reading “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke‚ one might infer a violent commotion between a father and son. However‚ if read closely‚ a reader will notice that the boy hung onto his father throughout the entirety of the waltz despite becoming “dizzy” (line 2)‚ and “scrapped” (line 12). In fact‚ in this poem‚ the narrator is reflecting upon a joyful memory he had with his father. Firstly‚ if a person were to dissect the title of the poem‚ “My Papa’s Waltz‚” they would discover that “Papa” is a term
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The poem My Papa’s Waltz describes a child’s nostalgia towards his conflicted relationship with his father. In this poem the tone of the speaker is characterized by the deep devotion and love he felt towards his father during his youth. Looking back on the time his father spent playing with him when he was a child‚ the speaker describes “[hanging] on like death” and “clinging to [his] shirt” (Roethke 3‚16). These childlike descriptions show that the speaker felt a deep devotion to his father and
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Thesis 1 When first reading “My Papa’s Waltz” I got the impression of an abusive household where the father beats the son and the mother stands idly by allowing this to happen. After a couple more reads I saw the humor of the words explaining a clumsy waltz between a father and son. There are satiric words used leading many to believe that the son is being abused‚ but there are also contradictions in those words which leads in a different direction. My final direction is that the father is abusing
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Upon reading Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” one would think the poem entirely talks about the dance and how it was special and memorable to the speaker just by the title. However‚ this ‘waltz’ is interpreted many different ways in the poem. The poem starts off describing the speaker’s presumed father’s smell of “whiskey on your breath” to show that he was drinking heavily (Roethke 1). This smell can also be described as quite strong because of the fact that it “could make a small boy dizzy” (2). This
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Love or Abuse? That is the Question Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” tells the reader of a small boy’s memory of his father. It explains how his father is intoxicated and the scene that goes along with it. Roethke’s style in this poem leaves the reader with the task of determining if he speaks of abuse or a happy reminiscence. Critics describe it as being a “mixture of tenderness and brutality” (Malkoff). In the first two lines‚ he recounts the smell of his father’s breath. Roethke’s use
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In the poem‚ My Papa’s Waltz‚ Theodore Roethke talks about a young boy’s relationship with his father. I think that the poem talks about how the young boy loves his father but their relationship is strained. I also think that the young boy fears that his father will drink himself to death. There is a lot of imagery in this poem. There are descriptions like‚ “we romped around until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf. There is imagery in every stanza. Roethke uses great word choice too. It is imperative
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My Papa’s Waltz Reading this poem brings back memories from my early child. I remember being ten or eleven and going to daddy daughter dances at the community center. When they discuss the Whiskey on his breath‚ I remember smelling the grease on my father. He was never one to drink‚ which is something I find very respectable; but he worked in a GM factory so he smelled often smelled of grease. This became a comforting smell since as a child I always associate with my father. Dancing at these dances
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BEN & JERRY’S Ben (Ben Cohen) & Jerry’s (Jerry Greenfield) is an American ice cream company‚ a division of the Anglo-Dutch Unilever conglomerate‚ that manufactures ice cream‚ frozen yogurt‚ sorbet‚ and ice cream novelty products. These are manufactured by Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings‚ It is best known as a premium ice cream brand‚ founded in 1978 in Burlington‚ Vermont. HISTORY Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were childhood friends from New York . On May 5‚ 1978‚ with a $5 correspondence
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poems "My Father’s Song‚" by Simon J. Ortiz‚ and "My Papa’s Waltz‚" by Theodore Roethke‚ are two similar poems written about a father and child relationship. The two poems are spoken from the child’s point of view during a memorable event. As well as their similarities‚ these two poems have their differences. Although both poems concern the relationship between a father and his son‚ they differ on tone‚ imagery‚ and figurative language. In "My Father’s Song‚" the main tone is nostalgia. "My Papa’s
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My Papa’s Waltz I believe I am living a good life. My parents love me and provide me with all the things my heart desires‚ so creating a connection with the child in the poem‚ “My Papa’s Waltz‚” seemed as an impossible task. Yet‚ I have made a startling discovery with the child in the poem‚ and that is the way he and I both downplay the horrors in our lives. The boy in this poem is receiving scars from his father whose senses are muddled up to the point that he isn’t even in this world‚ though
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