The road not taken

« The road not taken »

Robert Frost

GENERAL COMPREHENSION

1. Identify the main character.

The main character is the narrator, he is traveler (l.3)

1. Identify the main tense : what is the poem about ?

The main tense is simple past in this poem. This poem is about having to make difficult choices, not knowing where it will take you, that will change your life.

1. Where does the scene take place precisely? Pick up a verb to justify your answer.

The scene takes place in front of « Two roads », in a « yellow wood ».

1. Identify the main lexical field.

The main lexical field is « travel », « traveler », « traveled », « roads ».

1. Pick up the group of 3 lines that sum up the poem.

« Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. »

DETAILED COMPREHENSION

You will give a title to each part once you’ve answered all the questions.

1. ______A difficult choice _______________________

1. Line 1 : What does the narrator have to do ?

The narrator has to choose between one of the two roads.

1. a) Is it easy for the narrator to make a decision ? Justify your answer with elements from the poem.

It’s not easy for him to make a choice « sorry I could not travel both », « long I stood »

b) Explain why.

It’s hard for him to pick because he doesn’t know where each of the road leads him. Moreover once he decides the road he’ll take he can’t go back and travel the other one.

1. Pick up all the link words in stanzas 2 and 3. What do they reveal?

« Then », « And », « Because », Though », « Yet » . It shows that the narrator isn’t sure of his choice.

1. Pick up the reason that explains the narrator’s choice. Rephrase the sentence.

« Because it was grassy and wanted wear ». He chose this road because it looked like it hadn’t been used as much, as if people chose the other road a lot more.

1. Explain why the poet hesitated.

The poet hesitated because since it was the morning, no one had taken either roads otherwise the leaves would be « trodden black » and so they looked quite similar.

2. ________________A different meaning __________________

1. What do both roads stand for? Identify the stylistic device.

The roads are a metaphor for choices in life we have to make in order to move forward in our lives.

1. Guess why the poet decided to use a metaphor.

The poet decided to use a metaphor so he doesn’t have to talk about one specific choice in people’s lives, it allow more people to relate to the poem.

3. ______________A choice finally made_____________________

1. Identify the tenses in lines 16 and 20 : what do they mean?

The tenses in lines 16 and 20 is present perfect and simple past. It means that the narrator has made up his mind and has chosen one of the roads.

1. What can the sigh (l.16) express?

The sigh can express relief because he finally chose, ore regret because it was the wrong one to make.

1. Which road is « the road not taken » from the title ?

The road not taken is the one that seemed to be the most traveled by to the poet.

CONCLUSION

What does this poem really deal with?

This poem deals with the multitude of choices we have to face throughout our life. Some might be easy, but some are difficult to make because we don’t know where those choices take us. We still have to make up our minds and move forward. We don’t know if we picked right and probably never will, we’ll always wonder if things could have been different. However in the end, it’s those choices which define us and our lives so we should embrace them because they make us who we are. In this poem he decided to not follow the crowd, to do differently than others and that seems to have satisfied him as he says « that has made all the difference ».

...