Name: _________________
English III
Homework for Week 8: Tone and Text Analysis
My Papa’s Waltz
1. What is happening in the poem?
BY THEODORE ROETHKE
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
2. How would you describe the father’s behavior
in the poem?
My mother’s countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
3. How do you think the boy feels about being
waltzed by his father? Consider the way he
holds to his father, the physical experience he
describing, etc.
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.
4. Why do you think Roethke chose to title the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz?” What does it
say about the poem?
5. Describe the tone of this poem. Is it negative or positive? How do you know?
Name: _________________
English III
Homework for Week 8: Tone and Text Analysis
My Papa’s Waltz After READING Questions
1. What is the general attitude of the speaker toward his father?
2. What specific words does the author use to create this attitude?
3. What images are to show the child’s view of his father and this dance (the waltz)?
4. Why do you think the speaker, as an adult, reflects on this moment and writes about
it? What is the speaker hoping to gain for himself by doing so?
5. What will the reader gain by reading this description of the father-son relationship?
6. What do you think the author is saying about family relationships?