Let’s put your critical thinking skills to use. There is a debate about what Theodore Roethke poem, “My Papa’s Waltz. Some see this as a thinly disguised depiction of child abuse. Others interpret the poem as a fun-filled (if rough) evening between loving father and his son.
Read the poem below, then In 100-200 words, write a ROGERIAN FIRST PARAGRAPH for a paper, explaining both positions equally without taking sides. Study the document on “Rogerian Argument” in this week’s module for the details.
**This is going to be tough for those of you who have strong opinions. give it a try!
My Papas Waltz
BY THEODORE ROETHKE (Links to an external site.)
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;
My mothers 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,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.