Throughout this course, I have discovered that literature is more than just words being brought together by an author to form an emotionally charged story. Literature provides an engaging outlet into an imaginary realm to its audience. As the reader is captivated by the story, poem or play, a, emotional connection is established. By connecting, considering and concluding the response gained from literary works, the reader can obtain a deeper, analytical understanding of these techniques and tools used by the authors of the various literature forms. For this assignment, I have chosen to compare and contrast two separate literary works from “Journey into Literature” (Clugston, 2010), with similar themes. . The poems I will discuss are “The …show more content…
Both roads he has to choose from appear to be similar, as far as he can see; however, the speaker evidently knows that, though similar, these roads would not lead him down the same journey, metaphorically speaking. Once the decision was made, there would be no turning back. The speaker decides on a path. In lines 16-20, Frost writes “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. As I mentioned earlier, the speaker sighs in line 16, wishing he could have taken both roads. He opted to choose the grassy road that wanted wear (line 9). The speaker reflects back on this decision, noting that his choice has made all the difference in his life. To me, this last line reflects contentment and gratification in his earlier life choice. In reading Frost’s poem in its entirety, I have concluded that “The Road Not Taken” is a symbolic representation of the choices we make in life. This particular narration symbolically led the speaker down a fulfilling road; however, getting to that conclusion is not so simple of a process. The uncertainty of how the outcome of one decision over the other will unfold brings the speaker through a contemplating process of eradication. Characteristic of Robert Frost, the author’s central theme in “The Road Not Taken” was to stress to the reader how difficult, sometimes unclear, yet drastically important decision
Most importantly, preceding the conclusion of the poem, Frost writes, “I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence” (Frost lines 16-17). These lines produce the idea that Frost anticipates his future insincerity when discussing his choice between the roads, establishing his theme of self-deception and self-assurance when evaluating past decisions and choices in life. Through Frost’s description of the roads and his prediction of his future explanation of his decision, he produces the actual meaning behind the poem and his tone of sarcasm, which is often overlooked by readers.
In the Robert Frost poem ‘’The Road Not Taken’’ there is a pervasive and in many ways intrinsic sense of journey throughout. In such, the poem explores an aspect associated with human decision, or indecision, relative to the oxymoron, that choices with the least the difference should bear the most indifference, but realistically, carry the most difficulty. This is conveyed through the use of several pivotal techniques. Where the first such instance is the use of an extended metaphor, where the poem as a whole becomes a literary embodiment of something more, the journey of life. The second technique used is the writing style of first person. Where in using this, the reader can depict a clear train of thought from the walker and understand
Almost every line in the poem “The Road Not Taken” hit home with me. In the third stanza, Frost talks about how the narrator chose one path and then second guesses himself. “Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.” This line made me think of my own life and decisions. I had to pick a road, and stick with it. However, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t doubt my decision and think about what would have happened if I took the other road, just as the narrator in The Road Not Taken did. In the last stanza, Frost takes it home with the lines “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Again, the final lines sparked an image in my mind of my own situation in life and how the road I took really has made all the
Opportunity is the major theme in “The Road Not Taken,” “Love and a Question,” and “Asking for Roses.” In all of these poems, there is a decision that needs to be made. Will it be right or wrong? There is no way of knowing if the choice they make is, until they choose. There are many opportunities in life and chances that people should or should not take, but the choice is upon them.
