The Drum – John Scott Your Dad Did What? – Sophie Hannah

1. The Drum – John Scott Your Dad Did What? – Sophie Hannah Comparing structure, meaning, imagery, language, effect and relationship to the theme- Clashes and collisions Rayan and Hannah

2. The Drum Your Dad Did What? I hate that drum's discordant sound, Parading round, and round, and round: To thoughtless youth it pleasure yields, And lures from cities and from fields, To sell their liberty for charms Of tawdry lace and glittering arms; And when Ambition's voice commands, To fight and fall in foreign lands.I hate that drum's discordant sound, Parading round, and round, and round: To me it talks of ravaged plains, And burning towns and ruin'd swains, And mangled limbs, and dying groans, And widow's tears, and orphans moans, And all that Misery's hand bestows, To fill a catalogue of woes. Where they have been, if they have been away, or what they've done at home, if they have not - you make them write about the holiday. One writes My Dad did. What? Your Dad did what? That's not a sentence. Never mind the bell. We stay behind until the work is done. You count their words (you who can count and spell); all the assignments are complete bar one and though this boy seems bright, that one is his. He says he's finished, doesn't want to add anything, hands it in just as it is. No change. My Dad did. What? What did his Dad? You find the 'E' you gave him as you sort through reams of what this girl did, what that lad did, and read the line again, just one 'e' short: This holiday was horrible. My Dad did. 0

3. The Drum Your Dad Did What? Structure: • 2 stanzas, both consisting of 4 rhyming couplets which altogether makes 8 rhyming couplets. The first 2 lines of both stanzas are exactly the same. Punctuation is used to break down the poem to create pace, almost like an actual drum beat. Rhyming scheme, he choses couplets to manifest the beat of the drum, and also uses repetition of the first two lines to create contrast as the overall feeling of the two stanzas are opposites. Structure: • 4 stanzas, 4 lines each. Rhyming scheme is abab cd cd. Punctuation is not used so much and so the poem seems to give a sense of story telling. However, the fact that the rhyming scheme is very regular may suggest turn taking when the child may be ‘a’ and the teacher may be ‘b’. It also gives the recitation of the poem a nursery rhyme feel, which may link back to the age and location of the child. Similarities:Both poems have 8 pairs of rhyming lines, however they differ in stanza structure. Appearance wise, they are both geometric and very regular. Differences: The Drum has pace, unlike the other poem. Both show grief and death however differ in where it is shown. In The Drum, the whole second stanza is about grief and death, where as in Your Dad Did What, it is only in the last two lines does the reader get the shock of death and grief and it ends more suddenly.

4. The Drum Your Dad Did What? Meaning: Expresses his hatred for war, as he thinks that it’s something that ‘lures’ people in. Considering his Quaker background- he considered war to be the closest thing to hell a person could experience. This is why he feels so strongly about it, since he believes people completely misunderstand what war is. They think that it is glorious, when in fact it’s mayhem. Meaning: Expresses the barrier of communication between teacher and student, through telling the story of a tragic loss through something that is so insignificant (a summer holiday essay) that becomes a sort of routine. There is a misunderstanding between the teacher and the young boy, she tries to rationalize his behavior and pass it off as laziness or even rebellion, where in fact he is acting this way out of grief. Similarities: Both show a contrast between reality and perception. They both contain death and grief.

5. The Drum Your Dad Did What? Imagery: The drum itself is a symbol for the discord of war. Imagery differs greatly between the two stanzas, the first one is about people at home, before hearing the drum (before being sent off to war); he uses language like ‘glittering’ and ‘lace’ and ‘charms’ which gives the idea of glorifying the sending off to war making associations with things that are shiny like trophies, charms, medals. The second stanza gives an overall feel of death and gloominess, using words like ‘burning’ ‘ruined’ ‘mangled’ and ‘dying’ to show contrast and emphasizes the fact that he hates it so much. He also tries to show the impact back home through ‘widows’ tears and orphans’ moans’. This sends a powerful image that people could relate to. Imagery: There is very little imagery in this poem, because the language is very bare, stark, straightforward- almost to show what this child is thinking, since he would be thinking in short, simple sentences. As there are not enough words to explain the death Difference : The Drum is all about imagery, and Your Dad did what is all about the lack of imagery.

6. The Drum Your Dad Did What? Language: The poet uses very vivid language to set the scene in each stanza. Calling the drum ‘discordant’ is highly significant because a drum is used to create order and the beats are usually systematic and paced orderly. However he uses discordant because the drum is the symbol of war. In stanza 1, the words used are very shiny and sharp; whereas in stanza 2 the words are very dull and bleak. In stanza 1 personification is used when he says “and when Ambition’s voice commands” he does exactly the same thing in stanza 2 when he personifies “Misery” as he says “and all that Misery’s hand bestows” . This is very powerful because he personifies the general feeling of the whole stanza. Language: The language is very purposely bare, this is done to convey the grief of the situation. He also uses language that is fairly simple; this language is simple enough for a child to understand. The lack of vivid language also emphasizes the fact that the child is at loss of words to explain the grief he is facing.