THE ROAD NOT TAKEN |
(ROBERT FROST)
(1874-1963)
(1874-1963)
AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY:
It was in London that his first volume of verse, A Boy's Will, was published, in 1913; his second volume, North of Boston (in its first edition), followed the next year. There are, however, no suggestions of the English environment in either volume. The poetry in the first volume, largely subjective, is more conventional than that which followed. The later poems are mainly narrative–serious, sometimes somber tales, realistic, human–very true to the psychology of New England; but these are interspersed with brighter pastoral sketches like “Mending Wall”, “Mowing”, “After Apple Picking”, and “Birches”, poems which grow spontaneously out of the simple farm life.
A word should be added with regard to the metrical form adopted by the poet as the medium of his verse. It is not that of the typical free verse poets–yet it has all the freedom of that unconventional school. More closely resembling the ten-syllable line of the standard blank verse form, but with varying meter and stressed pauses together with an extra syllable where needed, the rhythm adjusts itself with an easy freedom to follow the natural tones of living speech.
Before reading
Activity 1:
CRITIQUE
“Frost’s writing appears to be so effortless that many of his most popular poems seem as clear and as simple as someone describing the weather. At the same time, they are complex examples of rhyme and diction. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is one of these familiar poems. The seemingly artless stanzas are actually tightly structured around a complicated scheme. Even if the reader’s eye is not consciously analyzing the rhymes, the ear is hearing them.”
(Ann Charters and Samuel Charters, 1997)
Through these comments, how much do you know about the author and his poetry?YES | PERHAPS | NO | |
a. He’s famous for his poetry on nature. | |||
b. His poetry has complicated but well-structured rhyme scheme. | |||
c. His poetry is not understandable. | |||
d. His poetry is comprehensible. |
Answers:
Activity 2:
INTRODUCTION
One year after returning from England, Robert Frost wrote The Road Not Taken. It is one of his most popular poems. Its metaphor of life as a journey, and the decision to make the journey down one of two roads, is a striking example of a metaphor. However, readers have sometimes noticed that the roads he makes were actually so similar that they were almost the same. He wrote this poem for his friend–Edward Thomas. The poem was intended as a joke since Thomas could never make up his mind about anything. He teased Thomas by saying, "No matter which road you taken, you’ll always sigh and wish you’d taken another." He sent the poem to Thomas in a letter; however, Thomas missed the joke entirely. He thought it was a poem about the decisions Frost had made in his own life. In short, the poem had not worked the way he had intended.
+ How much do you know about the poem? Tick one box for each sentence.
YES | PERHAPS | NO | |
a. The poem is about the beauty of nature. | |||
b. The author expresses his viewpoint on death. | |||
c. The author expresses his viewpoint on life. | |||
d. The poem is about the author’s attitude toward life. |
Activity 3:
+ Listen to reader. He will read the whole poem.
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.
Activity 4:
STANZA (VERSE): Stanzas usually have the same number of lines, metrical pattern, and rhyme scheme.
+ Now, listen to the poem reader stanza by stanza and then repeat after him / her.
Stanza 1:
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;
Stanza 2:
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.
Stanza 3: 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.
Stanza 4:
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.
Activity 5:
a.
b.
Answers:
Activity 6:
In a poem rhyme scheme ties the sense together with sound. The rhyme scheme is marked with letters of the alphabet. It might be aabb for each stanza or abab, cdcd, etc.
Ex:
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide. | a a b b |
1. abab, bcbc, cdcd, efef
2. aabb, bbcc, ccdd, ddcd
3. abaab, bcbbc, cdccd, dedde
4. abba, bccb, cddc, deed
Answer:
Activity 7:
FIGURES OF SPEECH:
1. Metaphor and simile: They are both comparisons, but a simile tells us to watch out for the comparison with the words like, as, as if, or as though, etc., while a metaphor does not.
2. Personification: The presentation of ananimate objects or abstract ideas with life or with human characteristics.
3. Irony: Figurative language in which the intended meaning differs from the literal meaning.
4. Antithesis: A contrast of words or sentiments is made in the same sentence.
5. Symbol: A symbol suggests or stands for an idea, quality, or conception larger in meaning than itself.
Ex:
- A lion: symbol of courage
- “Wall Street”: The structure of American capitalism.
+ In the poem, ‘a yellow wood’ was used to describe an autumn scene with the maples turning gold, and ‘the road’ was used to imply the life journey. What figure of speech did Frost use to express these ideas?
a. Personification
b. Metaphor
c. Antithesis
d. Irony
Answer:
Activity 8:
a. Personification
b. Inversion
c. Antithesis
d. Irony
Answer:
Activity 9:
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.
In the poem the road was described as if it ‘wanted wear’ (lacked wear). What language device did Frost use to express this idea?
a. Personification
b. Metaphor
c. Antithesis
d. Irony
Answer:
Activity 10:
What language device did Frost use to express these ideas?
a. Personification
b. Inversion
c. Antithesis
d. Irony
Answer:
Activity 11:
What language device was useed to help create this sense in the poem?
a. Personification
b. Inversion
c. Antithesis
d. Irony
After reading
Activity 12:
In your opinion, which, among the following sentences, is the literal meaning of the poem?
a. A traveler comes to a fork in the road, needs to decide which way to go. Finally, he took the road 'less traveled by.'
b. A traveler comes to a fork in the road, needs to decide which way to go. Finally, he took both roads.
c. A traveler comes to a fork in the road and he did not know which road he should take.
Answer:
Activity 13:
a. There is always 'a road not taken' in one’s life. People never know where for worse or for better, it might lead.
b. Tough choices people stand for when traveling the road of life.
c. People usually regret for 'the road not taken.'
d. All of them are correct.
Answer:
Activity 14:
(a) The Silent Love
(b) A Tough Choice in Life
(c) Springtime in the Heart
(d) An Unforgetable Memory
No comments:
Post a Comment