Hi everyone,
I'm curious to read your impressions of this week's class, the novel, and of My Papa's Waltz. Does it surprise you that a reader once wrote that "Roethke expresses his resentment for his father, a drunken brute with dirty hands and a whiskey breath who carelessly hurt the child's ear and mistreated him".
You can read what some students wrote about this poem last year if you want some ideas.
See you next week,
Olivier
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hello everyone!
ReplyDeleteThis is the first poem that I fully understood the poem's meaning and its components, I am very proud indeed. Following a second reading, the poem has touched me deeply. We see the misery that a child can live and I found it even more wonderful because it is the child himself who talks about his worries. I loved the story.
I also enjoyed reading Kiss of the Fur Queen. The history and meaning are more easily debunked. This has had even better if we had our questions at the same time as I was reading chapter 3, though.
Anyway, here's my week's review.
See you on Friday! Sakina G.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY GUYS. :)) <3
The poem was different than the other ones. Like Sakina explained, it was easier to understand its meaning. Furthermore, the theme was surprisingly more interesting. Joy and happiness were two aspects that we could find after having analyzed it. I wasn’t shore at the beginning of the theme but the teacher confirmed what I thought. Another point to be aroused is the connection between the characters. The little boy really enjoyed dancing with his drunk father. His mother was stricter and she didn’t have as much fun with her son during the night.
ReplyDeleteSee you all on Friday !!!
Émilie B.G
Alright, I suck with poems. Every time I think I get it, I'm wrong. I thought this was a negative poem when we ended saying it wasn't. Once I'm told what the poem is, I have no problem analyzing it, but if I'm not told, my mind is just completely lost. I liked the poem until I learned I was wrong. Hopefully I'll get one right by the end of the session.
ReplyDeleteAs for the book, although it's not the worst book I've ever read (that title is still held by Andromaque), I dislike it. The two main characters annoy me. Gabriel, always getting mad at everyone for no reason and being a total wench. I think I read at one point in the book that he slept with over a hundred guy? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wow. Jeremiah just annoys me with his strong religious beliefs. He's a caricature in himself and feels aggravating. My favourite character is Amanda.
Characters aside, the plot feels pointless. There's no goal to reach. We're just following two people as they become older and are losing their roots. A lot of story followed that formula and worked. This one just doesn't do it for me. It's also annoying to go look at the glossary every time a Cree word appear. Why are certain word in Cree and others not? I thought it was because the author wanted to put emphasis on certain words but sometime it's just yes or no, which you find written in English as well.
Rant over. :)
I think that the poem about the kind who has an happy memory with is father was really confusing, and did not really had meaning (apart from saying he's having a great time, what's the point of this).
ReplyDeleteDavid Boucher Dagenais
At the beginning, I thought this was a negative poem because he wrote about his father’s whiskey. I thought his father was a drunker… but finally he wasn’t. I began to understand the poem at the second paragraph. Then, I saw the title of this poem, My Papa‘s Waltz.
ReplyDeleteSo I understood that this was a sweet, lovely poem. He told about his memories between him and his father. Every time his father came back, he came to see him, tired but always played with his son a little. They went to bed, and their steps were like the waltz, sweet and joyful.
And I didn’t understand the passage of the sex between the Father and the boy. My friend explained to me that part, I was so shocked… that’s pretty… euh…I don’t know how to say, but…however…I was shocked.
Florence Chiang
I think that in the poem "Mu Papa's Waltz", the author express both point of views (father and son), which is confusing because the memory of the child is happy and the one of the father is more sad and pathetic, so when I read the poem, I didn't know if it was rather sad or happy. But it became clear when I saw the name of the poem because papa is a kind and lovely word.
ReplyDeleteFor the book, I don't think it's a bad book but the fact that the little boys are raped by the Father shocks me, and even more because it describes the scene in details. This disturbs me...
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteDefinetly, the poem we read last week can be confusing. But I think that the title has a big clue about it; the child/son, since he is the speaker, would have said ''My Father's Waltz'' intead of his ''Papa's'' if he wasn't close of him or a happy child.
The thing I really love about this poem is the rythm it creates when you read it out loud, the come and go, as a nice waltz... hihi.
