Dividend Policy of Pakistans Oil Sector

Dividend Policy of Pakistans Oil Sector INTRODUCTION Corporate dividend policy is one of the most debated topics in corporate finance. Many researchers have devised theories and provided empirical evidence regarding the determinants of a firms dividend policy. The dividend policy issue, however, remains still unresolved as due to the fact that there are so many variables depending upon the type of company, its financial conditions, its industry etc that no single formula could be applicable. Clear guidelines for an optimal payout policy have not yet emerged despite the voluminous literature. We still do not have an acceptable explanation for the observed dividend behavior of companies. During the last fifty years several theoretical and empirical studies have been done leading to mainly three outcomes: The increase in dividend payout affects the market value of the firm. The decrease dividend payout adversely affects the market value of the firm. The dividend policy of the firm does not affect the firm value at all. However, we can say that empirical evidence on the determinants of dividend policy is unfortunately very complex. Basis on which corporations pay out dividends to the share holders is still an unresolved puzzle. First prominent study that appeared in the literature of finance regarding dividend policy was that of Miller and Modigliani (1961) where they state that there are no deception in a perfect and a rational economic environment. This was the starting point for other researchers to explore dividend payout policy phenomena. Almost all researches that followed referred back to Miller and Modigliani (1961). Various researches were carried out by many researchers to explore the determinants of dividend payout policy, some of them focused on profitability, some on size of the firms, some on growth rate of the firm while others on agency costs. For example researches carried out by Nissim et el (2001), Brook et el (1998), Bernheim et el (1995), Kao et el (1994), and Healy et el (1988) found out a positive association between increase in dividend payout and future profitability. Kalay et el (1986) and Asquith et el (1983) found out that stock returns is positively associated with dividend changes. Sasson et el (1976) conclude that the payout ratio is positive association with average rates of return. On the other hand, studies of Benartzi et el (1997) and DeAngelo et el (1996) find no support for the relationship between future profitability and dividend changes. On Other side most debated factor affecting dividend policy arguably is agency costs. Jensen (1986). Agency cost argument suggests that cost is reducing by dividend payments and cash flow Rozeff (1982). Researches carried out by Jensen et el (1992), and Lang et el (1989) supported this agency cost hypothesis, while others such as Lie (2000), Yoon et el (1995) and Denis et el (1994) found no support for this hypothesis. Size of the firm is another factor which seems to have an impact of dividend payout policy. Firms larger in size are considered to have more ability to payout dividends to its share holders. Lloyd et el (1985), and Vogt (1994) pointed that firm size plays a role in clarifying the dividend-payout ratio of firms. They argued that because larger firms are mature and have easy access to capital markets thus they are not really much dependant on internally generated funding which enables them to payout higher dividends. The purpose of this research is to investigate the dynamics and determinants of dividend policy of oil gas sector firms in Pakistan. The independent variables selected from the literature include: market capitalization, profitability and annual rate of growth of total assets. Analysis of these variables should reveal there exist an impact of these variables on dividend payout policy of the firms and very nature of the relationship. The remaining part of this thesis is organized as follows. In section 2 brief reviews of theories about the dividend will be presented. In section 3 this thesis discusses the data and possible variables that can act as proxy for different influences for analysis .In section 4 this thesis will establish the model. Section 5 will provide details of methodology used. In section 6 thesis will establish analysis and interpretations and section 7 will present results and draw a conclusion. CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW There are various theories which provide insight on how a firm pays the dividends. 2.1 Miller and Modigliani theory According to Miller and Modigliani (of Merton Miller, Franco) (1961) dividend do not affect firms value in perfect market. Shareholders are not concerned to receiving their cash flows as dividend or in shape of capital gain, as far as firms doesnt change the investment policies. In this type of situation firms dividend payout ratio affect their residual free cash flows, when the free cash flow is positive firms decide to pay dividend and if negative firms decide to issue shares. They also conclude that change in dividend may be conveying the information to the market about firms future earnings. Example: Its a common believe that dividend policy is created by shareholder himself for example if a person has 10,000 PKR and wants income of 3,000 PKR a year from that portfolio, simply 3000 PKR money value can be sold by a person this amount as dividend income does not accept by him. This theory says, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Who is anxious about dividends?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? MM explains that under certain assumptions including rational investors and a perfect capital market, the market value of a firm is independent of its dividend policy. Smirlock Marshall, (1983) stated that relationship between the Dividend and Investment Decisions indicates that no causality between the dividend and investment decisions of the firm. The fact that the firm-specific data conclusively supported the separation principle is particularly convincing. This is the first application of causality tests to a large sample of firms. 2.2 The bird in the hand theory Investors always prefer cash in hand rather then a future promise of capital gain due to minimizing risk Gordon (1963). Gordon believes that he is anxious about investing in dividends and dividend stocks. Gordon say that when he is paid hard cash by the company, he knows that the company is not just telling him that it is making money but the fact it that it is really making money . This is the idea that cash payment is valued by the investors in their hands over the hope of future profits. 