Diction In My Papa's Waltz
Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” discusses a child and father’s interactions within their kitchen as the mother watches while frowning. Roethke delivers his work through the child’s perspective, an unreliable speaker, which enables an ambiguous tone. This allows the reader to interpret the child and father’s relationship in many ways. Words involved in Roethke’s diction, such as “waltzed,” “romped,” and “dizzy,” indicate enjoyment within the relationship. On the other hand, “beat,” “death,” and “battered” create a sinister picture of abuse. In addition to diction being used to formulate an abusive relationship, the simile, “but I hung on like death,” also reinforces the idea as death typically has a negative connotation. On the contrary,
An Analysis Of Julie Otsuka's When The Emperor Was Divine
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My Father Calls Me Everyday Sunday Morning Analysis
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Tragedy And Care In Sherman Alexie's War Dances
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My Papa's Waltz And Those Winter Sundays Analysis
871 Words | 4 PagesThroughout “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays”, the author’s reflect on how their fathers were hard workers, although each memory is emotionally different. In “My Papa’s Waltz”, Roethke remembers his father coming home from work and his hands “Was battered on one knuckle” (Line 10). Even though the father had a long day at work, the boy recounts him coming home and dancing with him. Whereas “Those Winter Sundays”, Hayden recalls his fathers hard work by describing his “Cracked hands that ached/
Connotation In My Papa's Waltz
902 Words | 4 PagesThe relationship between father and son is one that is both sacred, yet complex as each side of the relationship faces hardships. This relationship between a son and his role model, a father and his child, is one, has its ups, but one must also know it has downs. In Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz,” Roethke’s use of ambiguity through diction allows room for the audience to interpret the text in a positive or a negative way, representing the relationship between a father and a son, which on the outside can be interpreted in an either positive or a negative way. Roethke’s use of diction creates an element of confusion for the audience of his poem.
Diction And Juxtaposition In 'A Story' By Li-Young Lee
589 Words | 3 PagesHis five-year-old son refers to the father as “Baba”, a word filled with the boy’s entreaty towards his father as he asks for a story. However, he is later portrayed as a “...boy [who] is packing his shirts, [and] looking for his keys”. He is no longer portrayed as the five year old son, but as a grown man. However, the boy still adores his father, and the word “Baba” remains a huge role in the son’s life; it is used to express his love for his father and to ask for stories, he highly looks forward to. Despite the fear that his son will leave him one day, the relationship between the father and his son is an “...emotional rather than logical equation, an earthly rather than heavenly one…”.
Summary Of Sign For My Father Who Stressed The Bunt By David Bottoms
883 Words | 4 PagesSometimes it can be difficult for sons to understand the lessons that fathers teach to them, leading to a disconnect between the two. This is the case for the speaker and his father in David Bottoms’ “Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt.” As a child, the speaker lacks appreciation for his father, yet nevertheless they share a common love. As an adult, reminiscing on his baseball experiences with his father, the son, through his retrospective point of view, now appreciates his father for all his father did. Through diction and varying points of view this poem emphasizes the lack of understanding between the two characters, while symbols and figurative comparisons express their mutual love; this poem analyzes the loving, yet dysfunctional
My Papa's Waltz And Those Winter Sundays
683 Words | 3 PagesEvery story consists of different elements, such as characters, plotlines, and settings. Nonetheless, many stories portray the same messages or ideas. “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, depicts a reckless father who is loved by his child, while “Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden, depicts a hardworking father whose child is indifferent to him. Though the poems depict exceptionally different childhoods, both contribute to the idea that perceptions of parents alter as one grows into adulthood. Both poems use harsh words and critical tones in order to convey this notion, however in “My Papa’s Waltz,” they signify the recklessness of the father and how the narrator perceives his father as an adult, while in “Those Winter Sundays,” they
A Story By Li-Young Lee Analysis
883 Words | 4 PagesFrom beginning to end, the son calls his father “Baba” to show his affection and admiration. Despite the father’s inability to come up with a new story, the son still looks up to him. This affectionate term also contrasts with the father’s vision of the “boy packing his shirts [and] looking for his keys,” which accentuates the undying love between the father and son (15 & 16) . The father’s emotional “screams” also emphasize his fear of disappointing the son he loves so much (17). Despite the father’s agonizing visions, the son remains patient and continues to ask for a story, and their relationship remains “emotional” and “earthly”--nothing has changed (20-21).
Compare And Contrast Sylvia Plath And My Papa's Waltz
846 Words | 4 PagesComparing and contrasting Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, one finds the two poems are similar with their themes of abuse, yet contrasting with how the themes are portrayed. Furthermore, the speaker 's feelings toward their fathers’ in each poem contrast. One speaker was hurt by the father and the other speaker was indifferent about how he was treated by his father. The fathers’ feelings toward the children are also different despite how each treated the child. Both poems accurately portray the parent-child relationships within an abusive home, even if they have different
Sticks By Thomas Sayers Ellis Literary Devices
616 Words | 3 PagesPhrases such as “beat down”(10) and “bodies slammed”(10) emphasize the strength of the father. However, words used to describe the narrator’s writing like “Wham! Bam!”(24) communicate the opposition to the violent father where words are just as mighty. Relating back to the use of musical terms to enhance the theme, the phrase “wild solos,violent uncontrollable blows”(28) used to describe the narrator’s writings further supports the affiliation between the father’s clout and the narrator’s newly found strength. Finally, the phrase “the noisy banging and tuning of growth”(32) portrays the narrator refining his dad’s dreadfulness, and turning his negative impact into a growing art form. Moreover, the diction illustrates the father’s violence fueling the passion of the narrator’s combatant
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Rhetorical Analysis Essay
1823 Words | 8 PagesThe author creates a vivid and powerful emotional response in the reader by using language that is both descriptive and evocative. For example, the child’s hygienic situation is described using sentences such as “It is naked. Its buttocks and thighs are a mass of festered sores, as it sits in its own excrement continually. ”The description of the child's physical appearance and condition is intended to elicit feelings of pity and compassion from the reader, as well as a sense of outrage at the injustice of the situation. She also tugs at the reader's strings with the usage of imagery to highlight the stark contrasts between the celebrations outside and the conditions inside the basement where the child lives.
My Papa's Waltz Compare And Contrast
802 Words | 4 PagesEverything in life has similarities and differences as long as you're looking for them, but some have more than others. Comparing similarities and difference between two things in life is making a compare and contrast (book) . When comparing and contrasting two pieces of literature you have to observe not only the themes of them but also the plot. Fences by August Wilson and My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke have many similarities and differences throughout the literature due to themes and the plot.
The Waltz By Roethke Analysis
906 Words | 4 PagesOn the surface, this poem seems to be about two people (a father and child) dancing a clumsy version of a waltz; however, upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the poem is actually an extended metaphor comparing domestic abuse to what is usually a beautifully graceful dance. The brilliance of this poem is in the irony that the metaphor presents: the horror of abuse to the beauty of the waltz. What makes this metaphor most apparent is the diction. While Roethke incorporates words like “waltzing” (l.4), “romped” (l.5), and “beat time” (l.13), all words associated with jubilant dancing, other words and phrases indicate quite the opposite of jubilance. For example, in the final stanza, Roethke writes, “You beat time on my head / With a palm caked hard by dirt, / Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt.”
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