The Road Not Taken
1. Find and list (if any) all the imagery words (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) and place them into a table that looks like this:
2. How many stanzas are there?
3. What is the significance of capitalizing the first word of the poem?
4. Find an example of inverted language. 5. Define: diverge, trod, sigh, hence
6. Which of the two roads does the speaker choose? 7. Why do you suppose he’s chosen that road?
8. What time of the year do you think this poem takes place (4 seasons)?
9. What evidence suggests your assertion [assertion is an opinion]?
10. The morning the speaker chooses to take the road, has anyone already gone before him?
1. In the first stanza, the word “diverged” means..
A. increased B. parted C. came together D. straightened
2. The ideas in the poem are centered around..
A. survival B. traveling C. choices D. loneliness
3. Which words rhyme in each stanza of the poem? A. The last words in the 1st and 5th
B. The last words in every line C. The last words in the 2nd and 5th D. The last words in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
4. The mood of the poem can be described as.. A. lively B. tense C. cautious D. sincere
5. The first stanza of the poem emphasizes that the speaker is.. A. impulsive B. confused C. thoughtful D. resting
6. The reader can infer that the poem takes place during the.. A. fall B. winter C. spring D. summer
7. The conflict in the poem occurs.. A. between the speaker and nature B. within the speaker himself
D. between the 2 roads 8. The poem’s message is.. A. never travel alone B. choose your own way
C. avoid putting off difficult decisions D. put the past behind you
9. The reader can conclude that..
A. The speaker is certain that he will return to travel the other road
B. The speaker is lonely
C. Both roads led to the same destination
10. Which definition best matches the way “trodden” is used in line 12 of the poem?
AA. walked on or over (verb)
BB. part of a wheel that touches the ground (noun) CC. part of a shoe that touches the ground (noun) DD. taken advantage of (verb)
The Road Not Taken
1. Find and list (if any) all the imagery words (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) and place them into a table that looks like this:
Sight Sound Taste Touch Smell
2. How many stanzas are there? 4
3. What is the significance of capitalizing the first word of the poem?
To indicate to the reader that “choices” will be the subject matter
5. Define: diverge, trod, sigh, hence Diverge---split
Trod---to walk (past tense)
Sigh---a vocal “wishing” or reminiscing of something Hence---thus
6. Which of the two roads does the speaker choose? The one less traveled
7. Why do you suppose he’s chosen that road? Because no one else had (recently)
8. What time of the year do you think this poem takes place (4 seasons)?
fall
9. What evidence suggests your assertion? The yellow leaves
10. The morning the speaker chooses to take the road, has anyone already gone before him?
no
1. In the first stanza, the word “diverged” means..
A. increased B. parted C. came together D. straightened 2. The ideas in the poem are centered around..
A. survival B. traveling C. choices D. loneliness 3. Which words rhyme in each stanza of the poem? A. The last words in the 1st and 5th
B. The last words in every line
C. The last words in the 2nd and 5th D. The last words in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th 4. The mood of the poem can be described as..
A. lively B. tense C. cautious D. sincere
5. The first stanza of the poem emphasizes that the speaker is.. A. impulsive B. confused C. thoughtful D. resting
7. The conflict in the poem occurs.. A. between the speaker and nature B. within the speaker himself
C. between the speaker and another character D. between the 2 roads
8. The poem’s message is.. A. never travel alone B. choose your own way
C. avoid putting off difficult decisions D. put the past behind you
9. The reader can conclude that..
A. The speaker is certain that he will return to travel the other road
B. The speaker is lonely
C. Both roads led to the same destination
D. The speaker is satisfied with the road he chose to take 10. Which definition best matches the way “trodden” is used in line 12 of the poem?
AA. walked on or over (verb)
BB. part of a wheel that touches the ground (noun) CC. part of a shoe that touches the ground (noun) DD. taken advantage of (verb)
1. What is the literal subject of the poem? 2. What is the figurative subject of the poem?
3. The speaker takes the path least traveled because.. a. he was a risk taker
b. he figured there was more adventure there c. it’s just how he felt that day
4. One main idea of the poem is that..
a. we shouldn’t choose paths unless we know more about them b. we should always take risks
