The+Road+Not+Taken

“The Road Not Taken"
Robert Frost (1919) > //Two roads diverged in a yellow wood// > //And sorry I could not travel both// > //And be one traveler, long I stood// > //And looked down one as far as I could// > //To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5 // > > //Then took the other, as just as fair// > //And having perhaps the better claim,// > //Because it was grassy and wanted wear;// > //Though as for that, the passing there// > //Had worn them really about the same, 10 // > > //And both that morning equally lay// > //In leaves no step had trodden black.// > //Oh, I kept the first for another day!// > //Yet knowing how way leads on to way,// > //I doubted if I should ever come back. 15 // > > //I shall be telling this with a sigh// > //Somewhere ages and ages hence:// > //Two roads diverged in a wood and I—// > //I took the one less traveled by,// > //And that has made all the difference. 20 // > > =media type="youtube" key="ie2Mspukx14" height="315" width="560"= > = = > = Robert Frost: = > > > Robert Lee Frost was born March 26th, 1874 in San Francisco, California. After his father death on May 5th, 1885, Frost and his mother moved across the country to Lawrence, Massachusetts where he graduated Lawrence High School in 1892. Frost attended Dartmouth College for only two months.

In 1894, Frost sold his first poem "My Butterfly. An Elegy" He married his high school sweetheart a year after he sold his first poem, and together they had six kids. Frost sailed with his family in 1912 to Great Britain; they settled in a small town outside London. A year later, he published his first book of poetry, //A Boy's Will//. While in Great Britain, he befriended several famous poets including Ezra Pound and T.E. Hulme.

After three years, the Frost family decided to move back to America and live on a farm in Franconia, New Hampshire. Despite growing up in the city, the country gave Frost most of his inspiration.

He taught at English at Amherst College for several years and spent most of his summers teaching at Middlebury College. Frost won several awards for his works including the 1924 Pulitzer Prize and the Congressional Gold Medal (1960). He had the honor to read his beloved poem "The Gift Outright" at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. Sadly, he died two years later, on January 29th, 1963.

"The Road Not Taken" analysis:

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**T**heme:
 * 1) Individualism
 * "road less traveled" (line 19)
 * 1) Caution
 * "long I stood/And looked down one as far as I could" (lines 3-4)
 * 1) Commitment
 * speaker has no doubts of the roads he took; "I took the one less traveled by/And that has made all the difference" (lines 19-20)
 * 1) Acceptance
 * chooses which road to take

**I**magery:
 * "diverged in a yellow wood" (line 1)
 * "bent in the undergrowth" (line 5)
 * "grassy and wanted wear" (line 9)
 * "just as fair/ worn them just the same" (lines 6 and 10)
 * "morning lay equally" (line 11)
 * "leaves lay trodden black" (line 12)

**M**eter: **E**motion:
 * Narrative poem
 * Four stanzas
 * Iambic tetrameter
 * Rhyme Scheme
 * abaab
 * end rhymes are masculine
 * 1) Nostalgia
 * 2) Regret
 * 3) Reflection

Questions:
"ages and ages hence" (line 17) is an example of a... a) hyperbole  b) understatement  c ) allusion  d) metaphor  e) analogy

In line 7. what does the word "fair" mean?  a) agreeable  b ) light  c) just  d) fun  e) open

Which is NOT an example of imagery? a) "yellow wood" (line 1)  b) "that has made all the difference" (line 20  c) "morning lay equally" (line 11) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> d) "two roads diverged in a wood" (line 18) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">e) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“Oh, I kept the first for another day!” (line 13)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">The two roads symbolize.. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> a) choices <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> b) life <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> c) two roads/paths <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> d) good and evil <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> e) conflict

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">"The Road Not Taken" is a... poem <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">a) free verse <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> b) blank verse <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> c) sonnet <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> d) lyric <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;"> e) carpe diem

Resources:
[|Poem Analysis] [|Robert Frost Bio] [|Frost's Inspiration] [|The Road Not Taken] [|Sparknotes]

Julia H