...“My Papa’s Waltz” “Recalling days of sadness, memories haunt me. Recalling days of happiness, I haunt my memories”. Many childhood memories are remembered as fun and joyful, the time without a care in the world. The speaker, which is the young boy in Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz”, recalls a time out of his childhood that involved him and his father during family time at home one evening. A strong bond of love and playfulness between father and son is shown thru Roethke’s recollection of personal childhood memories. The poem takes place at the family’s home on a quiet evening. The father comes home after a hard day’s work which is where Roethke states, “With a palm caked hard by dirt” (line 14) suggests that the father is a blue collar hard working man who provides for his family and puts the food on the table every night. Since he works so much and does not want to come home bitter and exhausted and complain about his long day, he rewards himself with a bit of alcohol. The speakers reveals, “The whiskey on your breath, Could make a small boy dizzy” (1-2). One might get the impression that the father came home drunk out of his mind, but what those two lines say to me is after having a drink or two, or maybe he drank at home, he was in such a good mood that he started waltzing with his son. Also since the father was such a hard worker and most likely was a big fellow, his son mentions the whiskey breath which would be too strong for him but does not make him seem...
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...“My Papa’s Waltz” The whiskey on your breath; Could make a small boy dizzy; judging by the title, the person addressed in these lines is the small boy's father, and the small boy is our speaker. The father has been drinking whiskey, and not just a little. He's so drunk that even the smell of his breath could make a small boy, like his son, feel a bit woozy. These lines show that the poem will address the father in the second person, referring to him as "you." But we don't think he's actually there with the boy because, after all, we hear nothing back from the man. Instead, his son is probably just thinking about talking to him. But I hung on like death; this line indicates that the whiskey is indeed making our speaker quite dizzy because he has to hang on like death, perhaps the one thing that hangs on to us all. Using the word "death" so early in the poem clues the reader in that this poem isn't just a happy memory – it's also haunted. Saying that the boy hung on "like" death is an example of a simile. Such waltzing was not easy; this line wraps up the first stanza. In what could be a happy moment, father and son dancing, we see that it's kind of tricky for the son to hold on to his drunken father. Also, if the waltz of this poem is a metaphor for their father-son relationship, this could show that it's not easy to dance between loving and fearing his father's power. We romped until the pans; Slid from the kitchen shelf; this is not a quiet, stately waltz, but a romp...
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...My Papa’s Waltz The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” can easily be interpreted in two different ways. Before our class discussion, I was convinced that this was a somber poem that expressed a son’s love for his father, despite his father’s alcoholism and abusive ways. Although the poem states playful interactions between the father and son, the majority of the poem focuses on the father’s drunken aggression towards the boy. After discussing the poem in class, I realized, it is about a young boy, remembering a night with his father when they danced around the house aggressively. With this analysis, there is no intentional abuse on the father’s part, yet there is clear evidence of alcoholism, (“The whiskey on your breath”). Now I believe the poem is about that of my second interpretation, but both interpretations are satisfactory. There is a wide amount of evidence that, “My Papa’s Waltz,” is the story a young boy revealing the trouble he has lived through with his alcoholic father, while still possessing a great love for his dad. The boy would then be the narrator of “My Papa’s Waltz” and thus the son of an alcoholic father. It is easy to focus on the physical abuse, and anger the father has, which was targeted at the boy. In the first line of the poem, the son is speaking to his dad and says, “The whiskey on your breath/could make a small boy dizzy.” The son is telling his father, that his drinking is a problem, and the boy is worried. In the next line, he says...
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...My Papa’s Waltz Poetry Analysis “My Papa’s Waltz” is a light-heartedly written poem with an uneasy undertone. The poem was written by Theodore Roethke, a man who suffered depression and other mental illnesses due to his abusive father’s death. His poems reflect his mental illnesses and focus on childhood memories. This particular poem was written to bring awareness to child abuse. Roathke is able to accomplish this through the strategic use of double meanings, literary devices, and abusive diction. He channels his recollection of his father to bring the reader a chaotic, dark, and frightening scene. With the use of double meanings, Roathke is able to paint a disorganized picture, all while using words that have typically traditionally graceful...
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...In “My Papa’s Waltz”, written by Theodore Roethke, a child struggles with his father’s alcoholic nature. The first stanza remains innocent in its nature, as the child attempts to keep up with his father’s dancing and refuses to let go. Begging in the second stanza, the poem seems to take a more violent turn which is evident through Roethke’s diction. The melodic rhythm and title, “My Papa’s Waltz,” suggest a dance between father and son which could serve as both a literal dance and a dance of life. Roethke’s first stanza acknowledges the father’s drinking habits and the effects that they have on his son. Because Roethke states that “the whiskey on [the father’s] breath could make a small boy dizzy,” readers become aware of the state of drunkenness...