c. choosing a “bad” path isn’t necessarily bad
5. In the poem which of the following are paired to show the difference between them?
6. Read lines 6-10. Why does the speaker regard both paths as equal (even though they are different)?
a. he will save the path he doesn’t choose and choose it another day
b. he doesn’t see they are different (only the reader does)
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
1. What is LITERALLY happening here?
A guy comes to a fork in the road and is sorry that he can’t go down both roads at the same time
2. What is FIGURATIVELY happening here?
A guy is realizing that he is faced with a situation in which he has to choose between TWO options
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far I could
1. What is LITERALLY happening here?
A guy is deciding which road he is going to take (by looking down each for “signs”)
2. What is FIGURATIVELY happening here?
The Road not Taken
Symbol Analysis
This poem is about actual and figurative roads: the roads we walk and drive on, and the roads we take through life. As the speaker of this poem discusses, for every road we take, there's a road we don't take. Wrong turn or not, the roads we take can end up making significant changes in our lives. And we'll always wonder about the roads that we didn't travel.
Line 1: This line sets the scene for the literal and
metaphorical fork in the road that the speaker faces. The road splitting in the woods is a metaphor for a choice. Wherever the speaker's life has taken him so far, he has come to the point where, to go any farther, he needs to make a choice that takes him down one path and
precludes him from taking the other. Because the fork in the road is a metaphor for choices throughout the poem, it's called an extended metaphor.
Lines 4-5: This description of the road is a metaphor for the future. Just like we can only see a path in the woods for so far, we can only see the consequences of our decisions for a short while into our future.
Line 6: Here, the speaker decides that, even though he's spent a long time looking down one road, he's going to take the other, which seems just as interesting. This is probably a metaphor for a sudden decision – when we think about doing one thing, like, say, staying with a boyfriend or girlfriend, for a long time. But then, all of a sudden, we find ourselves doing something else – dumping the boy or girl, and setting out on a new path. We don't know why we did it, other than that we thought we'd be just as happy with one choice as the other.
Lines 13-15: The speaker wants to be able to take both roads, but realizes that the nature of these roads is such that he probably will never be able to come back to this place. This is a metaphor for a decision that changes everything – once you've made it you can never go back.
The Road not Taken
Symbol Analysis 1
a. take b. actual c. changes everything d. both e. come back f. figurative g. choice h. road i. extended j. changes k. wonder l. changed m. walk n. metaphor o. future p. sudden decision q. road r. drive
This poem is about 1.______and 2._______ roads: the roads we 3.____ and 4._____ on, and the roads we 5._______ through life. As the speaker of this poem discusses, for every 6.______ we take, there's a 7._______ we don't take. Wrong turn or not, the roads we take can end up making significant 8._______ in our lives. And we'll always 9.______ about the roads that we didn't try.
Line 1: This line sets the scene for the literal and
metaphorical fork in the road that the speaker faces. The road splitting in the woods is a metaphor for a
10._____that we make. Wherever the speaker's life has taken him so far, he has come to the point where, to go any farther, he needs to make a choice that takes him down one path and precludes him from taking the other. Because the fork in the road is a 11._______ for choices throughout the poem, it's called an 12._______metaphor.
Lines 4-5: This description of the road is a metaphor for the13._______. Just like we can only see a path in the woods for so far, we can only see the consequences of our decisions for a short while into our future.
sudden, we find ourselves doing something else – making new friends and going on a new path. We don't know why we did it, other than that we thought we'd be just as happy with one choice as the other.
Lines 13-15: The speaker wants to be able to take
15._____ roads, but realizes that the nature of these roads is such that he probably will never be able to
16.__________ to this place. This is a metaphor for a decision that 17.______________ – once you've made it you can never go back.
Symbol Analysis 2
You might not associate roads with nature, but remember, we're talking about a Robert Frost poem here. We're not talking
highways – highways didn't even exist when this poem was written. Instead, this poem centers on two roads (more like paths) going through the woods in autumn. Nature in this poem sets the scene, and could hold metaphorical meaning as well.
Line 1: This line gives us the setting of the poem. The speaker tells us the woods are yellow, so we can infer that it's autumn. The metaphorical significance of this poem taking place in autumn could be that the speaker is making this choice in the fall of his life, when he's beginning to grow old.
Line 5: We find out here that these woods must be pretty thick, because a road can disappear in the
undergrowth. Metaphorically, the undergrowth could represent aspects of the speaker's future that are unclear.
