Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz”
What is your interpretation of the events in this poem? What lines support your reading?
Some readers believe this poem is about child abuse. What lines or details support this interpretation?
Some readers believe this poem is about a warm, close moment between and son and a father. What lines or details support this interpretation?
Some readers believe the waltz in the poem is a metaphor for the relationship between the father and the son. What lines or details support this interpretation?
Coleman, “Dear Mama”
What emotions does the narrator have about her mother? What specific words and phrases tell you this?
Why did the poet choose not to use punctuation or capitalization?
Look at where each line breaks, and look at what information is contained on each line. See if you can figure out what is being emphasized on each line.
Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays”
What does the speaker realize about his father now that he didn’t realize as a child? What lines reveal this knowledge?
Why does the poem begin with the phrase “Sundays too”?
What kind of work did his father do?
What was the relationship between the father and the son like?
Was this a happy family?
Heaney, “Digging”
What has the speaker “inherited” from his father and his grandfather? What lines and/or details support your answer?
In line 2, Heaney compares his pen to a gun: “snug as a gun.” Is this poem violent? Why use this image?
What kind of work did the speaker’s father do? What kind of work did his grandfather do? How did each man feel about his work?
How is the image of digging used to unify the parts of the poem?
The speaker says he will “dig” with his pen; what does he mean?
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