To Women! and men can read this too

Attention all women! Hear Ye, Hear Ye!! Hearken! Listen up!
If you are going to tell a boy you are not interested in him any longer please have some class while doing so. Believe it or not men have feelings to, whether they show them or not is a different story. But they do exist. Do not just out of the blue in the middle of a conversation when a little flirt is said do not just say " I'm just not that into you." I mean, holy crap. especially if you know for sure he really likes you. 2nd. if you are a going to tell someone your not interested and you have done so nicely ( i don't care if he made you feel bad or forgot something important, take the high road and be nice), Please be intelligent enough to think of something that is not so cliche such as "It's not you...... It's me". That is just stupid. and you are stupid for saying it. 3rd. Don't say any of these things via text messages. Either call him or wait until you see him and the time is right. Like I have said twice already, but will say again and put in CAPS, bold, italics, and red for emphasis; HAVE SOME CLASS!

Easily and Widely Misinterpreted...

Apparently, "My Papa's Waltz" is easily ambiguous; it's hard to tell if its about a happy childhood memory or an abusive one. It could really be about both.

Considering some of Roethke's other poems, it seems that he writes about a lot of depressing things (hate, loneliness, death, etc.). With that in mind, the waltzing seemed to be a typical way the father and child interacted, something the kid enjoyed, but it doesn't mean it didn't ever go too far. The father didn't seem too concerned about scratches and scrapes the child received and mom might have just been frowning at the fact that the two men were messing up her clean kitchen. This is one thing that makes the poem confusing; she might have just frowned and not intervened because it would have opened her up receiving scrapes and scratches of her own. Other examples like whiskey, battered knuckles, hanging on like death, being held by a wrist, the waltzing not being easy, and beating can all contribute to the interpretation of the poem as an abusive father/child relationship.

However, maybe it was just about the love. Roethke's use of the word "romped" implies playfulness. As the father waltzed his child off to bed, the kid clung to his shirt. At one point, the child "hung on like death" to the father. The kid probably just enjoyed being with the father so much that he/she didn't want the romping to end. And maybe Roethke described the "waltz" as such a grim thing to illustrate how challenging it was for the child to keep up with the father's pace of romping. The child, in all likelihood, enjoyed the difficulty of the waltz. Otherwise, it would have been boring.

So, maybe the poem was about abuse or just plain fun. It can be confusing and go both ways.

I just flat out don't understand this poem at all.

Stage of a Poem

Having the poem be a birthday party is significant to the the title "Rites of Passage." A rite of passage is when a person is entering a new age or developing into something, or entering something new such as a class or age group. Where I'm from its a big deal to throw a First Birthday party and its a rite of passage for our culture because, the child has made it to the age of 1 and in our culture in the olden times, children weren't able to reach that 1 year old age, and making it that far insured that you would live a long or OK length of life. That's one example from my culture how a birthday is a important part of our rites of passage, and that's way to me having the stage be a birthday party is a perfect connection to the title, of the this poem.

"Rites of Passage"

Let's talk about "Rites of Passage" on the blog:

1. Why do you think Olds calls the boys "men" (line 3)?

2. Interpret the imagery in the poem. You might discuss the smooth chins, the reflections in the pupils, the cake, etc.

3. Why do you think the "scene" of the poem is a birthday party? How is this significant to the poem?

4. Is this poem funny? Scary? Both? Neither?

5. The poems we read for Monday are about childhood experiences. How does "Rites of Passage" differ from them? How, for example, would the poem be different if it was in the voice of one of the "men" and not the parent?

Father and Son Relationship

When talking about this poem in class it really brought out the inner thoughts and I was so surprised that I actually said something about the reading. What really came to me as we discussed it was that I thought that it wasn't talking about being abusive and having an abusive father/son relationship. What came to me was that event though he said that the whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy, the thought was like just a little scent of it would make any little boy dizzy so it didn't have to mean that the father was drunk. Something that made me think that he did drink and that he had a couple shots was that he's a hard working man, he's out all day, in the sun, in the weather, and coming home is his time to relax not get drunk. I also came to the thought that he was not abusing the boy I think that they were playing like tag, or you cant get me sort of game, having the pans fall to the floor, although we did discuss the sharp words I really don't have the picture of an abusive father. Being that part of when it says the hand that grabbed my wrist or something like that put the picture in my mind of, like oh man he's got me, and as he looked at his fathers hand he sees that harsh hurt, or a cut, and to any child that would be something painful and harsh. I may have left out the part of when he said he pounded them on my head or something, like it, I thought of a noggy, not anything More then playful. And the last sentence where he goes, clinging to his fathers shirt is just to me a father and son love, not a frightened one. I think that these thoughts came to me because I have all brothers and I guess that the culture that I come from we're rough people when we play but at all other times really really gentle. And that I just picture my dad and brothers, my dad doesn't drink but I've been around people that get into these situations and its nothing of abuse in there but fun. This is just my interpretation of this, and I hope it didn't offend anyone, but comment me OK. Thanks

That would of been good to know yesterday

The tragedy of Story of an Hour is not in death, or the destruction of the dream but rather the lack of communication that led to the dream.
Bearing the burden of delivering the death of someones loved one is not something I ever want to undertake, but if I did I would make sure I had all the information and know for a fact what I had to deliver was true. Even more so when the widow has health conditions of their own.
I understand that in this time period cell phones were not yet invented that being said you would think they would be even more cautious and detailed in finding this information. A second telegraph with a name is by no means absolute truth. It could be another man with the same name. Who had identified the body? How do you know he is even on the train in the first place?
Obviously he was not far if he walked home. The dream of Mrs. Mallard that in turn led to her untimely death would not of had its genesis if the informants were truly informed themselves.
Now Barry Mallard is the one left alone.

Killer Joy

Joy that kills, that’s kind of ironic huh? I will be honest I had to read this story more than once to fully understand it, because the end had me really saying what the heck. At first I thought that Mrs. Mallard was sad about her husband dying, which would be normal, but then I realized that she felt relived and maybe a little bit excited. Like many of the other women we have read about Mrs. Mallard feels trapped in her marriage and doesn’t feel she can live her life to the fulles. She now had the courage to go out and start her “new” life as a free independent woman. That didn’t have to live up to anybody’s expectations, but as Mrs. Mallard walked down the stairs a free woman, the sight of her not so dead husband stopped her dead in her tracks, literally. I agree with Sarah when she said that Mrs. Mallards longing for joy is what killed her, because she knew she could never have it if she lived. So when she died ultimately she was set free.