Kiss of the Fur Queen. I finished it during weekend. Very hard to follow in the end, in my opinion, but I've understood the main points. Well I hope. I wouldn't be ready to say it is a bad book, but neither it is a great one. It's in the middle. Still, the novel and story are interesting, and fair enough enjoyable.
See you in two beautiful days! =P¸
-Ariane-
When one reads the poem, one sees the negative tone of it. After a first reading, it is easy to accuse the father of being ''a drunken brute with dirty hands'' , for the child get hurted and alcool is implicated...
ReplyDelete...After a second but loud reading, the music comes to ears. It's sounds more soft and the drunken brute becomes a clumsy father, for he drinks to much. Words such as beat become more musical than brutal.
I could say that such kind of poem are made to develop a musical intelligence and to give a refined spirit. Nevertheless, it is not easy to understand them.
Mathieu Bussières
This poem is a pretty good example of how we can't analyse poems with one reading only. Ok, not all the time but I thought it was a story of abuse too, until we analysed it in a group.
ReplyDeleteBut at the same time, let's not forget we aren't in the mind of the reader. This poem is obviously a happy one once we understand it, but it's okay to think otherwise at first. It doesn't mean we suck at analysing; I think the author might've thought this through and made it sound like it was a little rough because obviously the dad's drunk, but by reading it again we realize it's a nice memory he shares us.
THE BOOK. I don't know, I freakin' love it (yeah bad english whatever)! I don't need a specific goal, because the kids are totally on their own and it's great to see them walk through life like this, on their own in a world they don't know. Also, I was shocked when I understood the subjects the book was about; however I think it's unfortunately an important part of what aboriginal kids had to go through at that time and it's very interesting to see their point of view on it. Also, I'm interested at Gabriel's path because it's not uncommon that gay kids go through multiple partners at a young age, unfortunately, and I think it's again important to realize the luck we have.
Kevin your comments crack me up xD
This poem was really interesting. Like everyone else I thought it was a negative poem, I only kept my focus on bad things and I wasn't paying attention to the little detail that makes it a happy poem. Reading it out loud helped me to really understand the meaning of it.
ReplyDeleteThe book: At first, i didn't like the book at all! It was weird and confusing, but now I love it! ( Well, it's still weird ) All of this seems so true, and the saddest part is that... it's true. I can't believe that some people are crazy enough to do such bad things...
Sabrina Lecompte-D
No matter if the poem is in french or English, I still can't manage to fully understand them... But I do like to read them because each author's writting is just amazing and original. It also allows me to "discover" different ways to express situations, feelings and many other subjects. So... yeah, like many other people, I thought the child was trying to say that his father is a alcoholic and beats him. It's pretty normal to think that way, right? I mean, the word "whisky" rarely speaks about something good...
ReplyDeleteThen further in the poem, I thought his father had went to jail once... (don't ask me how did I get that idea) and at the end, he said something about his father taking him to his bed because it's sleepy time, etc. Well, because I got the wrong idea at the beginning, I thought his father took him to bed since he was drunk and was not in a great mood. When the child said we grabbed tighly his shirt (something like that) I took it as if... because the kid was always smelling the smell of the whisky, he ended up being...addicted. So that's for the poem.
Then for the book... well honestly I'm not really into indian culture. And the part where the child got rapped by the teacher, I was like "What the... is this for real?! I think I'm getting the wrong idea, but... crap...it's for real... but he's a Father, right?? "
Anyway, that's all.
Angela
Wow, reading all those comments is quite interesting!.. and fun, too.
ReplyDeleteI liked the poem and personnaly tought it was very cute. The weard thing is, as I read it for the first time, I didn't even see the negative side everyone saw. I imediately understood that it was a joyful poem. Weardest thing is, after the explanations, I changed my mind, and at this moment I believe the poem to be a violent situation described by a scared son.
"Kiss of the Fur Queen". Is it a bad book? No it's not. Do I really like it? Not really. The storyline is oK and quite easy to understand. However, I don't like the fact that the book lasts so many years. We get lost in the character's personalities, since they keep getting older, evolving and changing (I know, it's normal, but in a book it's confusing). Also, I would have loved to know what Gabriel and Jeremiah really tought: we never really go inside their heads, we just "watch" the book happen.