2.3 The agency theory Traditionally, corporate dividend policy has been examined under the assumptions that the firm is one homogenous unit and that the managements objective is to maximize its value as a whole. The agency cost approach differs from the traditional approach mainly in this way that it explicitly recognizes the firm as a collection of groups of individuals with conflicting interests and self-seeking motives. According to the agency theory, these behavioral implications cause individuals to maximize their own utility instead of maximizing the firms wealth. The agency theory of Jensen and Meckling (1976) is based on the conflict between managers and shareholder and the percentage of equity controlled by sponsor ownership should influence the dividend policy. The theory focuses on the relationship between an agent of the principal (companys managers) and a principal (shareholder) . Jensen and Meckling (1976) in corporations, agency problem arise from external debt and external equity. Jensen and Meckling (1976) analyzed that how firm value is affected by the distribution of ownership between inside shareholders and outside shareholders who can consume perquisites, and who cannot. Within this framework, increased managerial ownership of equity alleviates agency difficulties by reducing incentives to consume perquisites and expropriate shareholder wealth. Jensen and Meckling (1976) argue that equity agency costs would be lower in firms with larger proportions of inside ownership. Managers are better understanding their interest with stockholders when they increase the shareholders ownership of the firm. Dividends are believed to play an important role in reducing conflicts between managers and stockholders. Any dividend policy should be designed to minimize the sum of capital, agency and taxation costs. According to Bathala (1990), in the agency costs and dividends, two lines of thought can be found explaining cross-sectional variations in payout ratios. First view Holds that a firms optimal payout ratio is the results of a trade-off between a reduction in the agency costs of external equity and an increase in the transaction costs related with external financing resulting from dividend payments as the payout ratio increases. Second view Argues that inside ownership and external debt are substitute mechanisms in mitigating agency costs in a firm. Basic study for the first line of thought is based on Rozeffs (1982) propositions. He suggests that dividend payout ratios may be explained by reduced agency costs when the firm increases its dividend payout and by increased more expensive external capital. Easterbrook (1984) gives further explanation regarding agency cost problem and says that there are two forms of agency costs; one is the cost monitoring and other is cost of risk aversion on the part of directors or managers. The agency theory is related with resolving two issues that can be held in an agency relationship. PROBLEMS: The desire of the principal and agent conflict and it is expensive or complicated for the principal that it cannot check that the agent has behaved appropriately. Risk sharing is a problem that occurs when the agent and principle have different behavior towards hazard. The issue here is that the principal and the agent may prefer separate actions because of the separate risk preferences. According to (Naceur, Goaied, Belanes, 2006) profitable firms with more stable earnings can pay larger dividend. Whenever they are growing very quick, dividend policy doesnt get any impact from financial leverage and ownership concentration. Also the liquidity of stock market and size negatively impacts the dividend payment. Oskar kowalewski and Ivan Stetsyukand Olesksandr Talavera (2007) study that how corporate governance determines dividend polices in Poland. They have established for the first time, quantitative measures on the quality of corporate governance for 110 non- financial listed companies. Their result suggested that large and more profitable companies have higher dividend payout ratio .Furthermore, risky and more indebted firms prefer to pay lower dividend s. The results finally, based on the period of 1998-2004, Reveals that dividend policy is quite important in the valuation process of companies, but the issues still remain scantily investigated in transition countries. A study on the determinant s of dividend policy and its association to corporate governance in a transition economy both offers an interesting subject and complements the existing corporate governance literature. The agency theory points that dividend may mitigate agency costs by distributing free cash flows that otherwise would be spent on unprofitable projects by the management. It is argued that dividends expose firms to more frequent analysis by the capital markets as dividend payout increase the likelihood that a firm has to issues new common stock. On the other hand, scrutiny by the market helps alleviate opportunistic management behavior, and thus, agency costs. Agency cost, in turn, is related to the strength of shareholders rights and they are associated with corporate governance. Furthermore, agency suggested that shareholders may prefer dividends, particularly when they fear expropriation by insider. They test the determinants of dividend policy in a multiple regression framework to control for firm specific characteristics other than governance. All the variables enter the regressions with expected signs. Size and return on assets are positively associated with variable cash divid end. Leverage is negatively associated with variable cash dividend. Their results provide evidence that in Poland listed companies where corporate governance practices are high and as a result shareholders rights are for strong payout higher dividend. Jianguo Chen and Nont Dhiensiri(2009) suggest that relationship between dividend pay-out ratio (POR) with the pro Cash flow variability (CFV), ownership dispersion, insider ownership, free cash flow, collateral stable assets, Past growth (GROW1), future growth (GROW2), stable dividend policy and imputation credit (IMP). They analyze the determinants of the corporate dividend policy using firms listed on New Zealand Stock Exchange .They examined that firms traditionally have high dividend pay-outs compared with companies in the US. They find that their is a negative relationship between dividend payout ratio and CFV, Insider, Beta ,growth and positive relationship between ownership dispersion ,free cash flow, collateral stable assets stable dividend policy and imputation credit. Their conclusion provides strong support to the agency cost theory and partially supports transaction cost and residual dividend theory. They do not have any evidence to support the dividend stability theory a nd the signaling theory. 