Introduction The professional explication by John McKenna “Roethke’s Revisions and the Tone of
My Papa’s Waltz” will be briefly summarized and critiqued in this essay. McKenna’s main assertion is that Roethke intentionally wrote this poem with just the right balance of positive and negative imagery to leave the overall tone open to interpretation by the reader. While McKenna mentions the wide variation in critics’ interpretations regarding the tone of the poem being positive, negative, or a potent mix of both, his primary basis for his conclusion comes from comparing and contrasting two original holographic manuscripts and the final published version of the poem.
Brief Summary McKenna’s states his thesis, “The holograph manuscripts…
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Based on the change from girl to boy, the critic concludes that the rough housing was more suited for a boy than a girl. After the second stanza, the focus shifts towards the mother and away from the father. This is seen because the author includes the reaction of the mom being disapproving. This change in focus also points towards the parents being different. Addressing the third stanza, McKenna discovers the changes made from forehead to right ear. This change creates a positive tone and alludes more of a formal dance. The fourth stanza received the most revisions and it was intentional according to
McKenna. One of the changes was kept to beat. This one word created a total turn from positive to negative tone. McKenna noted the revisions of the title built one that included the right amount of texture for an emotionally complex vignette. In his conclusion of the poem, McKenna concludes that the emotions of the speaker added to his belief that the poem’s tone to be a combination of both.
Critical Interaction McKenna felt the need to write on this poem, because he thought other people were interpreting it wrong. He stated and explained that the poem is not one with a negative tone or
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It is easy to understand McKenna’s case, because he does in a logical manner. An application that could be drawn from this critic is to use other sources besides the text but it must relate to the text. The goal of the author is to state an argument that includes the poem having two tones and convince others of it. A strength from McKenna’s writing is that of expanding on text sources. The way he uses evidence is easy to understand and follow. However, McKenna makes the statement that the tone of the poem is two opposite tones. This is hard to trust, because the poem doesn’t shift in a way that would reflect that. McKenna is using more assumptions from the text to prove his thinking rather than letting them stand for what they were written.
Conclusion
The critic achieved a part of his goal. McKenna offered an impressive argument with accurate evidence. However, the author did not complete his goal of convincing me to see as he sees. I do agree that the poem has a negative tone, but I do not agree that the poem includes a tone that is positive. In the section that refers to the mother not being able to unfrown,
Stanza two shows us how the baby is well looked after, yet is lacking the affection that small children need. The child experiences a ‘vague passing spasm of loss.’ The mother blocks out her child’s cries. There is a lack of contact and warmth between the pair.
C. Connotations:The poem is written in free verse with no rhyme or rhythm to be
I think the "key" evidence is the ideas from outside authors such as Ladson-Billings, DeCuir, Dixson, Delgado Bernal, Villlalpando, and so on. It is because the author Hiraldo constantly uses many other authors ' ideas to combine her own ideas for supporting
I am a Christian and I don’t disagree with the author. But, whenever you are making your case for your side. One should always present the opposing argument. This article fails to do this. It actually makes a lot of statement like this:
In the author 's next argument he uses a long illustration in support of a complex argument:
He uses many assumptions and “what if” scenarios, but doesn’t give numbers or facts to back up any of those claims, which could have made his argument much stronger.
references to support his claims. It is a very well configured piece, written in such a way
In the poem the teacher points out mistakes such as the student’s thinking, his style of writing the paper and his grammar errors. The teacher said, “there are spots/where your thinking becomes, for me, / alarmingly opaque, and you syntax/seems to jump backwards through unnecessary hoops,” (6-9). This instance shows the error the teacher found in the paper about how the student’s thinking was not straight and would jump backwards and forward throughout the poem. Another error that the teacher finds is when the teacher tells the student that he should have wrote the paper differently or said something else. The teacher said, “I’d have said it differently, / or rather, said something else” (17-18). This instance shows that the teacher is not happy about the way the student has written he paper and tells him that he should have wrote it differently. Another instance where the teacher finds mistake in the paper is when the teacher fixes the students semicolons mistake in the paper. The teacher says, “Please notice how I’ve repaired your/ use of semicolons.”(28).This instance shows that the teacher found a mistake of semicolons, which the student did not use correctly in the paper. However, even after finding all these mistakes the teacher gives A- as an overall grade to the student. This is an example of an irony that shows that the teacher not only gave negative comments to the student, but after giving negative comments
...rpose. The tone of this poem was very neutral by not saying that the life Flick was living is good or bad. With the author not putting his opinion into the poem, it can be interpreted in many ways. The tone also brings life in to the poem and helps to understand Flick’s personality more. But even though the tone was neutral by not stating whether or not the life Flick was living is good or bad, it still
This combination gets the reader emotionally invested in Cowperthwaite’s argument while showing that there is actual evidence to back up the argument presented in
becomes slightly more serene and peaceful. Here, the tone of the poem is changed to a
Depending on the experience of the reader, they can either be disturbed by these words or be drawn in closer to the poem. Theodore Roethke loved his father. Not only did he love him, but he idolized him and unfortunately lost him at an early age. This poem is a reflective memorial waltz written in iambic trimeter to honor his father and
...s fit. This is why everything in the book must not be viewed as being true. The narrator can admit to being constrained when it comes to knowing everything and the reason for this is that he will always be constrained by his view about things that he does know and his imagination of reality which he cannot possibly no. It is for this reason he cannot be viewed as being completely trustworthy or reliable but through the use of his evidence chapters and external links, we can consider that he is at least somewhat trustworthy and reliable which helps make the hypothesis’s more plausible.
In the late nineteen forties, Theodore Roethke emerged with a poem that has been the source of much debate. "My Papa's Waltz," is an account of a relationship between son and father. Alas, many readers who are exposed to this piece fail to note the love present in the connection of the characters. In an attempt to illuminate the author's true intention several factors must be examined. After several examinations of Roethke's poem as well as learning of his childhood it is evident that this poem does not suggest an abusive environment, but is an appreciative account of the love and playfulness between the characters. Therefore, a successful interpretation of this poem will look beyond the four stanzas and study not only the history of the writing, but the life of the poet.
In the poem “Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry, the author puts a lot of emphasis on the tone of the poem. This aspect of the poem seems to be very important considering that it changes as the poem continues until the end. The change in tone is very clear from the beginning to the last few words.