An example of the language in the poem that helps you “see” what the boy is thinking and feeling is: “The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy But I hung on like death” (1942) And, “The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt.” (1942) The son was able to deal “justify” his father’s drunkenness by noticing all of the things that showed his father was a hard-working man, as described above. The content was engaging to me because I come from an alcoholic family on my mother’s family. For example: “We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself.” My grandmother felt much the same way as this boy’s mother did when my grandfather was drunk (which was a lot of the time). According to the textbook, “the central details in "My Papa's Waltz" relate to the father—his breath, his irregular dancing, his battered knuckles and rough hands—there are important descriptions of the boy's responses, and the mother's too.” (Journey) Those details make the theme of the poem.
My Papa’s Waltz By: Theodore Roethke My Papa’s Waltz Theodore Roethke wrote this poem to make his readers actually think about what he was trying to tell them. Some people think this poem is about a son and father dancing. While others seem to believe it is about abuse. In the first line of the poem “The whiskey on your breath” it is saying how the father has been drinking (line 1). “Could make a small boy dizzy” is telling us that the fathers breathe smells of alcohol.
Roethke develops violent imagery which is associated with the father to create an impression of child abuse. This child abuse from the father is happening due to the adverse effect of alcohol. At the beginning of this poem, the son, who is the speaker of this poem, starts with the reason of dancing waltz with the father. Reader can imagine that the father is so drunk when they are dancing the waltz through olfactory imagery of whiskey in line one Reader can see that the father does not only drink a small amount of whiskey. He is so drunk that even the smell of his breath could make his son, who is just “a small boy”, feels a bit woozy.
A.O.W #13 Soapstone ~ Sophie Perez Period 5 ~ 455 words While reading an excerpt from, “There Will Come Soft Rains,” Ray Bradbury can be easily identified as a skilled author who uses a perfected use of imagery to show the setting of the story. The author may believe that the Cold War was a time to unite friends and achieve a sense of relief only after society’s problems are resolved. He may have lived through the beginning to the very end of the Cold War since all the details seem precise. To capture the tension that he showed in his descriptive writing. I think that the author wrote this story because he wanted to share an experience or certain thoughts.
The Simple Gift An individual’s upbringing creates powerful formative influence over the creation of a sense of belonging. The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick is a text that explores this concept of upbringing that influences the sense of belonging. The Simple Gift is a free-verse novel targeted to young adults. Each poem is written in the first person with the persona indicated in script at the top right of the page, like a signature. The persona communicates intimately and personally to the responder, confiding the occurrences in a recount or journal manner.
My Papa’s Waltz "My papa's waltz" is a reflection of a childhood experience involving a father. Roethke’s use of diction and details covers the narrator's comply attitudes toward his father, the boy is a little sacred about his father. In the poem "My papa's waltz" Theodore Roethke, the narrator is reflecting on a childhood experience including his father. It appears that the young boy is afraid of his father. The first line says, "the whiskey on your breath/ could make a small boy dizzy"(1-2).
Contending that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love, Adler expresses this is to be a true book owner. There are no facts to support this opinion. When he states that there are three kinds of book owners, this also his personal opinion, and not based on any real data. His personal opinion that marking a book keeps you awake also is not based on any fact. Having one person state they are too tired to read, when they find themselves doodling instead of writing notes is not a proven fact; just one person’s observation of them self.
Theodore Roethke “My Papa’s Waltz” Formal Argument In “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke the speaker, a young boy, takes us through a dance with his father. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia felt that the boy’s experience was a fun, playful one however, my interpretation of this poem differed. The speaker uses details in this poem that tell the story of a fun yet frightening dance with his father. The speaker starts by letting us know that the father is drunk.
Abby Dester English II 10/24/2012 My Papa’s Waltz Abuse is the last thing this poem portrays. If indeed this poem represented a boy being abused by his father the title “My papa’s waltz” would instead be titled “My father’s drunken dance” The author uses subtle hints to this. The word Papa means that the little boy looks to his father with respect and innocence. The word waltz is used to describe how they were dancing around the room. To me “waltz’ is not one would use with an abusive father.
The author’s diction shows the tones of negligence and physical vituperation because he wants to show the son being beaten. Roethke’s father’s abuse of “whiskey” leads to his own “romping” with his “battered” hands. Alcohol plays a large factor into Roethke’s unnecessary beating, also the father has rough hands leading to the connotation of abuse because of the rough tone of battered hands, which very accurately sums up his personality as a person. Roethke also talks about the roughhousing done, which he thinks is playful with his father is actually very spiteful towards himself. Roethke says he and his father were, “waltzing” and that every step his father missed, because of his father’s alcohol problem he “scraped” his ear on his father’s belt, but this so called dance Roethke speaks of is a metaphor, for his father is really beating him with fists “caked” with sediment.