2.4 Signaling theory The explanation about the signaling theory given by Bhattacharya (1979) and John, Kose and Williams (1985) dividends allay information symmetric between managers and shareholders by delivering inside information of firm future prospects. 2.5 Effect of tax preferences theory Miller and Scholars (1978) find that the effect of tax preferences on clientele and conclude different tax rates on dividends and capital gains lead to different clientele. Tax Preference theory Investor gave an important consideration to the taxes. This should by keep in mind that the dividends are taxed at a higher rate than the capital gains. As such, capital gains are preferred by the investors as compared to the dividends. This is known as when the investments are actually sold only then the capital gains are paid. When capital gains are realized inverses can control, but dividend payments are un controllable by them and the related company controls the dividend payment. In an estate situation, capital gains are not realized. For example: If a stock is purchased by an investor 50 years ago and is held by him until his or her death, when it is passed on to an heir after he is expired. Now that heir does not have to pay taxes on stocks appreciation. 2.6 Life Cycle Theory Life Cycle Theory and Fama and French (2001) states that the firms should follow a life cycle and reflect managements assessment of the importance of market imperfection and factors including taxes to equity holders, agency cost asymmetric information, floating cost and transaction costs. 2.7 Catering theory According to Baker and Wurgler (2004) in Catering theory suggest that the managers in order to give incentives to the investor according to their needs and wants and in this way cater the investors by paying smooth dividends when the investors by not pay when investors prefer non payers but put stock price premium on payers. 2.8 Lintners Model John Lintner (1956) initiates with his theory relies on two important things that he studied about dividend policy: 1) According to the amount of positive net-present-value (NPV) projects the companies tend to set long-run target dividends-to-earnings ratios. 2) Earnings increases are not always bearable. As a result, until managers can see that new earnings levels are bearable, dividend policy is not changed As regards the empirical literature the roots of the literature on determinants of dividend Policy is related to Lintner (1956) seminal work after this work the model is extended by The Samy ben naceur, Mohamed goaied and Amel belanesthe (2006) during the period (1996à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"2002) on the Tunisian Stock Exchange listed study the dividend policy of 48 firms. Lintners model is applied using static and dynamic panel data regressions. They examined that Tunisian firms rely more on current earnings that past dividends to fix their dividend payments in the way that dividends tend to be more sensitive to current earnings rather than prior dividends. Any inconsistency in the level of dividends is directly reflected in the earnings of the corporation. Samy ben naceur, Mohamed Goaied and Amel belanesthe (2006) focused on the relationship between dividend and ownership, liquidity, return on assets (ROA), profitability, investment, leverage ratio, size. The results indicate that highly profitable firms with more stable earnings can afford larger free cash flows and thus pay out larger dividends. Moreover, fast-growing firms distribute larger dividends so as to demand to investors. On the other hand, ownership concentration does not have any impact on dividend payment. In fact, being closely held Tunisian firms witness less agency conflicts and shareholders do not resort to dividends in order to reduce managerial discretion and protect their interests. The liquidity of the stock market has a negative influence, which confirms that the implementation of the electronic transaction system in the TSE has facilitated the realization of capital gains, which has reduced the need for dividend payments. At last, the negative coefficient on siz e found in the full sample has disappeared when regulated firms are excluded, which reduces the strength of this factor. Researchers have proposed many different theories about the factors that affect a firms dividend policy. Kanwal Anil and Sujata Kapoor (2008) analyzed that The Determinants of Dividend Payout Ratio-A Study of Indian Information Technology Sector. The period under study is 2000-2006 as it is known that the period of 5 to 6 years covers both recession and booming of IT industry. They stated that profitability has always been considered as a primary indicator of dividend payout ratio. There are numerous other factors other than profitability also that affect dividend decisions of an organization namely cash flows, corporate tax, sales growth and market to book value ratio. They suggest that dividend payout ratio is positively related to profits, cash flows and it has inverse relationship with corporate taxes, sales growth and market to book value ratio. Statistical techniques of correlation and regression have been used to explore the relationship between key Variables. Thus, the main theme of this study is to recognize the various condition that effect the decision of dividend payout poli cy of IT firms in India. In short factors influencing the corporate dividend policy, according to them, may substantially vary from country to country because of inconsistency or variations in legal, tax and accounting policy between countries. In view of these facts, the present study aims at identifying the variables influencing corporate dividend policy in Pakistan. CHAPTER III DEPENDENT AND INDEPENDENT VARIABLES Objective of this study is to determine factors that have an impact on dividend of Oil Gas Exploration and Oil Gas Marketing sector of KSE. Dividend yield is dependent variable and the three independent variable are size, profitability and growth. These variables are discussed here. 3.1 Dividend yield (DY) Arthur A Thompson in his book Crafting and Executing Strategy says that the measure of the return that shareholder receives in the form of dividend is called dividend yield (DY). A typical dividend yield is 2 -3%, the dividend yield for fast growth companies in often below 1%(may be even 0) and the dividend yield for slow-growth companies can run 4-5%. Dividend yield can measure by annual dividend per share divided by current market price per share. Samy ben naceur et el(2006)The DY (dividend yield ) as our measure of the dependent variable equals to dividend per share to price per share, payout ratio cannot be used as a measure of dependent variable because sample contains firms with negative earnings. Khamis Al-Yahyaee et el (2006) and Hafeez et el (2009) also used dividend yield (DY) as the dependent variable. CHAPTER IV EXPLANATORY VARIABLES This thesis selected 3 variables used by different researchers Samy ben naceur et el (2006) and Hafeez et el (2009). 