Free Essays on Fathers In Poetry (Theodore Roetheke V. Sylvia Plath)

Fathers in Poetry: Immortalizing vs. Destroying Their Memory Everyone=s relationship with their father is different. Some idolize them, while others resent. And often these feelings exist regardless of the father=s faults. Two poems that demonstrate this well are ADaddy@ by Sylvia Plath and AMy Papa=s Waltz@ by Theodore Roethke. Both deal with the relationships the authors and their fathers had in light of the father=s faults, but aside from this the poems could hardly be more different. In ADaddy,@ Plath=s father is cold and unfeeling. Despite her best efforts, she cannot win his love. He is the Nazi to her Jew, and cannot accept anyone as inherently flawed as she. Plath realizes after thirty years that she will never come to terms with her father=s coldness and uses her poem to Akill@ his memory. Conversely, Roethke=s father in AMy Papa=s Waltz@ is robust and friendly, if only because he is intoxicated. Roethke seems to adore this father who would come home at night to romp with him before bed; thus, his poem comes across as less of an accusation and more of a fond memory of a flawed but loving parent. ADaddy@ is a murder of sorts. Plath is tired of being oppressed by her father long after his death, and attempts in this poem to kill his memory. This is evident when she states ADaddy, I have had to kill you,/ You died before I had time@ (lines 6-7). What Plath means is that she is forced to kill his memory, since he died before she could kill his person. With this piece, Plath is (in theory) free of her father just as if she=d really physically slain him. Evidence for this includes the lines AYou do not do, you do not do/ Any more, black shoe@ (lines 1-2), ADaddy, I have had to kill you@ (line 6), and ASo daddy, I=m finally through@ (line 68). Plath=s father has no more influence over her; his Ablack shoe@ is useless to control her since she has chosen to be through with him. Roethke, however, seems intent upon... Free Essays on Fathers In Poetry (Theodore Roetheke V. Sylvia Plath) Free Essays on Fathers In Poetry (Theodore Roetheke V. Sylvia Plath) Fathers in Poetry: Immortalizing vs. Destroying Their Memory Everyone=s relationship with their father is different. Some idolize them, while others resent. And often these feelings exist regardless of the father=s faults. Two poems that demonstrate this well are ADaddy@ by Sylvia Plath and AMy Papa=s Waltz@ by Theodore Roethke. Both deal with the relationships the authors and their fathers had in light of the father=s faults, but aside from this the poems could hardly be more different. In ADaddy,@ Plath=s father is cold and unfeeling. Despite her best efforts, she cannot win his love. He is the Nazi to her Jew, and cannot accept anyone as inherently flawed as she. Plath realizes after thirty years that she will never come to terms with her father=s coldness and uses her poem to Akill@ his memory. Conversely, Roethke=s father in AMy Papa=s Waltz@ is robust and friendly, if only because he is intoxicated. Roethke seems to adore this father who would come home at night to romp with him before bed; thus, his poem comes across as less of an accusation and more of a fond memory of a flawed but loving parent. ADaddy@ is a murder of sorts. Plath is tired of being oppressed by her father long after his death, and attempts in this poem to kill his memory. This is evident when she states ADaddy, I have had to kill you,/ You died before I had time@ (lines 6-7). What Plath means is that she is forced to kill his memory, since he died before she could kill his person. With this piece, Plath is (in theory) free of her father just as if she=d really physically slain him. Evidence for this includes the lines AYou do not do, you do not do/ Any more, black shoe@ (lines 1-2), ADaddy, I have had to kill you@ (line 6), and ASo daddy, I=m finally through@ (line 68). Plath=s father has no more influence over her; his Ablack shoe@ is useless to control her since she has chosen to be through with him. Roethke, however, seems intent upon...

Some Thoughts on Dashes

Some Thoughts on Dashes Some Thoughts on Dashes Some Thoughts on Dashes By Maeve Maddox A reader wonders about the use of dashes to replace colons: More and more I see dashes (of various sorts) used to do the work you say that the colon should do: introduce a word, phrase, clause, list, or quotation after a complete sentence. Is either acceptable? I can’t find an example of a dash used to introduce a quotation, but its use in place of a colon to introduce a word, phrase, clause, or list is common: â€Å"Nonetheless,† he added, â€Å"just having these recordings is not going to be sufficient† to make any definitive conclusions about the cause of the crash- a process that could take weeks, if not months.† Now students’ needs are anticipated by a small army of service professionals- mental health counselors, student-life deans and the like. Coming at the end of a sentence in this way, the use of a dash is not as jarring to me as its increasingly popular use to replace commas or parentheses within a sentence: The study’s authors hypothesized that material gains made through early agricultural success- a proxy for wealth- gave smaller groups of related men the reproductive upper hand for generations. Boko Haram has widened its efforts from capturing foreigners- who can be ransomed off for big bucks- to targeting mass numbers of young women and children who can  be put to other uses. Commas or parentheses would do just fine in each example. The choice to replace commas or parentheses with a dash should be made with a clear understanding of the effect desired. Explanatory information meant for readers who may need help with a concept can go in parenthesis: The study’s authors hypothesized that material gains made through early agricultural success (a proxy for wealth) gave smaller groups of related men the reproductive upper hand for generations. Information relevant to the sentence, but of secondary importance can go between commas: Boko Haram has widened its efforts from capturing foreigners, who can be ransomed off for big bucks, to targeting mass numbers of young women and children who can  be put to other uses. Dashes are appropriate when the purpose is to startle the reader with an unexpected interruption that provides a peripheral thought: His chisel was one of the weapons used- not that he could help that, poor fellow- and no doubt you will want to ask him questions. The dash is an attention-getting punctuation mark that can be used to change the tone of a sentence. Dashes are like the unexpected chords in The Surprise Symphony: they jerk the reader into wakefulness. They are most effective when not overused. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Addressing A Letter to Two People50 Idioms About Arms, Hands, and FingersEach vs. Both