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...Such Waltzing Was Not Easy The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke portrays a father/son relationship between the narrator and his father who died of cancer when Roethke was in high school. Most readers would presume that the little boy admired his father, despite his faulty qualities, alcohol being the most prominent one, and wrote this as a tribute to him. The first stanza provides the readers with an image of the boy being content while waltzing with his father, no matter the circumstances: The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. The first stanza shows us that the little boy craves his father’s attention, and enjoys the time he has with him. However, as...
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...“My Papa’s Waltz” vs “Those Winter Sunday’s” Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, and Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sunday’s” are two hearts felt poems that are somewhat similar about respected fathers. In these two poems, both authors take an admiring look back at some of the most memorable actions of their fathers. It is clearly implied that their fathers were not perfect by any means, but deeply loved. The authors wanted us to see how much their fathers loved them, but by reading these poems, the love was expressed differently. Although there was unconditional love shown, I feel as if both Roethke and Hayden are expressing painful wounds and unmet needs by their fathers. In Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, he wants the readers to understand a very heart breaking and traumatic situation that he encountered with his father in his earlier stages. From reading the poem, it is obvious that his father was a habitual drunkard. The “Waltz” that is mentioned in the story, is a sentimental dance that is shared between Roethke and his father. It is stated, “The Whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy; but I hung on like death.” From personal experience, the harsh smell of...
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...In Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, many readers will have many different interpretations of the poem. The most stereotypical are between child abuse on the author from the father and recalling a memory with his father dancing. The context of word choice Theodore Roethke used for this poem are simple but complex enough to cause different views towards the poem while also creating imagery of what can, again be, many radically different views. In a literally analysis form, Roethke uses even the smallest amount of detail such as the title and even the number of stressed words per line to emphasize the memory with his father. In “My Papa’s Waltz”, Theodore Roethke uses word choice, imagery, and certain literary forms through his work of literature to show that every good or bad memory with the family will always stay and never fade away in any way, shape, or form. One of the main things that Roethke uses in his poem “My Papa’s Waltz” is word choice. His diction throughout the poem is simple but still strong enough to cause arguments of today’s mindset in readers because the words used in the poem can...
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...In the era of the 1920s, they weren't listening to Hip-Hop and dancing Dubstep, like you might be today, but the 1920s had its own music and dance revolution. For the first time, dancers were closer together, some were even touching, and the music was faster, more soulful, and louder than ever before. In spite of the horrors that the nation lived during this time of the Great War, the dancers took to the ground great movements in styles like the Shimmy, the Charleston, the Foxtrot, the Tango and the Waltz (study.com). The Shimmy is a kind of ragtime dance in which the whole body shakes or sways back and forth, and at the same time leaning back and forth to the beat of the music. Charleston, named for the town in South Carolina, involved turning...
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...Product: Dance-bot 1.Designed for Willie 2.He needs a robot dancer that will accommodate him perfectly, and not infuriate him. 3.This product is to deal with Willie’s endless complaints about his dance partner. The Dance-bot is familiar with all kinds of dances, and can accompany well with any dancers, which will satisfy Willie’s needs greatly. 4.Willie always complains about Hilda in front of Sam and Hally “She never gets the steps right. Even the waltz.” -Willie “What I saw was you holding her like you were frightened she was going to run away.” –Sam “No! I waited too long and I practice too hard. If I find my new partner, you think I can be ready in two weeks? I ask Madam for my leave now and we practice everyday.” –Willie (Various conversations reveal Willie’s desire for a new dance partner, and that he cannot endure Hilda anymore.) 5.–Willie needs a partner who has no “leg troubles”. –pg.12 -Willie would like to have a dance partner who comes to practices. –pg.6 -He dances with his pillow for practice because his partner gave him a hiding. –pg.7 -Likes to have a partner who can get the dance steps right. –pg.7 -Willie was also dancing with his imaginary partner for practice. –pg.4 -The product is in relation with the situation that Willie is in right now, that he urgently needs a dance partner. -He strongly despise his partner for not showing up to practices, giving him hidings, getting the dance steps wrong, etc. -Willie is trying to find...
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...My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke This poem has a kept form. Even at a glance, it has a set form. It consists of four quatrains, each line being an iambic tritameter. The poem is about a young boy waltzing with his father. One can assume that the speaker is a young boy, or perhaps the poet reminiscing his youth. The father dances around in a haphazard manner, knocking over pans in the kitchen. Upon first glance, the tone is humorous. The picture one immediately forms is rather comical with the boy clinging on for dear life as his chuckling father spins him round and round, making a mess in the kitchen while the mother looks on discontentedly. However, the line, "whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy" suggests the father's drunkedness and "at every step you missed my right ear scraped buckle" suggests the dance was not an altogether joyful one. Lines such as "hung on like death", and "beat time on my head" are might even lead the reader to think the father is abusive of the boy. Indeed, the satirical tone of this poem suggests that the speaker is somewhat critical of his father. The whiskey smell, the roughness, the inconsiderate and reckless actions are under scrutiny. The mother's frowning countenance suggests she too is rather unhappy with the scene. However, the winning tone of the poem is the light and comical one. The constant rhythm throughout the poem gives it a light beat, like a waltz; the reader feels like s/he is dancing. The rhyme pattern of...