4.1 Firm Size Hafeez et el (2009) The firm size has been calculated as the total assets of the firm because a posiyive coefficient is expected from this variable as there is a very low chance of bankruptcy in large more diversified firms and it can sustain higher level of debt. Scott and martin (1975) found that the size of the firm is very important factor which can affect the firms dividend policy and debt policy. A negative impact has been found by market capitalization and size of the firms on dividend payout policy which clearly shows that the firms prefer to invest in their assets rather than pay dividends to its shareholders. The financial characteristic of size has been explained by Market capitalization and the size of the firm. According to the null hypothesis for this financial characteristic there is no relation between the market capitalization and size with dividend payout ratio but the results show that there is a inverse and significant relationship between dividend payout and MV.Hence null hypothesis is rejected. The evidence supported by the finding of Belans et al (2007), Jeong (2008) deviate from Avazian et al (2006). Samy ben naceur et el (2006) the size of the firm by total market value (LNSIZE) and it is expected to be positively correlated with dividend paid. The literature suggests that size may be inversely related to the probability of bankruptcy (Ferri and Jones 1979; Titman and Wessels 1988; Rajan and Zingales 1995). In particular, larger firms should have an easier access to external capital markets and can borrow on better terms, Moreover, larger firms tend to be more diversified and their cash flows are more regular and less volatile. Thus, larger firms should be more willing to pay out higher dividends. Even the conflicts between creditors and shareholders are more severe for smaller firms than the larger ones. Khamis Al-Yahyaee et el (2006) they measure size of the firm from Log of sales. Firms dividend policy is influenced by variables such as size. There is an advantageous position for larger firms to raise external funds in the capital markets and are less dependent of internal funds. Therefore there is a negative relationship between dependence on internal financing and the size of the firm. Moreover, there is a chance of lower bankruptcy probabilities in larger firms and thus they are able to pay more dividends. Thus as per this research the hypothesis is H1= Firm size is positively associated with dividend payouts. 4.2 Firm profitability Empirical research found that there is a positive relationship between dividend yield and profitability. The more profitable the firms are, the more internal financing they will have, and thus are able to afford larger dividends. Some of them are as follow. Khamis Al-Yahyaee et el (2006) measured profitability by earnings before interest and taxes to total assets as our surrogate for profitability. Hence a positive relationship between profitability and dividend is expected. Since the annual profits pay the dividends therefore its logical that more dividends are paid by profitable firms. Samy ben naceuret et el (2006) measure the profitability by the return on assets (ROA) net income/total assets and it is positively correlated with dividend payments. Firms with high profitability can afford larger free cash flows and hence new investment opportunities. Therefore, paying higher dividends does not disturb them. In the same vein and according to the pecking order theory, firms prefer using internal sources of financing first, then debt and finally external equity obtained by stock issues. The more profitable the firms are, the more internal financing they will have, and thus are able to afford larger dividends. Hafeez et el (2009) measured Profitability Net Earnings and Earning Per Share after tax. The net earnings show the positive relationship with the dividend yield. The net earnings after interest, depreciation and after tax have been used as the explanatory variable to examine the role of earnings to pay dividends. Thus as per this research the hypothesis is H2= There is a positive relationship between a firms profitability and dividend payouts. 4.3 Firm Growth Samy ben naceur et el (2006) measure investment and growth by MBV (market value of equity/ book value of equity) and annual rate of growth of total assets. Firms anticipate higher growth, when they establish lower dividend payout ratio because growth entails higher investment expenditures. When firms retain higher proportion of earning to finance future investment need due to high cost of external financing, their dividend pay out in anticipation of future growth stands reduced. Hence, a negative relationship between dividend payout and expected growth is expected. Khamis Al-Yahyaee et el (2006) measure the growth opportunities through market-to-book ratio. A negative relationship is expected between growth opportunities and dividend. Large additions of capital are required by the firms experiencing substantial success and rapid growth. Consequently, lower dividend payout policies are expected by growth firms. Similarly, the pecking order theory predicts that more earnings are retained by the firms having a high proportion of market value followed by growth opportunities hence they are able to minimize the need to raise new equity capital. Free cash flow theory also predicts that their will be a lower free cash flow and lower dividend is paid by the firms with high growth opportunities. On the other hand Hafeez et el (2009) argued with the above researcher. According to the signaling theory the higher the firm grows, the higher they pay dividends to shareholders. The shareholders get signals from the growth of the firms having high growth opportunity. The sales growth has been used as proxy of Growth in the empirical analysis of the study and has been used as percent age change