Lines 7-8: The speaker is biased in favor of nature. He thinks one path could be better because fewer people have worn it down. These lines are not just about nature, but are a metaphor for a decision that is less commonly made.
Lines 11-12: Here, we see the autumn imagery continue, and we find out that it's morning. We also see a
contradiction of the earlier claim that one path is less worn than the other. This line shows us that the leaves have freshly fallen – perhaps masking which path was more or less traveled the day before. So, metaphorically, this line points out that sometimes there's no way to tell which decision is better.
Symbol Analysis 2
You might not associate roads with nature, but remember, we're talking about a Robert Frost poem here. We're not talking
highways – highways didn't even exist when this poem was written. Instead, this poem centers on two roads (more like paths) going through the woods in autumn. Nature in this poem sets the scene, and could hold metaphorical meaning as well.
a. unclear b. yellow c. fall d. better e. less f. less g. old
Line 1: This line gives us the setting of the poem. The speaker tells us the woods are 1.________, so we can infer that it's autumn. The metaphorical significance of this poem taking place in autumn could be that the speaker is making this choice in the 2. _____ of his life, when he's beginning to grow 3. ______.
Line 5: We find out here that these woods must be pretty thick, because a road can disappear in the
undergrowth. Metaphorically, the undergrowth could represent aspects of the speaker's future that are 4. __________.
Lines 7-8: The speaker is biased in favor of nature. He thinks one path could be better because fewer people have worn it down. These lines are not just about nature, but are a metaphor for a decision that is 5. _______ commonly made.
Lines 11-12: Here, we see the autumn imagery continue, and we find out that it's morning. We also see a
contradiction of the earlier claim that one path is less worn than the other. This line shows us that the leaves have freshly fallen – perhaps masking which path was more or 6. _____ traveled the day before.
So, metaphorically, this line points out that sometimes there's no way to tell which decision is 7._______.
Attitude
Our speaker is a very conflicted guy. He doesn't tell us too much about himself, but we know that he is facing a big decision; the road he's walking on, and the life he's leading, is splitting into two separate roads up ahead. Leaves are falling and the woods are yellow, so, if the woods are a metaphor for the speaker's life, we can guess that he's somewhere in the fall of his life, maybe his forties or fifties. In this stage of his life, it's probably too late to go back and change his mind after he makes big decisions; he knows that he probably will never have time.
The decision he's up against could be something like changing careers or moving to a different place. He could just be having the typical mid-life crisis, unsure if he likes where his life is going, even though he always thought he would. Whatever the decision is, it must be major, because he knows that he'll still be talking about it far in the future, saying that it made a big difference in his life. We can guess that he likes nature, because he's out in the woods, just wandering around without a plan of where to go next. We know he's adventurous and impulsive, because though he spends a long time contemplating one path, he takes the other in a split second. He prefers to think that the path he takes is less traveled, even though both paths are about the same, and thinks that, in the future, he'll say that he took the path less traveled no matter what.
We're not sure if our speaker is happy or sad with the choice he's made. What do you think? He might not know either.
Setting
The title "The Road Not Taken" focuses the poem on lost opportunities – the road that the speaker did not take.
path, he gave up his chance to take the other one.
Metaphorically, this means that the speaker is reflecting on his life choices, and how they are going to affect his life. What could have happened if he made a different choice? What would his life have been like IF he’d chosen the OTHER path?
More than anything in the text of the poem, this title hints that the poem is about lost opportunities, and the complexities of choices, not just choosing the path that is fresh and new.
The genius of Robert Frost
Frost likes to leave the meaning of his poems up to the reader. He guides us in the right direction with hints and suggestions, but in the end, he uses a lot of words and phrases that probably mean one thing – but could very well mean something completely different. This makes Frost poems fun to read, because the reader gets to brainstorm lots of possible meanings, and then choose what the poem means to them. It also makes it so that every new time you read a Frost poem, you can find a slightly different meaning in it.
When Frost tried to submit poetry to The Atlantic Monthly in 1912, he was refused.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
1. Create an imagery chart and fill it in with the “adjectives” you find.
2. How many stanzas are there in this poem? 3. What is the rhyme scheme?
4. Find an example of inverted language.
5. Why do you suppose the speaker doesn’t stop his journey through the woods?
6. What time of year do you think this poem takes place? (4 seasons)
7. What evidence suggests your assertion?
8. What do you think the purpose is for changing the rhyme scheme in the last stanza?
