Module Two: Applying Literary Devices --- Slide 4

Essay One --- Slide 5

Module Three: Evaluating Sources Reflection --- Slide 6

Module Four: Argument and Counterargument --- Slide 7

Essay Two --- Slide 8

Reflection Essay --- Slide 9

Audience Analysis

Employer’s Rhetorical Situation:

               Topic: The job listings topic is about the nurse residency program with Prisma Health and outlining the expectations for the nursing applicant. The nursing applicant is given a summary about what to expect from the nurse residency program and is given a link within the job listing to read more information about the nurse residency program. The accountabilities for this job role are also included, which include assessment, planning care, implementing/managing care, evaluation and leadership, leaving the applicant with clear expectations they are required to demonstrate if hired.

               Audience: The job listing is not for any registered nurse (RN) and is specific to new graduate RNs with less than one year of nursing experience. The listing reiterates this under the minimum requirements section where it states, “Candidates with greater than 12 months of experience are not eligible.”

               Channels: I would be interested in working specifically with Prisma Health and therefore, I searched for this job listing under careers on Prisma Health’s website. The job listing can also be found on Indeed, IntelyCare, CampusRN, Glassdoor and Jobrapido.com. The employer used a digital channel, specifically websites, to reach potential candidates for the new graduate RN position.

Rhetorical Appeals Strategy:

               I would primarily use the rhetorical appeal of ethos to appeal to the employer. The employer listed the minimum requirements for the job; therefore, I would submit proof that I meet all the listed requirements. The items I would include would be my nursing license, my current Basic Life Support certification, my Associate’s degree in Nursing, my resume that includes the accredited school of nursing I graduated from and my prior work experience. In order to sound more appealing to the employer, I would also include specific examples of interactions with customers from my previous job that relate to customer care. I would also include situations I encountered during clinicals as a nursing student and references. Through these examples I can demonstrate my trustworthiness, credibility and work ethics.

 I feel I have always understood bias but there are many different biases that I was not aware of, but I am now. Reflecting on some topics, I do feel that I may have unintentionally been biased at times. Being more aware of possible bias will allow me to write more credibly and research more convincingly. For example, if I am researching a topic and I find a source that quotes another author, I can do lateral research to ensure the quote is truly favoring the source I am trying to use. By doing so, I will prevent the urge of my bias to just use the source because it fits my understanding of the topic. I personally do not watch TV and mostly rely on social media to stay updated with world news. A popular topic now is immigration and there are many people that have strong opinions on it which can lead to the creation of fear triggering content. Recently I have come across such posts and instead of believing the first thing I see I have applied lateral research. I verify the information being said by visiting government sites and other reliable sources. I am then able to refute any misinformation to help prevent fear creating information. There is a split result between the people who read my comments and like or dislike what they read. I feel the dislikes come from people who have their own bias to overcome. The likes and positive comments are from supporters who appreciate me providing evidence of what was truly said. Learning new research aspects and consciously being aware of others will make me a better-informed person both academically and personally. 