in sales annually as proxy of the growth. Whereas Kanwal Anil et el (2008), measured growth and investment by sales growth and MTBV. Hafeez Ahmed et el (2009) measures investment as SLACK = accumulated retained earnings/ total asset. Thus as per this research the hypothesis is H3= Firm growth is negatively associated with dividend payouts. Table 1 Summary of Proxy Variables and Research Hypotheses H1: Size MCAP = market capitalization Positive H2: Profitability ROA= net income/total assets Positive H3: Growth GROWTH = sales growth Negative CHAPTER V METHODOLOGY DATA COLLECTION METHOD The data is collected from Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan, State Bank of Pakistan and the Karachi Stock Exchange. The variables of the study are calculated from the Audited Annual Accounts of 6 firms for the period of 2001 to 2008 resulting in about 240 observations for each variable and as such it is a long period enough to smooth out variable fluctuations. (Rozeff, 1982) SAMPLE Sample Size consists of six companies from oil and gas exploration and marketing sectors in Pakistan, listed on Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Total of six companies listed on Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). Data collected from year 2001 to year 2008. STATISTICAL TEST Linear Regression test was performed to analyze data. Dividend yield is a dependent variable and growth, size and profitability are taken as independent variable. REGRESSION MODEL This study uses multiple regression analysis. This thesis estimate that Y= X0 + X1 + X2 + X3 + e Y = Dividend yield. X0 = Intercept of the equation. X1 = Firm size. X2 = Firm profitability. X3 = Firm sale growth. e = Error Term. CHAPTER VI DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Table 2 MODEL R SQUARE F Sig. 1 .223 3.917 .015(a) Table 2 above shows F Ratio for the regression model is significant which indicates that regression model is a best fit. Total variation in the dependent variable explained by the regression model as indicated by R square is .223 i.e. 22.3% change in dividend yield is explained by these three independent variables. Table3 UNSTANDARDIZED COEFFICIENT STANDARDISECOEFFICIENT t Sig. B Std. Error Beta (Constant) 0.066 0.011    5.826 0 Size -1.10E-06 0 -0.503 -2.879 0.006* Profitability 0.16 0.094 0.269 1.709 0.095** Sale growth 2.17E-07 0 0.484 3.038 0.004* *Significant at 1% **Significant at 10% Table 3 reports the ordinary least square results of the regression analysis. Results indicate that size of the firm is significant as shown in table 3 and shows that size is negatively correlated with dividend at 1% .As researcher taken in its own hypothesis that the size will present positive relation but its coefficient is negative which rejects researcher hypothesis. Since the size is also statistically significant but the hypothesis for this thesis shows that the growth is negatively related to dividend hence this hypothesis rejected. Some researcher result find out size as positive. Fama and French (2000 and 2001) concluded that more dividends are payable by large and more profitable firms. Lloyd and Jahera (1995 cited on holder 1998) concluded that those larger firms have easier access to capital markets which are more mature hence allowing for higher dividend pay-out ratios and reducing their dependence on internally generated funding. Aneel Kanwer (2002) measured size with total sale and researcher find out that size is positive related to dividend yields. Smaller company gives lower dividend as compared to larger company. Oskar kowalewki et el (2007) made a research in Poland and they measured size with total assets .they find out that size is positively related to dividends because more dividends are paid by companies which are larger in asset and size.. Some researcher result find out size as negative .The result of the research by Hafeez Ahmed et el (2009) on KSE (non financial firms) is similar to this thesis result. they measure size with natural logarithm of total assets This results indicates that the size of the firms have the negative impact on dividend payout policy which shows that the firms prefer to invest in their assets rather than pay dividends to their shareholders .. Samy Bin Naem et el (2006) made their research on the firms of the Tunisian Stock Market and They measured the size with logarithm of stock market capitalization. They concluded that there is a negative relationship between size and dividend, but the negative relationship disappeared when regulated firms are removed. Since the result of the researcher Fama and French (2000 and 2001) , Lloyd and

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness Essay

I have been fortunate to get the love and care of my parents as well as siblings. During my childhood, my parents taught me the morals based on the holy teachings of scriptures. Among the many good sayings, I remember a proverb, â€Å"Cleanliness is next to Godliness,† which was reminded to me, time and again, by my mother. When I was about seven years old, I avoided taking bath on a daily basis. It was at that time when my mother first narrated this proverb to me, which continues to guide me everyday. Although many of us may be religious and Godly, we may be defying, either intentionally or unintentionally, the basic principle of cleanliness in our practical lives. For instance, it can be seen that some people throw their household garbage on the streets, and as a result, mosquitoes and flies spread harmful diseases in the community. Similarly, some people spit on roads due to which their infected saliva often becomes a source to several contagious diseases. It must be recalled that our scriptures teach us to keep ourselves as well as our places of dwelling clean. Since God is ultimate in purity, the only way to reach God is to remain pure, and purity is attained by keeping our mind as well as body clean. However, the fellow humans are polluting the purity of the environment through their deleterious activities. Burning of fire crackers leads to air-pollution, which in return, causes respiratory problems like asthma. Also, when somebody smokes a cigarette in a public place, then the surrounding environment is polluted, and people become vulnerable to cancer due to passive smoking. I have strictly practiced the meaning of the proverb to keep my mind as well as body clean. I do not smoke, do not spit in a public place, and do not burn fire crackers. My body is a holy temple, which houses the spirit. I make every endeavor to retain the purity of my spirit because only then I can attain salvation.

