Lauren Masino - Roethke and Salinas Blog Post

 Both of these poems are about the writers’ fathers. Although they convey different messages they also have one in common. 

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Thoedore Roethke is a bit of a tug at our heart strings. The poem is about the abuse he received from his drunken dad. But the more we read the poem, the more we realized he was still obsessed with his dad. He “hung on like death” to him (line 3). He even ends the poem with “still clinging to your shirt”. This expresses that although he was scared of his father and the drunk abuse, he was able to look past that and up to his father and love him. It is an interesting dynamic and is hard for me to understand. I cannot imagine loving and being obsessed with someone that hurts me. It seems that the love we hold for our family can override that fear. 

The next poem, “My Father is a Simple Man”, by Luis Omar Salinas, does not portray abuse as the previous poem does. It shows a more civil and peaceful relationship between a father and his son. The similarity this poem has to the last is how the young boy looks up and appreciates his father. We see him ask his father for advice, specifically about death. The father tells his son that he is not afraid of it but he does not wish to die. This shows that he is a simple man because he does not overthink things. Death is something that someone can overthink very easily, but his father expects that it is bound to happen and goes on living his life. The son is then able to realize that the key is not to become greatly known and famous, but rather figure life out yourself to share with your loved ones. He looks to his father to understand the simplicity life holds. 

Both poems show appreciation for their fathers, although in two very different ways. It is interesting to read poems with the same message, yet very different approaches back to back to compare. It also makes me interred in learning about each author’s personal life, to see where these stories have come from. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

what I learned this semester

  Its not just what I learned this semester through this class, it's the experience, the motivation, the literature, and the content I felt coming to this class every Monday and Wednesday. I learned alot through this class, first, I learned to be motivated, through Dr. Ellis’s constant uplifting and motivating comments, I actually learned to be more confident in my work and produce better papers. Through the presentations and class discussion, I was able to attend a class that had fostered such a comfortable space for students allowing us to practice our speech and discussion qualities. Through these discussions, I was able to be prepared for the next assignment due, not only that but I was able to go back home after class with a fruitful amount of new knowledge. English, reading, and writing used to be something I was genuinely afraid of but through this class, I have learned that there is more to it. Literature holds so much meaning in a student's life as we continue to study...
Read more

What I learned this semester

 This semester I learned there are multiple ways to interpret the text. Such as The Waltz, where some people interpreted the text to be about a father and his abused son. Others interpreted it as friendly interaction between father and son. These interpretations are bought on by the person's experiences and past experiences, making every analysis unique. I once thought that there was such a thing as a right and wrong analysis, now I've learned that any analysis is right as long as it can be proven. I'd say more than learning, I found this course an experience. An extremely good one. Just as thrilling as falling in love with a new song on the radio. Its thanks to my classmates but also to Dr. Ellis for enabling and hosting such a space where we can have the amazing conversations that we do. A safe space to learn and grow. The feel of a home or a small little book club of friends.  Literature can show a person's way of thinking while also expanding upon it. Literature is ...
Read more

What I've learned

  I always hated English classes in grade school, because we were always required to read books from before our time and come up with an overanalyzed response without hearing other viewpoints. Being in this class has been very different from those other courses in turn making it feel like a breath of fresh air. Being a finance major I dread most classes although I love the subject. Whenever the clock strikes 4:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays I get excited because I know there will be inciteful and respectful conversations had between myself and peers. The structure of this course makes me as a student more excited to read these books regardless how old they are, because as a class we do an excellent job of being able to relate the topics to current worldly, and community issues. Even in the earlier days of our course we were able to touch on heavy subjects such as racism, and certain slang and derogatory words, and not once did the conversations go in a direction when it needed to be ...
Read more