literature for 4 Points/ Text Book

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

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;

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,

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.

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.

Summary

The speaker stands in the woods, considering a fork in the road. Both ways are equally worn and equally overlaid with un-trodden leaves. The speaker chooses one, telling himself that he will take the other another day. Yet he knows it is unlikely that he will have the opportunity to do so. And he admits that someday in the future he will recreate the scene with a slight twist: He will claim that he took the less-traveled road.

The Road Not Taken”

Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” describes a traveler faced with a choice of which one of two roads to travel. He knows not where either road might lead. In order to continue on his journey, he can pick only one road. He scrutinizes both roads for the possibilities of where they may take him in his travels. Frost’s traveler realizes that regret is inevitable. Regardless of his choice, he knows that he will miss the experiences he might have encountered on the road not taken.

Images in the poem reflect the difficulties of the choice the traveler faces. The difficulty is shown in the passage “long I stood” (3) as he ponders his options. “a yellow wood,” (1) expresses the idea of a bright world full of opportunities. One path is “bent in the undergrowth;” (5) which gives a hint of darkness. The other path is “grassy and wanted wear;” (8), indicating fresh opportunity. Neither road indicates much wear, as stated by “no steps had trodden black,” (12). Finally, the image of the traveler as an old man telling his story is reflected by the passage “Somewhere ages and ages hence;” (17). The traveler’s need to make a choice and his regret at losing out on the road he does not choose are evident in the images Frost paints.

The tone created by the poet and his word choice, give the impression of regret and rueful resignation at the necessity of his choice. The title of the poem shows the importance not of the path taken, but of the path not taken. The traveler expresses sorrow that he “could not travel both” (2) and he stands a long time in his indecision. He understands that there is really no way for him to know which path is better. He acknowledges that they are both worn “about the same,” (10). He tries to be optimistic by keeping “the first for another day!” (13). He plans to come back to this fork and take the…

Poetry and the Internet:

“The Road Not Taken” / Robert Frost

Ethar Khalilah

A note to the student:

You have read the poem, had a discussion about its meaning and have written an essay to express your thoughts about it.  This worksheet will help you find out some information about the poet and this poem, as well as about some other poems through the Internet.

I hope that by working with the sites given on your worksheet, you will gain knowledge while enjoying yourselves. If you use your search engines after you finish the tasks and find other interesting sites on our subject, please share them with us.

PART I:  The Poet

Find out about some information about Robert Frost using two different Internet sources: an electronic encyclopedia and the web site of The Academy of American Poets.

1. Go to The Britannica at URL: http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/8/0,5716,36168+1+35504,00.html

1. General Information:

Robert Frost was born in the year _______ and died in _______.

He is much admired for his description of _________ life in New ________ , which is the north-eastern part of the USA. His realistic poetry portrays _________ people in ___________ situations.

2. Some personal biographical information is relevant to the deeper understanding of the poem we have read.

Scan this web page and fill in or answer the questions.

Robert and Eleanor (Elinore) White were the _______ students in their high school and they were in love. They were both interested in __________. However, after they got married in 1895, Frost _________ earn a living by writing poetry. He worked as a__________ and ___________ in order to support the family, but without much success. He tried to finish his university studies, but stopped after two years. He continued doing farm-work, raising________ between the years 1900 and 1909. Although he had been writing __________ since his high school days, the _______ showed little interest in it.

3. Read paragraph C and find out the following:
4. a) What “momentous decision” was made by Frost?

_________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

1. b) How old was he when he had to make this decision?______________
2. c) Why was it so difficult to make this decision? Think and give more than one reason: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

1. d) Was the “road” Frost had taken easy “to travel”? __________________________________________________________________ e) Do you think he wrote “The Road Not Taken” before sailing from the USA to England or after? __________________________________________________________________
2. f) Can you quote a line or two from the poem that can support your answer? __________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

1. g) Which words in paragraph 5 show whether he had finally become popular in America as a poet? ______________________________________________________

• You can find more information at The Robert Frost homepage of The Academy of American Poets at the following URL: http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=196
  

   

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Part II:   Sight and Sound

In this part you will see how the Internet can offer sight and sound to enrich your appreciation of literature.

1. Read the poem again, but this time you will hear the poet (who died almost forty years ago!) reading the poem.

• Go to URL: http://www.poets.org/poems/poems.cfm?prmID=1645
• Click on the “Hear It” button, which can be found on the right-hand side of the screen.

• If you enjoy listening to poems being read by the poets, you can choose the poem or the poet at the “The Listening Booth” web page of The Academy of American Poets, URL:
• 2. You are going to view a beautiful New England scene with each poem in this web site: “Illustrated Poetry of Robert Frost”:
•        http://www.poets.org/booth/booth.cfm       You can share your favorite with the class.

• Go to the following URL:
• http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/1487/index.html

• Scroll down so you can see the photograph.
• Describe what you see: ___________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
• Scroll down and read what Gene has to say about himself and fill in the blanks:Is Gene a Professor of English Literature? _____!! In fact he is an antique _________ collector! Actually, anyone can create web site about anything. But we, as “surfers” of the Internet must be on our guard. Do you find this site reliable? _____ Give at least 2 reasons for your answer._________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
• Gene likes Frost so much because he is the ___________ of ______   _______. Gene lives in a town in ____________ which is one of the New England States. He has taken many __________ which illustrate Frost’s poetry. He felt that these photographs would bring Frost’s poems to life.

• Optional: Search the URLs you have been given for some comments or interpretation on our poem, and share it with the class.Part III. The Challenge

1)Scroll down Gene’s web site and choose another poem.  2)Click on the name of the poem and photograph of your choice. 3) Read the poem, try to understand it with the help of the scene that you are viewing. Use your dictionary, teacher or classmates to understand difficult words. 4)Tell the class about it.