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...The Waltz The Waltz, a short story by Dorothy Parker, tells the story of an unnamed woman’s complaint with a dance partner. The pair meets at a party, when all the other dance partners are unavailable. The woman complains about the way the Man dances. Everything the man does, from the way he looks, to the steps he takes, to his cockiness makes her upset. However, the woman does not say anything to her partner. She struggles silently and it is only the reader who knows why the woman is upset. The story ends and after the dance, and the woman never reveals her thoughts or feelings. The story is an allegory because it tells a story through the story. Parker writes about a dance, but the dance represents more then the dance between the two characters. The dance expresses the relationship that women and men have. The woman, never wanted to talk to the man, but she is forced to. The woman didn’t want to dance with the man but she is forced to. The woman didn’t make mistakes while dancing, but after dancing with him she is forced to lie and say she did. The main character is never able to tell her partner her thoughts about the man’s character and behavior. The waltz is a dance complete by two partners. The male and female dancers both have parts to this dance and they both need to work together and work separately in order to make the dance a beautiful one. However, in the woman’s perspective, the man is unable to be a good partner because of the way he acts. He is very forward...
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...Emotional development is the emergence of a child's experience, expression, understanding, and regulation of emotions from birth through late adolescence. It also comprises how growth and changes in these processes concerning emotions occur. Emotional development does not occur in isolation; neural, cognitive, and behavioral development interact with emotional development and social and cultural influences, and context also play a role (Odle, 2013). Emotional problem is a common term for a range of psychological difficulties often related to anxiety or depression. Symbiotic relationships are special type of interaction between species. Sometimes beneficial, sometimes harmful, these relationships are essential to many organisms and ecosystems, and they provide a balance that can only be achieved by working together. Symbiotic relationship is different from any other interactions that happen between species because in this relationship live together. Symbiotic relationship is evident in dance in emotion because one of them can’t survive without the other one. Emotions and dancing show mutualism. Mutualism occurs when both species benefit from the interaction. For a dance to be demonstrated well, emotions must be shown by the dancer. A dancer might memorize the steps easily but without emotions, the dancer will not be able to move people and engaging the audience is the most important thing when performing for people. Emotions of a person while dancing can be shown by making...
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...CONSOLACION, CEBU FINAL PROJECT IN P.E 2 PREPARED BY: ALVAREZ, FEBE ROSE L. AHRM-1 INSTRUCTOR: MR. RODGRIGO APOS SOCIAL DANCES * WALTZ HISTORY The Waltz is the oldest of the ballroom dances, dating from the middle of the Eighteenth Century. The German "Lander", a folk dance, is supposed to be the forerunner of the Waltz. During this time period a dance developed which was called the "Walzer", a word owing its origin to the Latin word Volvere, which indicates a rotating motion. Napoleon's invading solders spread the waltz from Germany to Paris; then the dance glided across the channel to England and finally made its way to the United States. When the Waltz was first introduced into the ballrooms of the world in the early years of the Nineteenth Century, it was met with outraged indignation, for it was the first dance where the couple danced in a modified Closed Position - with the man's hand around the waist of the lady. Beginning about 1830, the waltz was given a tremendous boost by two Austrian composers Lanner and Strauss. They set the standard for the Viennese Waltz, a very fast version played at about 55 - 60 measures per minute. The fast tempo did indeed present problems. Much of the enjoyment of the new dance was lost in the continual strain to keep up with the music. It is not known exactly when the waltz was introduced to the United States. It was probably brought to New York and Philadelphia at about the same time, and by the middle of the Nineteenth...
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...from the one in any other dance. There is virtually no pushing or pulling. The lady follows by "feeling" the shoulders or the space between them - essentially trying to keep them parallel and in front of her partner's. This requires her permanent attention (connection) - the man needs to be her focus - otherwise she cannot follow. Likewise, the man has to be very clear and decisive with what he is doing or is intending to do - otherwise the lady has no chance to follow. He also must listen and respond to the way the lady moves - and every lady moves and feels differently. Thus, dancing Tango is really more like a conversation that requires the full attention of both dancers. * Tango music does not follow strict rules like e.g. Viennese waltz or Cha Cha music which have a clear repetetive pattern. Especially the more contemporary Tango music tends to have no constant rhythmic pattern at all (e.g. Piazolla). Thus, the music is usually very colourful full of unexpected variations and surprises. * Rhythm is created using "melodic" instruments rather than percussion instruments - a bit like in most classical music. Typical Tango instruments are the bass, cello, violin, piano, flute and of course the soul of traditional Tango music the Bandoneon an accordion like instrument but with more keys and much harder to play. * Because of the nature of the music, there is no basic step for the dancers. Beginners often learn sequences of moves for didactic purposes. However, 99% of all...
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