The Meaning Of The Road Not Taken Essay

Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken”, can be easily misunderstood, and perhaps for decades it was. Scholar Frank Lentricchia believed that in this poem, the message is that people don’t get a choice in life to pick one path rather than the other, because their lives are already mapped out for us. However, Mark Richardson had a different idea. He thought that it’s not that we don’t get a choice in life, it is that we don’t realize how the choice affects us until later in life. Although these two ideas sound reasonable, what Robert Frost really meant in this piece of writing was not that people choose between two paths, but instead they must forge their own.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American writer in the mid-19th century who wrote a vast amount of essays, including Self-Reliance. “Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide”, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes in his self-reflective short story, Self-Reliance. This statement is contemplating that being envious is completely ignorant because whoever is envious does not have respect for the items they own. Emerson also exclaims that imitation is suicide. This powerful language does a wonderful job of stating that if one imitates or conforms to something or someone, then they are destroying the uniqueness about themselves. The moment they imitate or conform, they are dead inside because they are losing the uniqueness that allows them to be different from the rest

Robert Frosts “The Road Not Taken” is more symbolic of a choice one must make in their life in attempt to foresee the outcome before reaching the end, than it is about choosing the right path in the woods.

Imagine that your making a decision and you are stuck to choose between two things that could change and impact your life greatly. What would you do? What pathway would you take?

The analysis of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost has been up for debate since the poem release in 1916. It is known to be one of the most frequently misinterpreted poems of all time, and even Robert Frost himself has said the poem is “tricky” to comprehend (The). When analyzing this poem many readers tend to focus only on the last lines of the poem and get caught in a trap of selective-interpretation. Quite a few people after reading Robert Frost’s poem firmly conclude that this poem is about non-conformity and individualism, however, that is not the case. Robert Frost’s poem is meant to be analyzed line by line for a complete interpretation. Readers can conclude that the poem represents making choices in life, but that is not the

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

In Mark Twain’s “Corn-Pone Opinions” essay he makes a valid point in the manner that he observes the tendencies humanity has to follow social trends and not differentiating themselves from one another and more or less playing follow the leader. Twain goes on to say “… that it’s born of the human being’s natural yearning to stand well with his fellows and have their inspiring approval and praise…”. Twains argument is that it is not in our nature to be unique and different, we want to follow others and be accepted by others. According to Twain we play copycat, he plainly states “we are creatures of outside influences; as a rule we do not think, we only imitate”. Twain is very forthcoming in this essay, he makes clear to his audience about his

The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost describes the dilemma in decision making, generally in life each individual has countless decisions to make and those decisions lead to new challenges, dilemmas and opportunities. In Frost’s poem, the careful traveler observes the differences of each path, one is bent and covered in undergrowth (Frost 5) and the other is grassy and unworn (Frost 8). In the end he knows he can only choose one of the paths, after much mental debate he picks the road less traveled and is well aware that he will likely never return to experience the other. By examining Frost 's "The Road Not Taken," we get a deeper understanding of

So I decided to write an explication essay on the poem “The Road Not Taken”. The poem is by Robert Frost and it tells the story about a man who is thinking about something he had done before. Even though what he did wasn’t looked as being good or bad, it was indicated the decision he made had an outcome that caused a shift in his life.

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.

The poem “The Road Not Taken” is about how the author himself has come to a split in a path while walking in the woods without a map. The season is fall, and the leaves are turning red and yellow. He isn’t sure which way he should go, and he wishes he didn’t have to choose and could go both ways. He looks down one path as far as he can see, but he then decides to take the other. The path he decides to take is not quite as worn as the other one, the leaves are freshly fallen with no foot prints or tracks. The author reflects on how he intends to take the road that he didn 't take next time, but he doubts that he will ever come back. Instead, in the future, he will be reminded of how his decision was ultimately the right one. I decided to adapt this poem into a drawing because I feel like it can be interpreted in various ways and has a lot of hidden meanings. This poem demonstrates that everyone needs to choose their own path and not anyone else’s. This theme was communicated with Frosts usage of symbols and imagery.

In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, Frost shows the everyday human struggle to make a choice that could change the course of one’s life. In his poem, a person has the choice to take one road or the other. One road is worn out from many people taking it, and the other is barely touched, for fewer have taken that road. Throughout the poem, the speaker learns that just because so many other people have done one thing, or walked one way, does not mean everyone has to. Sometimes you just have to go your own way.

For instance, the two roads which are diverging into the woods are symbolic of choices in life. The term ‘yellow woods’, is symbolic of autumn season and nature’s readiness to accept a new season. The speaker’s initial indecisiveness is symbolic of human nature, not to take apt decision at critical situations. Both the roads are similar and this is symbolic of the difficulty faced by human beings in life. The grass, morning, etc are symbolic of early stages in human life, in which decision making is so important. Besides, the morning is symbolic of new beginning in life or the chance to take an apt decision in life. So, the setting is symbolic because it represents human life and the importance of free will in life.

This is a wonderful poem with many different themes and ideas. One of the biggest themes is not being afraid to take a chance. Some of the other themes include, not following the crowd, trying new things, and standing for something. This poem stated that the author "took the one (road) less traveled by, and that has made all the difference" so the author is telling the reader that we too should not be afraid to take another path.

I had to choose between playing a full-time summer sport or going on family vacations in the summer. Sports enriched my life in many ways such as creating more memories with my friends, allowing my pitching to improve, and gaining valuable team experience. Family vacations also could have changed my life as it allows for more family time, memories, and adventures. In the end, I chose to play a summer sport because it increased my games per year, practices per year, and a significant increase in game experience. I am happy with my decision because it gave me lifelong experiences.