Closely analyse the poems ‘Sacifice’ by Taufiq Rafat and ‘Out, Out’ by Robert Frost

In preparation for this essay I read and analysed a series of poems. Some of these poems include ‘Tich Miller' by Wendy Cope and ‘City Jungle' by Pie Corbett. For the main part of the essay I read the two poems ‘Sacifice' by Taufiq Rafat and ‘Out, Out' by Robert Frost and found out, about the two different cultures. ‘Sacifice' is about a goat being sacrificed when they are laying the foundations of a friend's house, where as ‘Out, Out' is about a boy having his hand chopped off by a buzz saw. In class, as a group we took down notes about the two poems. I will now individually show my understanding of the two poems and write an analysis for them both. I will now analyse ‘Sacrifice' by Taufiq Rafat. The poem is about laying the foundations of a house. To do this they have to perform a ritual. The ritual is that the owner of the house has to sacrifice a goat. In the first stanza we can see that the poet feels empathy for the goat as it says ‘I can feel its point on my throat'. It is suggesting that he has taken the persona of the goat and feels what it feels. This stanza is almost out of order, as the poet Rafat could have put line five ‘We are laying the foundations of a friend's house' as his first line. He could have done this deliberately because he wants to create effect and to catch the reader's attention by having a strong first stanza with language like ‘geysers'. You can tell by the language of the poem that the person who is performing the sacrifice is disturbed and doesn't want to kill the goat as it says ‘A hot sticky sweat breaks out on my body'. This line in the poem stands out for me because it creates a strong image in my mind and tells me exactly how he is felling towards the sacrifice. In the next stanza we find out that there is a group of people that are involved in laying the foundations of a friend's house, as the sentence starts with ‘We are laying the foundations of a friend's house'. By the words ‘a brief prayer' and ‘we stand in a tight circle' you can tell that the culture of the poem is a religious one and that they are also a close community by them all involved in a ritual also by them all laying the foundations of a friend's house. The line ‘The heat, and the smell of blood make me dizzy' tells you how this sacrifice is making him feel and once again it shows that he thinks this is uncivilized. I think that when it says the goat has a ‘civilized and patient look' it makes me feel that the goat doesn't deserve what is about to happen to it and they are going to kill it when he doesn't expect it. In the next stanza they are now performing the sacrifice of the goat. When the poet writes ‘Part of the ritual that it is his hand only' it tells you that the person who has to kill the goat is the one who is having his house blessed. In the line ‘How keenly it cuts! ‘ the poet Rafat is showing that the goat cuts easily and that it is almost like the knife wants to kill the goat. I think that the explanation mark at the end shows the shock and the response of the poet. When the poet writes ‘The movement is a little unsteady' this stands out for me because as well as him being nervous I would be too if I had to kill any animal. Also I think it is ironic that by him being nervous, because he doesn't want to hurt the goat, he is actually causing the goat to feel more pain by not being steady. The word ‘butchering' makes this sacrifice feel more unpleasant because butcher means they kill. ‘Four calloused hands imprison my jerking legs' this tells us that they are working class people because calloused hands suggests that people work with their hands. Also by saying that the hands are calloused, which means harden, it could suggest that they have hard emotions to this sacrifice. Also with the words ‘jerking legs' the poet is taken on the persona and empathy of the goat. In the next stanza they have killed the goat and are now burying it. When Rafat writes ‘the children are fascinated by the tableau' he is saying that the children might want to do this in the future and suggests that this culture could be passed through generations. The goat is forgotten about forever when it says ‘Two spadefuls of dirt will cover me up forever' I feel that it is sad that some people would just kill an animal for their culture and just forget about it afterwards. When Rafat says ‘a white-bearded man chants something holly' it is coming back to the idea that their community is a religious community. At the end of the sentence we can tell that this sacrifice is recent by the words ‘the cameras click' it also suggests that to some this is a celebration but as you read the last stanza the poet has another opinion. The poet Rafat writes ‘we are not laying the foundations of a house, but another Dachau. ‘ The language he is using is very strong at the end. As I read this last stanza it made me think that when he used the word Dachau that means Concentration Camp or even a Death Camp he clearly shows that he disapproves to the whole sacrifice as I would but he also makes it clear that people have different opinions and feelings, to this. Over all I think that Rafat makes it clear you can't change the way people feel, this may be because of there religion or culture. I will now analyse ‘Out, Out' by Robert Frost. The poem ‘Out, Out' is about a young boy who is working in a factory in Vermont. As the poem goes on we find out that a buzz saw the boy was working with chops off his hand. In the first line the poet Frost writes ‘The buzz saw snarled' this suggest that by the word snarled there is danger to come. Also personification is used by ‘buzz saw'. The poet suddenly changers the tone of the poem by using the words ‘sweet-scented' and also saying in line five about the ‘Five Mountain Ranges' and ‘Under the sunset into Vermont'. I think that personally this was very clever because the poet has brought the scene alive and goes on to set a pleasant scene with the Mountain Ranges in Vermont. He also tells us a bit about the culture. He does this by mentioning the Mountains, which tell us that this is an isolated community. In line seven the poet has once again changed the tone of the poem by coming back to the saw. In this line he has used repetition by repeating