Waltz

Waltz was a kind of music related to the theme of dance. It replaced elegant but artificial court dance in the old days and reflected the spirit of the new era. Viennese Waltz slightly anticipated the second beat of each measure, making it sound as if the third was late and creating a certain buoyancy. It was popular in Europe, especially in Vienna, because no matter nobility or common people, they liked music and dances. In addition, Johann Strauss I and his son Johann Strauss II were the…

Both “Daddy,” by Sylvia Plath, and “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke are poems centering around the parent-child relationship between the authors and their fathers. At first glance, Plath’s “Daddy” pivots around an abusive father, and Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” revolves around the joy filled evening of play that the narrator and his father participate in. While Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” parent-child relationships are seemingly quite different, once one…

Introduction: The Neorealist theory Kenneth Waltz in his book «Theory of International Politics» introduced the idea of neorealist theory. The theory can determine a state behavior and state interaction by using the structure. This structure is defined by the complex of some principles of the international system such as anarchy and the states' capabilities. Not only military power and the ability to use it with regard to other states are significant in the neorealism theory but also the…

Often times, authors use poems to demonstrate a universal theme. Therefore, power can greatly influence the way a person behaves, the way they understand things, or how they interact with the people around them. My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Rothke describes a father and son relationship, and Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare describes the true beauty of his mistress that others may not understand. Therefore, both poets use diction to convey the complexities of power and their effect on the…

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke describes a young boy’s relationship with his father. The use of imagery throughout shifts the way in which the reader interprets the poem. The relationship between the father and the son appears to be strained, only holding on by a thread. The descriptions of the father help the reader understand the reason behind the strained relationship. His father is a hardworking blue-collar worker who comes home drunk but still has to put on a good face for his son.…

Published in 1948, Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” has had many readers questioning the motive of the poem. Many people see his poem as a story of a drunk father’s violence toward his son, showing what we would call child abuse. Others see it as a cherished memory Roethke has of a loving drunk father playing with his son. Both of these accusations can be valid, depending on what part of history you choose to start your “evidence” with, and how you perceive each line of his poem. In 1948,…

Righteousness and Responsibility What does being a father really mean? The complex role of fatherhood is explored in “Those Winter Sundays” and “My Papa's Waltz.” The two fathers in the poems have extremely different ideas about what being a father truly entails. The distinct differences in the father’s level of responsibility is evident in the time of day in which the poem occurs, the atmosphere they create within their home, their morals, and the appearance of their hands and tasks they…

one who works and supports the family, he does not usually interact with his children or express his love to them as their mother does. Therefore, some of the prominent authors have chosen this as the theme of their poems. For instance, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke and “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden are two of the most famous poems about father’s love. Even though both poems show the narrators’ contradictory feelings about their relationship with their father, their imagery,…

Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” differ in the attitudes and tones of their speakers, they are alike in the complex family relationships and themes of familial love, masculinity and sacrifice, and nostalgic youth that they communicate to the reader. A close-reading of the poems, with special attention paid to the speakers and the ideas they are trying to get across, can end up telling far more about Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden than they may like. The speaker in “My Papa’s Waltz”…

Morgenthau, Henry Kissinger and Kenneth Waltz who are mostly associated with realism consider anarchy as the primary characteristic of the international system meaning that there is no central authority to settle disputes among competing member states. States therefore compete with each other due to the lack of a central authority. Realists view the world in terms of competition and conflict whereby there is a recurring struggle for power and its management. Kenneth Waltz further argues that…