Theodore Roethke presents a playful familial bonding event between a father and son in his poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”. Roethke’s poem is made up of four stanzas. In the first stanza, Roethke uses imagery to convey the image of an adult who has been drinking alcohol, specifically whiskey, in excess and a boy who waltzes close enough to smell the whiskey. By the title of the poem the reader assumes the adult is the boy’s father. In the third line of the poem, Roethke uses the simile, “But I hung on like death:”. Death can be interpreted as something that is unavoidable and therefore the simile can be interpreted as the boy having to embrace his father forcefully based on the situation. Everyone has an option in this type of situation, the first being to hang on and continue as the boy did or move away to avoid the situation. In this case, the boy appears to have no fear and chooses to hang on to his father in the uneasy waltz. The second stanza’s imagery gives more insight into where the waltz is taking place. The reader can envision the dance taking place in a kitchen and infer the father and the boy are in their home. Roethke uses the word “romped” in the fifth line of the poem. The use of the word contributes to the amount of whiskey the father has had, and the reader can imagine the father is having more than he should. After a person consumes large amounts of alcohol, they begin to be unsteady on their feet, which is what is occurring to the father. The father is so unsteady on his feet that they manage to knock out pans from their storage space. So far, there is nothing to suggest anything other than a bonding experience is occurring and this is further backed by lines seven and eight in Roethke’s poem. To describe the facial expression of the mother who is watching the father and son, Roethke writes, “Could not unfrown itself.” (Line 8). If a child is in danger, a mother would naturally have the urge to remove their child from a dangerous situation. Instead of writing about the mother taking action to stop the events occurring, the mother observes her husband and child with an expression of dislike. The mother frowns in disapproval since the father is intoxicated and unsteady. The third stanza has the potential to raise concern. From the tenth line of Roethke’s poem the reader pictures the father’s hand being “battered”. This line leaves the reader wondering what could have caused the injury to the hand. As mentioned before, the father is unsteady so the reader could infer that the father fell over prior to engaging in the waltz with his son. The only injury to the hand is on one knuckle so another cause could be from a repetitive movement from the father’s employment. Many men have trade jobs rather than office jobs and could easily have hand injuries from their jobs. The fourth and final stanza contributes to the hand injury coming from the father’s employment and creates a new theory. The fourteenth line of Roethke’s poem reads, “with a palm caked hard by dirt,”. The image of a hand covered with a thick layer of dirt could occur from work in construction such as excavation or even from landscaping. Some readers may even argue that only the palm of the hand is covered in dirt and therefore the dirt could not come from a job. This would lead to the next theory of the father falling to the floor multiple times because of his unsteadiness and catching himself with his palms. The father may be drunk, but the love for his son is still strong enough, he thinks about spending time with his son and taking him to bed. The boy, instead of seeming fearful and reacting with avoidance, chooses to make the best of the situation. The last line of Roethke’s poem reads, “Still clinging to your shirt.” (16). The boy clings to his father as many children do when they want a parent near them. Children who have been in uncomfortable or dangerous situations tend to avoid those situations by hiding or escaping when possible. Through this last line in the poem, Roethke reinforces the choice the boy makes of wanting to be with his father, regardless of the physical condition the father is in creating a familial bonding event.

Work Cited

Roethke, Theodore. “My Papa’s Waltz.” Poetry Foundation, Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke,

            Doubleday, 1961, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43330/my-papas-waltz. Accessed 3 Apr.        

            2025.

Counterargument:

While some readers may agree with your point of view regarding Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, hinting at a darker topic, I disagree and believe the poem to reflect a playful familial bonding experience. You mention the poem has an abusive and darker tone, but you do not fully develop your reasoning behind this observation. I would argue that the tone of the poem is serious as evidenced with diction such as, “death”, “unfrown” and “hard”. (Roethke Line 3, 8, 14). Death is a topic that is rarely taken lightly and caries a sad and serious meaning to it. The word, unfrown, refers to an expression typically associated with concern during a serious situation. Hard gives off a heavy feeling and adds to the difficulty a serious situation can have. From the opening stanza, the reader obtains a picture of the father being drunk, therefore the reader can conclude the father has the typical symptoms of being under the influence. These symptoms include, smelling of alcohol, lack of eye focus, vision problems, lack of coordination or loss of balance. Keeping this in mind, I challenge your theory regarding the boy trying to run away as the father attempts to throw him around or physically hurt him. The third line of Roethke’s poem reads, “But I hung on like death”. (3). From this line the reader can gather that the boy chooses to stay near the father by choice and therefore the boy is not afraid and is not attempting to run away. The second stanza of Roethke’s poem does not state the pans fell out of place as you mentioned but they have merely slid from the kitchen shelf they were on. Roethke uses the word “we” in this stanza leading the reader to assume that both the boy and the father are to blame for causing the pans to slide out of place. (5). It is more likely that the boy is aiding his father as both cross through the kitchen accidentally bumping into pans due to the father’s lack of coordination and loss of balance from over consuming whiskey. At the sight of the uneasy waltz between the father and son, the mother has a disapproving expression which is an expected reaction from a mother. I partially agree with your conclusion regarding the opening line of Roethke’s poem, “The whiskey on your breath/could make a small boy dizzy;/But I hung on like death:” (1-3). Through these lines the reader can conclude that the father typically consumes an excessive amount of alcohol, and this is not a new situation for the family. A scared boy would run or hide at the site of a father’s drunken state but in this case the boy hung on. The reader may even suggest the boy does not see himself as a small boy since he has become accustomed to his father being drunk. The consistent occurrence of such an event between the father and boy has developed a bond where the boy has the maturity to aid his father in a time of need. The metaphor of a waltz occurring between the father and son can be referring to the uncoordinated, unbalanced, and uneasy walk through the kitchen between the father and boy. There is nothing fun or joyful occurring during the encounter between the father and son, but many would argue there is an untypical familial bonding experience occurring.

Work Cited

Roethke, Theodore. “My Papa’s Waltz.” Poetry Foundation, Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, Doubleday,

         1961, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43330/my-papas-waltz. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.