alcoholism and father son relationship

Name: Institution: Course: Date of submission: Poem Title:______ My Papa's Waltz" - Theodore Roethke Theme: alcoholism and father son relationship Speaker: the son Narrative & Lyrical: the poet is lyrical, with the narrator using a musical and emotional mood to show his relationship with his father. Tone: this is a nostalgic tone, in which the speaker reminisces on his father willingness to dance when drunk. Diction (denotation & connotation): the denotation of waltz is a dance, which shows the father’s dancing together with the son. Imagery & Image patterns: the act of dancing is a form of imagery in the poem, as the boy waltzed together with the father. The father’s drunken smell is so strong to the extent that it is nearly dizzying. Similarly, the narrator describes the hands of the father which were dirty, “ with a palm caked hard by dirt.” Figures of Speech: metaphor / simile- the narrator uses the simile, “ But I hung on like death,” (Roethke) to show the intensity of the dance. The waltzing could mean the relationship with the father which could be fractious at times, though the father appears hardworking. hyperbole / understatement / personification To lay emphasis on the dancing, Roethke states that, “we romped until the pans, Slid from the kitchen shelf,” (Roethke)this is a hyperbole which exaggerates the waltzing synecdoche / metonymy The narrator states that the mother did not interfere with the narrator’s father actions in the kitchen. The kitchen was in a disarray but, “ My mother’s countenance, could not unfrown itself (Roethke).” Symbol: the waltz is the symbol in the poem symbolizing the kind of relationship between the father and son. Syntax (inverse structure & poetic shifts): there is tone shift in the third line ‘But I hung on like death,’ the use of the transition word but represents this shift. Sound: rhyme / rhyme scheme -the poem has a rhyme scheme in each of the four stanzas, with the first stanza on a ABAB rhyme. The firs stanza has slant rhyme ‘dizzy and easy’ and straight rhyme ‘breadth and death’. The fourth stanza has only straight rhymes ‘head and bed’ ‘dirt and shirt’ alliteration / assonance -the poet also uses alliteration of sounds through repeating sounds, “waltzing was.”” The hand that held my wrist,” stanza 3 line 1. Rhythm & Meter: enjambed / end stopped -the poem is end stopped in all stanzas in second and fourth lines, while lines one and three are enjambled in the all stanzas except stanza one. Stanza 1 line 1 ‘The whiskey on your breath’ stanza 1 line 3 ‘But I hung on like death:’ iambic / trochaic- the poem is an iambic trimeter, which are three iambs.‘ The whis/ ky on/ your breath,’    Poem Title:___ “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” - Robert Frost ______________________________________________________________ Theme: the main theme is isolation and tribulations in life, but one must persevere even with little hel...