Reading Response/ Reflection

My Papa's Waltz
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;
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,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.



I think this poem can be seen from different perspectives. Some may say that the father is abusive and others may say that he is not. I think that the father is not abusing his son, he just gets carried away and shows his love for his son in a different way.


If you read the poem, it does not say that the father beats him.( I can see why some people would think that though.) When you read the lines: At every step you missed, my right ear scraped a buckle, you may think that the little boy is getting hurt, but he really isn't. The poet was trying to explain that he was small when this was happening and that he was small enough to get brushed by his father's belt once in a while. The other line is: You beat time on my head, with a palm caked hard with dirt. Here, the poet was trying to say that the father was tapping beats on to his head to dance the waltz. It never said softly or hard, so that will remain a mystery. The father did not mean harm and you can tell by the way the little boy reacted. He clinged on to  and danced with his dad, even when he was a little drunk. I think it was all meant to symbolize love.


This poem reminded me of the book Angela's Ashes. Sometimes Frank's father would come home drunk and wake up Frank and his brothers just to make them all promise to die for Ireland. Sleepily, they would all promise to die for Ireland, and if they were lucky, they'd get a penny. 

She Ran Away

On a cold night she ran away
She could not bear to stand another day
You told her lies, you caused her pain
You made her wander alone in the rain
You made her cry, you made her feel small
Now you're the one who has to pay for all

Now you wish you could take it all back
Take the worst memories to send away in a sack
But it's much to late now
There's nothing more you can do
Just one thing left to say
She stopped loving you

Poem on an important moment

Cayla
It was just yesterday when I saw you
Your brown eyes and brown curls
You were fine, you were okay
You were laughing
Nothing seemed wrong

It was a summer day
When you left and never came back
You went to a better place

I still remember you
I always will
It was just yesterday when I saw you

Poem based off of a photo

(Poem is based off of the painting, Venice Twilight, painted by, Claude Monet)

Let us melt under the remaining rays of the sun

Let the thoughts and worries blow away with the wind

Hand in hand we will leave

We will be part of the sky

Part of the colors

Part of the beauty

The Starry Night Response

When I first read the poem, I though that it should have been the caption of the painting. It was describing everything in Vincent Van Gogh's painting. From the tree all the way to the wind. When I reread it, I saw it through a different lens. It was no longer a caption, it was a poem written through her eyes. Everything she felt at that moment went to her pen which then went onto paper. Her poem was filled with many things that include metaphors and figurative language.( It even left you with many questions.) I wonder why she wrote her poem the way she did. Was it meant to sound as creepy as it did? Was it her suicide letter? or did she simply see the night sky as beautiful?

Overall, I found this poem really interesting. It was mysterious and it left me thinking. (It was a poem like no other, it was unique.) I never really though about the the might sky and I liked how it went deep into the topic. Anne was able to show her emotions and feelings through her poem and I wonder if my class and I got the message she tried to give the readers.

Painting Analysis

Jusko, Donald. PAINTING ON LOCATION FINE ART TEACHING GALLERY V. 10 Dec. 2006. 7 Jan. 2011 http://realcolorwheel.com/78.htm.

Observations: The painting is made up of very bright colors. There are flowers, trees, and grass in the background. The flowers are the the things that stand out in the painting. There is a peacock in the corner of the picture. It's feathers are camouflaged with the rest of the flowers. There is not much going on behind the tree. There are a few details scattered here and there such as the grass.

Inferences: The bright colors may symbolize beauty or creativity. Since there is not much in the background the main attention are the bright colored flowers and the peacock.The peacock and flowers are brightly colored, does that symbolize importance? The details in the background are simple compared to the foreground.

Interpretation: According to feng-shui, “Peacocks are a symbol of beauty reminding us to take pleasure in the finer things in life. The artist Donald D. Jusko probably thought that Maui Hawaii was also a thing of beauty. (From pictures on the Internet also think it's beautiful.) Flowers and the peacock are just the his way of saying it.

December Reading Challenge

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

If you were to ask me whether the movie was better or the book, I would definitely say the book. In my opinion, the movie was based off another book, not The Outsiders I read. It was I who complained that the movie was ruining the book this time around rather than my one of my sisters. Characters, appearances and many other things were changed. I could not believe it!

Before I saw the movie I had a sense of what the actors would look like, but my predictions were not correct.When I thought of the Socs, I thought of rich, nice shirts, and tough looking. They got the rich and nice shirt part right ,but they did not look tough. The same thing happened with the Greasers. The gang did look tough, but they were missing their long, silky, and greasy hair. In the book, it said:

"Our hair was tuff- we didn't have to use much grease on it. Our hair labeled us greasers, too- it was our    trademark. The one thing we were proud of. Maybe we couldn't have Corvairs or madras shirts, but we could have hair." (71)

I wonder why they couldn't add this important detail in the movie. There is one thing I appreciate about the movie. They did not take away the special connection between Soda and Pony. There were so many aw moment in the book and the movie. I glad the filmmakers didn't change that.

Overall, the movie wasn't the worst, but it disappointed me.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

When books are turned into movies, things are changed, removed, and added in, so when The Lovely Bones became a movie it wasn't much of a surprise. Filmmakers this time around did a very good job. All the actors chosen fit the characters in the book. Mr. Harvey even gave me the skeevies!

The reason I think it all worked out well is because Saoirse Ronan (Susie) connected so well with the actors. The special connection between Susie and her father was so believable. When she was in the underground room with Mr. Harvey your heart was beating so fast that you wondered if you were in the room instead. When she was annoyed at her mother for making her wear the knitted hat, it was such a mother-daughter thing. I wonder how the movie would've turned out if they did not choose these actors.

While watching the movie I had a few complaints, but by the end I forgot all about them. The book wasn't really messed with, which is a good thing. Overall, the movie was really great. If you enjoyed the book then you will love the movie. It might even leave you crying!