The four time Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Robert Frost, is well known for his picturesque portrayal of rural lifestyle, focusing mainly on the New England region of the United States. “The Road Not Taken”, published in 1916 is one of his earliest written and most highly praised works. It is considered a masterpiece of American Literature and its content is frequently studied by high school and college students to this day. The poem is a closed frame narrative type consisting of four stanzas with a rhyme scheme of ABAAB. While being the most popular of the numerous poems written by Robert Frost, it has also been one of the most misinterpreted and openly interpreted poems of his
Although most haven’t read it in its entirety, Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken,” is one of the most popular American poems of the twentieth century. The story is often misremembered as the tale of an adventurer who chooses the path where fewer have been. Frost begins his poem with juxtaposing two roads diverging in a wood. He cannot see very far ahead on either path. The narrator is a quintessential nonconformist when he, theoretically, “choose[s] the one less traveled by.” (19) Frost presents a classic conflict: the decision between the common, easy path and the exceptional, challenging path. The road less traveled is more challenging to travel because the reader assumes there is a reason he road more traveled is more traveled for
In line one, Frost introduces the elements of his primary metaphor, the diverging roads. Lines two to three expresses the speaker's disappointment with his human limitations; he must make a choice. The choice is not easy, since "long I stood" before coming to a decision. Lines four and five examine the path as best the narrator can. However his vision is limited because the path bends and is covered over. These lines indicate that although the speaker would like to acquire more information, he is prevented from doing so because of the nature of his environment. In the following three lines, lines six through eight, the speaker indicates that the second path is a more attractive choice because it appears as
Throughout the entire poem, the metaphorical diverging roads serve a purpose of representing how we must make decisions in life and that we may not always be satisfied with our choice. This extended metaphor serves a purpose of showing the significance of the decision. Moreover, Frost’s use of specific diction throughout the entire poem reinforces the idea of making a choice in life and the implications that come with it. For example, in line 1 Frost chooses the word “road” rather than “path” or “trails” because a road shows an assertion of will and unlike a path, it does not “obey the natural contours” (...). By using this diction, the idea of individual choice and will power is heightened. In addition to this, Frost uses words and phrases that suggest the similarity between the paths such as “just as fair,” “equally,” and “same,” however at the end of the poem Frost concludes by saying that the speaker’s choice in paths made “all the difference.” This diction provides contradictions that highlight the complexity behind the
Each road is equally lying there covered with leaves waiting to be chosen. Yet again Frost brings up the idea of it being fall, this symbolizes a timeframe in his life (Miss. Bissonnette in class discussion). It could represent that the author is in his middle ages, and taking decisions more seriously then if perhaps he was nineteen. In the third line of this stanza, yet knowing that he will probably never have the chance to come back, the narrator makes a judgment to just go for it. As this is such a difficult choice for him, he knows he must force himself to take the path. If he does not he will never make the choice. If the two roads were indeed the roads of life, then they would have each held something different for the traveler. By not taking one it makes all the difference in the world, because you have lived your life in accordance to a certain path, and if you did not take that road the outcome would be totally different.
"The Road Not Taken" is one of Robert Frost's most familiar and most popular poems. It is author Terri Andrews' belief that the popularity of the poem is largely a result of the simplicity of its symbolism: The speaker must choose between different
Robert Frost’s poem defines ones elation rotating to understanding. In “The Road Not Taken,” he describes what many people encounter daily with decision making. This poem talks about choices we make by comparing them to a folk in a road that may seem less or often traveled. Many people are confronted with choices in their everyday life, which could affect them long term whether it is negative or positive. The options we decide on can determine what our future and present life holds whether it is good or bad. In Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, Frost uses a fork in a road to symbolize a road often and rarely traveled. These roads are daily decisions we make each day and are surrounded by consequences.
Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, is a descriptive poem about a person’s conflict with the right path to take throughout life. The choice that this person makes can affect him forever. There are lots of choices like this throughout a person’s life that are made that piece together the future. What they do with these choices and the decisions they make are up to them. Although the narrator of this poem is faced with a dilemma, he still makes the best decision possible and takes the best road, which happens to be one that no one else has chosen to take.
In the fifth line of the fourth stanza, Frost admits that though he might want to come back to the path one day, he knows he never will. He goes on to declare that he shall be saying it “with a sigh” (Frost 16). Interestingly, he ends the short poem by stating that he “took the road less traveled by and it made all the difference” (Frost 19-20). Consequently, this conclusion creates confusion in the mind of the reader. Was the road less traveled, or were the two roads the same? It seems that at different points of his life, the author realizes different aspects of the two roads.
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost was published in 1916. It is one of the world’s most known poems. There is an immense degree of symbolism and quite a few different interpretations have been offered by different people. One of Frost’s friends, Edward Thomas, was also a poet and he took long daily walks with Frost. It is believed that this inspired Frost to compose “The Road Not Taken”. This poem is about making a major decision when a person is dealing with a dilemma and some decisions are not always easy to make. The speaker chooses to walk down a path that has not been walked down by many. This poem is about deciding between two different things and deciding which could have a better outcome.
Frost uses this theme to demonstrate choices in life and everything you do. One choice can be to go down the highly traveled road or the less traveled road. The highly traveled road would be the easiest path to take whereas the less traveled road would be harder to take. At the end of the poem, you find that he took the road less traveled. “During the poem, he is not pleased about having to make this choice and states that he would like to take both roads.” (The Road Not Taken) The poem implies but does not state directly, that the most important factor to consider when making a choice is that the course of action chosen should fit in with the decisions that you have made in the past.” (The Road Not Taken) “The narrator is stressed about being faced with two paths that lead in different directions because the wrong choice will lead to a lack of integrity.”