"My Papa's Waltz

Historical Era

Other Poems by

Theodore Roethke

• "The Storm"-tells the story of a family that is stuck in a bad storm, and it similar of how the father beats his son
• "The Geranium"- tells the story of a geranium that grew inside a trash can and the narrator decides to take care of it, but that was only for a while before he decides to abuse it and the geranium dies, just like how the father beats his son
• "She"- it tells the story of the narrator's wife. sometimes, they sing and dance together and that reminded me that the father dances with his son
• "The Root Cellar"- it's dark and it tells us that the basement is unused and worn down
• "In a Dark Time"-it is very depressing and dark

• 1940's
• The great depression just ended
• WWII had just begun, American troops were being sent over seas into combat
• The Golden years of hollywood produced numerous classics, including Casablanca and others
• Swing dancing, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, fox trot dances and jitterbug were all common musical aspects of the era.

"My Papa's Waltz"

by: Theodore Roethke

About the Author

Literary Era

Theodore Roethke

• Contemporary/Modernism
• Away from Romantic and Philosophical Eras
• Historical events shape the idea of Modernism

(May 25, 1908 - August 1, 1963)

• American poet, teacher, and author
• spent much of childhood in father and uncle's greenhouse
• felt pull of society to become a strong man
• profound creativity not accepted by poetic community
• Uncle's suicide and father's death (of cancer) shaped his writing style
• dealt with depression

Presentation by:

Adrie, Pierce, Jillian and Michelle

SOAPSTONE

Stanza 3

Stanza 2

Stanza 4

Stanza 1

Literary Devices

Analysis 1

"Negative Analysis"

• Aliteration: "Hand that Held"
• Metonymy: Buckle= Belt

• Imagery- "My mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself."
• Personification- "We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf"

• Imagery of smell/sight: "The whiskey on your breath could make a small dizzy;"
• Simile: "But I hung on like death:"
• Symbolism: "Such waltzing was not easy."
• End stop: dizzy; and death:

• imagery: "palm caked hard by dirt"
• metaphor:"beat time on my head"
• symbolism: " beat time on my head"

Speaker : Child who was abused

Occasion : another beating

Audience : the father

Purpose : remembering childhood

Subject : an abused child's hope for a relationship with his father

T

O sad, upsetting, yet hopeful

N

E

Important Words/ Phrases

Analysis

Analysis

• Line 1, Stanza 3: Aggressive
• Line 2, Stanza 3: Knuckles were raw from hitting son and work
• Lines 3-4, Stanza 3: Everytime that father had a bad day, child was beaten

• Line 1, Stanza 4: abused throughout childhood
• Line 2, Stanza 4: physically hard job, mental burdens of being a working man
• Lines 3-4, Stanza 4: still loves his father despite abuse

• Line 1-2, Stanza 1: father drank so much,his breath makes son feel drunk
• Line 3, Stanza 1: son holds on, hoping his father will stop because the boy loves him
• Line 4, Stanza 1: waltzing symbolizes the father's drunken walk

• Line 1-2, Stanza 2: father beats son, knocking into kitchen supplies.
• Line 3-4, Stanza 2: mother can't stop the father from beating their son.

Rhyme Scheme/

Meter

romped: verb; to play roughly or energetically

countenance: noun; a person's face or facial expression

caked hard by dirt: meaning a harder worker, a result of working hard

• Rhyme Scheme: End-Rhyme

(ABAB)

• Meter: Iambic Pentameter
• Sounds like steps of a waltz
• Enjambment

SOAPSTONE

Stanza 3

Stanza 4

Stanza 2

Stanza 1

Analysis

Analysis

Analysis

Analysis

Analysis 2

"Positive Analysis"

Speaker : Child who enjoys waltzing

with his dad

Occasion : dancing with father after work

Audience : the father

Purpose : remembering childhood

Subject : waltzing with the child's father

T

O happy, playful

N

E

• Lines 1-2, Stanza 2: They were terrible dancers, causing them to crash into the kitchen
• Lines 3-4: mother thought it was ridiculous, but could not stop them from waltzing

• Line 1-2 Stanza 1: father drinks after work; playfull with this son
• Line 3, Stanza 1: held on to shirt so he didn't fall when dancing
• Line 4, Stanza 1: they were not good at waltzing, so it was hard

• Line 1 Stanza 3: Father's hand held son's wrist to help waltz
• Lines 3-4, Stanza 3: everytime they took a wrong step in the waltz, the childs ear would brush against his father's belt buckle

• Line 1, Stanza 4: kept the beat of the waltz
• Line 2, Stanza 4: danced after the father's long, hard day of work as a way of relaxing
• Lines 3-4, Stanza 4: they waltzed the child to bed, still wishing to waltz more

Questions

3. Were there more postivie or negative words in the peom?

a) positive

b) negative

2. What does the meter in the poem sound like?

a) the tick-tock of a clock

b) the steps of a waltz

c) no particular sound

Work Cited

1. What does the child think of his father?

a) good man

b) hates him

c) doesn't like what he does but still loves him

d) wishes he had a different father

7. In what period of time does the poem represent?

a) just the beginning of boy's childhood

b) most of/all of his childhood

c) only for a short period of time

• http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/theodore-roethke
• http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/13
• http://www.poemhunter.com/theodore-roethke/
• http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade40.html
• http://history1900s.about.com/od/timelines/tp/1940timeline.htm

8. Is this story positive or negative?

a) positive

b) negative

4. What was the poem's rhyme scheme?

a) AABBCC

b) ABAB

c) AABBCD

d) no particular rhyme scheme

5. The rhyme scheme in #4 makes the poem sound...

a) sophisticated

b) smooth

c) angry

d) childlike

6. How is the relationship between the father and son?

a) they are close

b) father chooses not to have a good relationship

c) son wants relationship with his father

d) b and c