. Peter would be proud of me. Chapter 7 Whatever it meant to Alai, Ender knew that it was sacred; that he had uncovered himself for Ender. It set her apart, made her different, split the army. Its Wiggin. You know, that smart-ass Launchie from the game room. the adults are the enemies, not the other armies. They do not tell us the truth. Enders anger was cold, and he could use it. Bonzos was hot, so it used him. If you want, Ill pretend you won this argument. Then tomorrow you can tell me you changed your mind. Chapter 8 Listen, Ender, commanders have just as much authority as you let them have. The more you obey, the more power they have over you. Its the teachers, theyre the enemy. They get us to fight each other, to hate each other. This game knows too much about me. This game tells filthy lies. I am not Peter. I dont have murder in my heart. Chapter 9 Well, Im the bloody bastard you wanted when you had me spawned. What do you tell him, I need citizens access so I can take over the world? She was one of them now. Chapter 10 It was a strategy. Graff had deliberately set him up to be separate from the other boys, made it impossible for him to be close to them. And with that anger, he decided he was strong enough to defeat them- the teachers, his enemies. Chapter 11 You want to make me the best soldier possible. Go down and look at the standings. Look at the all-time standings. So far youre doing an excellent job with me. Congratulations. Now when are you going to put me up against a good army? The teachers got me into this-they can keep me safe. Chapter 12 Ender Wiggin must believe that no matter what happens, no adult will ever, ever step in to help him in any way. Dont be alone. Ever. -Dink. I cant help that Im bigger than you. Youre such a genius, you figure out how to handle me. Chapter 13 it only works because whats between you, thats real, that matters. We are the Third Invasion. Chapter 14 From now on the enemy is more clever than you. From now on the enemy is stronger than you. From now on you are always about to lose. You will learn to defeat the enemy. Strange dreams are a safety valve, Ender. Im putting you under a little pressure for the first time in your life. Chapter 15 And always Ender carried with him a dry white cocoon, looking for a place where the hive-queen could awaken and thrive in peace. He looked a long time. Source Seiler, Edward. Isaac Asimov Home Page. Asimov Online.