Title Slide

In the poem, The Road Not Taken, written in 1916, the mood feels anticipatory and conflicted because it is written regarding someone who has walked upon two paths in the woods and has to make a choice on which road to take. Frost expresses the idea that once a decision is made, there is no turning back for a second chance. His purpose was to possibly teach a life lesson to the audience or maybe even teach his own self based on the fact that the road the narrator is yet to take represents events going on in his life possible consisting of a mid-life crisis, career, or marriage. The poem reflects how in life, some people may lose their way just as Frost did when he was battling his own self. Frost states, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both” which emphasizes the idea that having a sense of decisiveness is a significant value to have in life, something in which Frost lacks.

In the poem it state, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both…” [Green Day (1, 2)] This piece of text displays how the narrator is faced with a hard decision and regrets not being able to take both paths. In the text it also states, “ … to where it bent in the undergrowth… it was grassy and wanted tear… I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,” [Robert Frost (5, 8, 19, 20)] These lines from the text help to show how the narrator looks through all his options, and then takes the lesser taken option. This choice was likely made due to the narrator thinking that he/she might not like the choice that other people made, and will end up regretting it, so after taking the lesser chosen path, the narrator is pleased with his/her decision.

To begin, personification is used quite often. In line 8, stanza 2, the speaker speaks of the road wanting “wear”. The road is spoken about as if it is human. Roads cannot think. They do not have the ability to think. So the speaker decides to bring the road to life. He gives the road the chance to become human, although in reality, that is not possible. The road is also considered a metaphor for the future. In life, we can only see things that are so far. Line four, stanza one, “And looked down one as far as I could”. This metaphor basically says that whatever choice we make in life, there will be either a good or bad result, and we are only allowed to see so far into our future. Although the word nature is not actually written in the poem, it is described once the speaker says in the first stanza, first line, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood”. Therefore, nature is used as a metaphor. It is in a fall setting. This is the time where decisions are usually made. It is almost as if once the weather changes to become colder, everything stops. There are less vacations taken, less places to go, sports season, and for most, graduation time. Fall and winter seems to be the time where people do on evaluation of their lives. They sit back and think about decisions they should have made, but has yet to

I chose this poem because it explains how people think every day. People believe that they have to try and be perfect everyday in order for people to not judge them. Everybody tries to be unique and impress others in some way. I think this poem makes the claim that people should focus on being happy instead of trying to be perfect. It states that if you change the person that you are then your priority will not be happiness which is the most important thing a person should have. The last line of the poem says, "Who looks back in your reflection?", to me this means that you should just be yourself because everybody is focusing on themselves making sure they are flawless that they most likely are not even paying attention to each flaw that you

The descriptions of the roads in this poem is a metaphor for the narrator’s future. A person, or in this case the narrator, may make a wrong choice that leads their life down a wrong path. Just as easily, a person can choose the right path. These paths, and the choices a person makes, can make a significant impact on a person’s life. They may always wonder, like the narrator of the poem, what would have occurred had they chosen the other path.

The poem depicts a man was walking in a forest, down a path one autumn morning and arrived at a fork in the road. He studied the paths, looked intently down the first, then walks down the second even though there was no noticeable difference in the roads as shown by the verse "and both that morning equally lay" line 11. The sojourner saw that neither path had been frequented "in leaves no step had trodden black" line 12. As he went down one path he thought he would like to return and try the other path, but realizing it is improbable because he knows "way leads on to way" each choice leads to another new choice. He acknowledges that in the future he would remember with emotion "I shall be telling this with a sigh" remembering with regret of what was down that other path.

This poem revolves around how choices effect your life. The road that the speaker is on is coming to a fork, and he has to decide which path he’s going to travel on. This path is not only in the woods, but may also indicate a decision that he has to make in his life. Something in his life is changing,

In the first stanza it ,states that the author(traveler) has to make a choice on what road to take. The poem states “ both the roads diverged into a yellow wood.” He also states he is “sorry for I couldn't travel both.” He said he “looked down as far as I could, until it bent in the undergrowth.” The choices he has to make relates to everyday choices. An example of how it relates to an everyday thing is, someone in life has to choose the right group of people to hang out with, and whether to study or not. Choices are a big part of life everyone has to make choices, sometimes the best choice is not the best.

In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, I believe what invites the reader to begin to see something more than just hiking in the forest is seen in this line, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back” (14-15). I believe this line makes this idea of the poem meaning more than a walk because it hints that a choice can lead to seeing options or how witnessing a certain environment can make an impression for future experiences. The something more in this poem is putting the emphasis on how important choices are all about preference and how the individual choosing which way to go in life can have a big or a small impact for the rest of their life, “I took the road less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference”

The rhyme scheme of this particular poem is ABAAB. This mean that at the end of each line in the poem, the ending word rhymes with another ending word from another line of poetry. After you find the rhyme scheme, everywhere there is a letter “a” that means it rhymes with every grouped “a” word. For example, in the first stanza Frost writes “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” This rhythmic line then rhymes with the line “And be one traveler, long I stood,” because the words “wood” and “stood” rhyme.

The tone of this poem is what makes it so openly interpreted. It can be used as motivation for almost any path one decides to take in life. The verse “Yet knowing how way leads on to way/ I doubted if I should ever come back” can be related to by anyone who has ever experienced having to make crucial decisions in life. Life is not easy, and it is not worth our precious time to be whimsical in our decision making. Nobody wants to have to backtrack, and this poem portrays that rigorous ‘keep your head forward, shoulders back and your eye on the prize’ mentality that has been part of our culture as Americans for so long. These two very salient lines of the poem also do well to instill an element of mystery and air in the mind of the reader. It is human nature to think what could have been ‘if only I’d done this’ or ‘If that never

“One of Robert Frost’s most popular poems, “The Road Not Taken,” is a deep allegory for the struggle of choice in everyday life. According to Johnson, the poem portrays a choice to be made between roads by a person out walking in the woods. The person would like to travel both paths, so he tells himself he will discover one and then come back and explore the other one another day. Frost, states that the choices about ones future are challenging to make, and predictions toward an outcome are often mysterious. He introduces two roads diverging in the woods, alluding to the point in life when a choice of many must be made.

The poem begins with a literal fork in the road. Almost automatically Frost allows us to picture ourselves as the subject of the poem. His vivid imagery describes how the road looks with the leaves turning colors during the fall season “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” () we are transported into the poem. Due to the beauty of both paths the speaker wants to travel both roads but he understands that is not possible. The man in the poem does not want to stay a long time in the middle of the two roads so he knows he has to make a choice soon. He begins to examine the roads closely and one seems like the better option but he chooses the other one despite peering onto the path of the seemingly better choice .

By choosing the harder path, the speaker declares his rebellion against the popular opinion as represented by the other road. He decides not to conform to society and takes up a less popular choice. When considering his choices the speaker shows the typical human reaction. He considers taking both paths at first. He says, “Oh I kept the first for another day”, but later confesses he “doubted if [he] should ever come back” (13-15). Thus the poem’s significance lies in the speakers making a decision by choosing a road and moving on with his life. The act of choosing the road represents his uniqueness and the fact that he is always moving forward, even without stopping.

From the poetry devices, we can see the literariness and the meaning of the poem. The choice that the persona made in front of the two diverging roads impacts the rest of his journey. Same as the persona, people are just like that traveler, traveling on the journey of life. The journey consists of many roads. Different choices on different roads lead to different destination and impact the rest of