the words ‘Snarled and Ratted'. He explains why the buzz saw was snarling and rattling in the next line by saying ‘As it ran light, or had to bear a load'. When the poet writes ‘and nothing happened: day was all but done'. This Suggest to the reader that it is just a normal day and that nothing special was going to happen. I found this clever because it is misleading. In the next line the poet shows a bit of emotion by saying ‘call it a day, I wish they might have said'. By using the words ‘I wish' it makes you think that something bad may happen to him. To please the boy' the poet writes in the next line. This is the first time the poet introduces him as just a boy. This suggests that as apart of their culture they get young children to work. I disagree with this because I think that young children are not as experienced with using dangerous equipment such as a buzz saw and something could happen to them if they are not careful and could get hurt. The poet goes on to introduce his sister in line thirteen ‘His sister stood beside them in her apron'. As the poet does this it could suggest that as a part of their culture, families work together. Frost also writes that the sisters tell the rest of the workers it's supper ‘To tell them ‘Supper†. This could suggest that the poet has given them traditional roles for the genders. This is that the men have to do the work and the women have to cook. My response to this is that I disagree because it is sexism and I think that is wrong. In the next couple of lines Frost describes how the buzz saw cuts the boys hand off because he is not paying attention and gets distracted by his sister saying to word ‘Super' and loses his concentration. Frost writes just after the word ‘Super' that ‘the saw, As if to prove saws knew what supper meant, leaped out at the boy's hand' it is as if the saw decides to eat by hearing the hearing the word supper so he users personification. He explains that ‘he must have given the hand' and that the boy couldn't pull away in time. ‘But the hand! ‘ the poet writes, which means that he is in shock and dismay by the exclamation mark at the end. By his hand getting chopped off it tells as that it is very physical, manual, dangerous work they do. The boy's first outcry was a rueful laugh'. This suggests that he doesn't really realise what has happened to him. By the poet using the word ‘rueful' it tells us again that he is in shock and doesn't believe it. Frost writes in line twenty ‘as he swung toward them holding up the hand, Half in appeal' this could mean that the boy has reacted different to his hand being chopped off. This is because at first he was in shock and then he was looking for help by swinging towards them. The poet then writes ‘but half as if to keep the life from spilling'. This could refer to the title ‘Out, Out' because as the blood is spilling out of him it is also like the life is spilling and going out of his body as well. The boy's final reaction is when it says ‘then the boy saw all' this suggests that he knows that he is going to either be disabled or even die. The poet writes how the boy has now become a teenager by using the words ‘big boy doing a man's work' even though the boy is a ‘child at heart'. In the next few lines it tells us that the boy has lost his hand and that he has even lost his life. At first the poet brings the boy alive by using speech and getting him to say ‘Don't let him cut my hand off'. The poet now changers the whole pace of the poem by just having the word ‘So' by itself. This suggests the finality of the poem. ‘But the hand was gone already'. This means that despite what he wants it doesn't matter because the hand was gone and it couldn't have been used again. In the next sentence we find out that their medical provision is quite basic because it says ‘the doctor put him in the dark of ether'. The ether is for the boy to cope with the pain. The boy ‘lay and puffed his lips out with his breath'. I think this was sad because we know that he is going to die and that could have been his last breath, but it still suggests that there is life still there. ‘And then-the watcher at his pulse took fright'. This just means that the fright caused his pulse to go down. Also the hyphen could suggest a dramatic pause. His life is slowly going away from him now when Frost writes ‘Little-less-nothing! I think that the exclamation mark means the end and it goes on to say he has died ‘and that ended it'. My response to the end of the poem is a one of disbelieve. This is because the poet writes ‘Since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs'. I personally find this hard to believe that their culture is quite hard hearted and that they think death and danger is a normal part of life. I don't know how some people would just carry on with their lives ins tantly and think it was just another death. This poem must be quite old because of the whole attitude towards death has changed. This is not like ‘Sacifice' because that was quite recent because of the ‘Cameras'. I will now write about the similarities and differences between the two poems and compare them both. I will start off with some of the similarities between ‘Sacifice' and ‘Out, Out'. The first thing I have notice between the two was that they both have quite a sad, and depressing tone towards them. This is because they are both about death. Also in both of the poems the characters take the deaths quite lightly e. . in ‘Sacrifice' they just forget about the goat ‘Two spadefuls of dirt will cover me up forever' and in ‘Out, Out' they feel that it is just another death ‘Since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs'. Another similarity is that the poet, or the voice of the poem, does not appear to share the views of the communities described. This is because in ‘Sacrifice' the poet does not want to kill the goat but community does and in ‘Out, Out' the boy does not want to carry on working ‘Call it a day, I wish they might have sad'. They both tell a story and they create a serious tone because they are in blank verse. As they are in blank verse it sounds like someone is telling a story. The last similarity I found is that they both give insights into the cultures in which they are set. Also they imply criticism of the aspect of the culture they are