A last comment, about last class. I did my oral presentation and I wasn't quite prepared. I had chosen my book and looked on the Internet, but I wasn't so sure about what I had to say. I tried to prepare myself, but I couldn't, so it stressed me a lot.
Ève Kirouac-Turmel
I have to say that My Papa's Waltz was one interesting poem ! I still cannot understand all of its subtilities, you can analyse it and see it on so many different point of views. I do appreciate the rythm and sounds of the poem though. As fot the book, I just continue to depreciate it, I find it confusing, the names all get mixed up in my head, which brother is doing what.. Good Lord I cannot wait to finish it !
ReplyDeleteHey people,
ReplyDeleteHmm... Actually, I really liked My papa's Waltz. It was interesting (I prefered this one to the others). What I like about it is that we can see that poems in many diferent ways, which makes the reader think more. But honestly, I did not catch it all, but I caught enough to know the meaning.
And about the book... I'm still trying to go through it, but it's hard. I'm having dificulties to read, and I'm very slow. Hope I'll get over it soon!
See you on Friday,
Max
Feels like everything has been said above...
ReplyDeleteLike the others, I thought that My papa's Waltz was a kind of expression of hate against a drunken father beating his kid, and the kid grew up and wrote about his feelings years after... but it wasn't. Actually, to be honest what I thought first is that "Waltz" was the name of the father, just before the teacher explained it.
SO;
Kevin, I suck at getting a poem's sens (or non-sens)right too. I might have to admit that this one was easier than the others saw in class.
What I hate about poems : you have to read them many times to get the point. You read once, no. Twice, uh maybe... Third time : you may get something... forth... or maybe it's this ? YOU CAN'T get it right, there's too many ways to understand it, it switches to one or another everytime you read it. Plus, with the lenght of time we have in class to read it (not even once for some of us) it's impossible to get it right.
yup...
Marianne Noel A
Exactly, so let's not get too frustrated because the professor sees what we don't xD
ReplyDeleteAnd Eve's comment is a good example of how different we can see a poem, how she first thought it was a nice story (unlike most of us), but then analysing it, for what I understood, made her think otherwise: it's the opposite reaction, so really it depends on how it reaches you and how you read it.
When I read this poem first I pretty much got the meaning the author intended. I guess of course this time when I read it, I already knew what I was supposed to interpret, and I haven't asked myself many questions about it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the class, I think we were supposed to do an activity on speech figures or something. Guess the quiz was more fun.
Still not a fan of the novel, but I have to admit it isn't as horrible as my memory led me to believe. Hm, this means I've spent a full year demonizing the novel. Fun.
kinf of hard to post an original comment after 18 others, anyway as the majority of the class I thought this poem was about violence because of all the negative connotations, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was not. This was my favorite of all since the beginning of the class!
ReplyDeleteAs for the novel, I don't really get the interest of reading ``litterature``, i still prefer to read ``entertaining``books that drag you into the story, which is not the case of the kiss of the fur queen, but i keep reading it...lots of fun
Jany Tessier
Okay, lets get this thing straight:
ReplyDeleteFirst, about the book, I really hate it. The storyline is quite easy to follow, but it is too boring. I also feel sorry about the fact that Gabriel was abused and the way he changed is getting worse .... and the story goes on (no remaining time)... next week
Second, for the poem, I think it was pretty cute and lovely, just the title was obvious to figure out. The good memory between a father and a son.
Antoine Després
The poem really screwed me over; I read it too fast and thought that the kid was getting beat up or something. And that mother was just watching... though that could also be because the idea of Gabriel being abused was still fresh in my mind (which was very stereotypically offensive and disturbing might I add!)
ReplyDeleteAs for the book, IT (you know, the THING) is very annoying me right now. For one, the story is progressing rather slowly and it's very stereotypical (as afore mentionned). I mean, really? A Catholic priest touching students? Really? Maybe it's just because I am Catholic that it's offending me but... still...
J. White
(I mean Anonymous! And we all know that Anonymous is LEGION... does this make this an oxymoron?)
Verily, I agree with most of my fellow anons. All that implied rape crap is f***** up! Like, I can bear it, mind you, but they're telling you too much for my taste. This is definitely not my cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteAs for the poem, it was, as others said, pretty obvious. I was the one that said the title gave it all away, too.
-Anonymous. (Yours truly, Nicolas Desormiers)