My Papa’s Waltz Theodore Roethke was born to Otto and Helen Roethke on born on May 25‚ 1908. As a child his parents and his uncle owned and operated a greenhouse in Saginaw Michigan. Theodore spent a lot of time helping with his father working in the greenhouse. In 1923 his father died of cancer and shortly thereafter he turned to literature. His poem "My Papa’s Waltz" is a very emotionally stimulating poem. Roethke’s use of ethos in this poem helps establish his creditability. He writes
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The author of My Papa’s Waltz‚ Theodore Roethke‚ portrays the speaker of the poem’s childhood in a surprisingly dark‚ negative tone. At first glance‚ it appears to be an innocent story of a child who dances around one night with his silly‚ happily drunken father. However‚ a close reading and analysis of the poem will show that this is not the case. For example‚ the line “You beat time on my head” refers to the child being hit and smacked. This line has a very negative connotation when it is fully
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The memory described in "My Papa’s Waltz" is mostly positive. The poem is about a specific type of dance‚ which is established thrice: by the title as well as lines 4 and 15. The father waltzed with his child at bedtime‚ a spirited attempt to bring elegance into a humble home. Waltzing is often associated with royalty‚ emperors dancing in palaces to the music of Johann Strauss II‚ good living! The verb "romped" in the second stanza is strong evidence that this was a playful activity for both father
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of “My Papa’s Waltz” Ambiguity is an element that poets use to interpret something in more than one way. Ambiguity makes a poem strong and weak at the same time because ambiguous tones make people think‚ ambiguity also enables different interpretations of the theme. “My papa’s waltz” by Theodore Roethke’s is an example of a poem with ambiguity. The unidentified persona and the use of diction create conflicting perspectives. An ambiguous tone is used in Theodore Roethke’s “My papa’s waltz” to humanize
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Personal Narrative In my life‚ I have met certain people who have changed me for the better and have helped shape me into who I am today. A lot of those people have left but one that has always stood by my side and sticks out in my mind is my favorite person in the whole world‚ who happens to be my Papa. He has been there for me since day one‚ literally. He was the second person to hold me as in infant‚ after my mother. People like him don’t come around everyday. He is the most genuine person you
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Such waltzing was not easy. We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother ’s countenance Could not unfrown itself. 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‚ Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt The poem‚ "My Papa ’s Waltz"‚ written by Theodore Roethke‚ is written in such a way that creates many debate and contestation
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are‚ having a ‘tragic hero’ who is noble‚ dramatic irony‚ hamartia‚ hubris‚ pathos and a restoration of social order. Dramatic irony is an element used in a tragedy. This element creates situations where the audience knows the characters thoughts‚ personality‚ or events that have occurred to a character before another character does. The author uses this element to instil fear‚ frustration‚ or suspense to the reader. An example of dramatic irony used in the Shakespearean tragedy ‘Othello’ in Act 3
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In “My Papa’s Waltz”‚ American poet Theodore Roethke transforms the horrid experience of a child being beaten by his father into the romantic and beautiful dance of a waltz. Written in trecet iambs to imitate the relaxing beat of the waltz‚ the poet installs some sense of pleasure in the reader. In doing so‚ Roethke makes the subject of a beating more readable and lessening the effect of the drunkenness makes the speaker’s father more forgivable. The lucidity of diction and imagery throughout Roethke’s
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"My Papa’s Waltz" by Theodore Roethke is a four quatrain poem written in iambic trimeter. The rhyme scheme present is abab‚ cdcd‚ efef‚ and ghgh. In the poem‚ the son is remembering a time when his father‚ who was excessively drunk at the time‚ carrying him through the kitchen off to bed. It was a rough‚ almost abusive‚ journey though because his father‚ who is already drunkenly waltzing him‚ is probably not used to handling things with care at work since his hands are described as "caked hard by
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As I listened to “My Papa’s Waltz” being read aloud I felt a connection to it; a connection that I did not feel when I read it to myself. When I heard the poem aloud I was able to connect it my own life and the drunken “waltz” of a hard working father taking his son to bed. The performance added to the poem because it brought the words to life. I am a hearing learner so listen to the poem made it easier for me to comprehend it. However the performance did not change my perception of the poem
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