describing. For example in ‘Out, Out' one criticism is that a young boy like him should not be working at such a young age but it is apart of their culture to do so. An example of a criticism in ‘Sacrifice' is that they should not kill the goat but they do so because it is apart of their culture. Now I will describe some of the differences between the two poems. The main difference would have to be that ‘Out, Out' is about a human where as ‘Sacrifice' is about an animal. They both describe different cultures. For example ‘Sacrifice' is a religious community and ‘Out, Out' isn't. I found that one difference was that ‘Sacrifice' includes empathy with the goat, where as ‘Out, Out' just describes what happens. Also ‘Sacrifice' is divided into stanzas and is in clear sections, where as ‘Out, Out' is not in stanzas and just flows chronologically through the story. Another difference would have to be that the poet in ‘Sacrifice' is more involved where as in ‘Out, Out' the poet is more of an observer. The last difference I can think of is that the death of the boy was an accident where as the death of the goat was on purpose. Overall I found that ‘Sacrifice' by Taufiq Rafat was very sad because I don't think it was right for them to go ahead with the ritual sacrifice of the goat just because they are laying the foundations of a house. The only decent and respectful bit towards the goat was from the poet himself. He doesn't think this was right either and at least his heart is in the right place. He lets us know from the very beginning that his real sympathies are with the goat: ‘As he moves the knife across the neck of the goat I can feel its point on my throat'. But Rafat's sympathy isn't much use to the goat. This is because if he has his doubts about the ceremony and he knows he is going to sacrifice the goat, I don't get why he is there in the first place if he doesn't want to kill the goat. Apart from this I found it a very interesting poem to read. For ‘Out, Out' by Robert Frost I felt that it is a tragedy that a young boy who lives in a rural area, is propelled to work longs days, doing a job that is fit for a man and that he is doing this instead of spending the days as a youth. When Frost writes ‘Call it a day, I wish they might have said, to please the boy by giving him the half hour that a boy counts so much when saved from work' I felt that not only do these lines inform us that the boy wished he did not have to work but it also reflects a sense of regret on the bystanders part. It proposes the fact that if they had finished up early, or even not made this young boy do a job fit for his superior then his death may have never occurred. I found this part particularly important to me because if they had done the right thing and not gave him this job he could have still been alive! I liked the fact that Frost uses particular techniques such as, personification, repetition, onomatopoeia, and word structure, which produced a precise rhythm to the poem. Another bit of this poem I liked is that throughout the poem the buzz saw is personified and is given human and animal like qualities. And the saw snared and rattled, snarled and rattled as it ran light or had to bear a load'. This I found suggests that the saw is in fact some kind of creature, which may posses more power than the boy. To some up I think that Frost's ideas of life and death, the harshness of life's demands, and how he shows personal interest in the way in which individuals deal with life's issues su ch as death are clearly reflected in the poem ‘Out, Out'. I think that this was a great poem to read.

The Englishmans Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe Free Essay Example, 1500 words

The Englishmans Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe (01.08.11) Introduction The Englishman’s Boy is a historical novel by Guy Vanderhaeghe, which depicts the 1873 Cypress Hills Massacre whereby a band of American wolfers assaulted a group of Assiniboine. The book deals with philosophical and moral issues that arise from the manner in which these historical events were recorded almost fifty years later by those who benefited in the massacre. The author has used the technique of interconnecting time lines and story narratives in adopting a post-modern approach to portray details of the Cypress Hills Massacre, which is characteristic of demonstrating the relationship between conflicting historical versions. This paper will focus on the power commanded by Rachel Gold, the main female character and on how other women in the novel are oppressed, which will be substantiated with reference to the histories of women’s roles in early Hollywood. Main Body The story is narrated by Harry Vincent whose dream woman is Rachel Gold. Rachel is a Jewish vampy screen writer who helps Harry Vincent get a job as a writer of film plots with Best Chance Pictures after he arrives in Hollywood from Saskatchewan. We will write a custom essay sample on The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Rachel is depicted as a powerful lady of very strong character as she maneuvers her life through a male dominated environment. She s able to create a place for herself and is recognized for her ability to write screenplays in surroundings where people hated women. She is portrayed as being extremely beautiful and catches the eyes of several men in Hollywood. But she was outnumbered in terms of her sex as well as religion. Rachel managed to gain immense recognition and clout in Hollywood because of her pulpy screen plays, which made her a force to reckon with whereby no one could take her lightly. She is depicted as being very considerate towards Harry and his un-well mother. Because of Rachel’s strong influence over film makers, she develops her own style of portraying the presence of anti-Semitic feelings in Hollywood as more and more Jews start entering the film making business in terms of starting production houses and directing films. It is perhaps in this context that Rachel enjoyed saying that â€Å"The true test of any scenario is to read it to a cameraman. Cameramen are invariably Irish and invariably drunk. If they can grasp the plot, the moral, the theme of your simple tale through an alchoholic haze, you can be assured you have struck the proper intellectual level† (36).