Essays on Road Not Taken

Discussion of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to hear a poem before reading it? In his poem “Introduction to Poetry”, Billy Collins suggests the reader presses an “ear against its hive” regarding poetry. This is so true in the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Besides the beautiful, simplistic imagery conveyed in the poem, Robert Frost urges the reader, to consider a risk versus reward approach to life, where the greater rewards come from the greater risks. Frost sets a scene for the reader, a fairly common experience, walking a path through an autumnal wood. “Two roads diverged in ...

The poems “I Too” by Langston Hughes and “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost are two poems that are written by different author. However, if to look closely both of the poems look at the problem of choice. It is important to analyze both of the poems separately in order to trace the common theme. The exacting importance of this ballad by Robert Frost is really self-evident. A voyager goes to a crossroads and necessities to choose which approach to go to proceed with his trip. After much mental open deliberation, the explorer picks the street "less went ...

Insrtuctor’s Name

It is truth universally acknowledged that the theme of the human’s choice has always been popular with the poets and writers. It is not surprising that Robert Frost, an iconic American poet, addresses it in his most famous and most quoted poem, The Road not Taken (“The Norton Anthology of Poetry” 1232-1233). In spite of the widely spread opinion that the poem raises the problem of “being an individual” or “taking a different road from the masses” (Fagan 293), I strongly believe that the poet’s major intention is to emphasize that no matter what choice we make ...

Introduction

In poetry, every piece of work is unique in its own way. However, most pieces of poems follow standard forms. Poems can be entertaining and or educating, depending on the poet’s choice of the role of the poem. The special characteristics that are shared by all poems include:

- The use of descriptive language and images - Use of limited amount of words as most words are cut out. - Poems are meant to be read and hard at the same time. - In poetry, there is the emphasis of important words, which may ...

The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost was written almost a hundred years ago, and is still one of the most popular and loved pieces of poetry in English-speaking world end beyond. The poem is very brief – only twenty short lines, and as many other pieces of poetry of similar size is deep in meaning and may be interpreted in various ways. It would be reasonable to perform a textual analysis, as proper understanding of lexics and their combination may be a key to a better understanding of the meaning of the poem, both written and unwritten.

The poem ...

Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” is frequently used as a way to justify the freedom and uniqueness that comes from going down a path that most do not take. It is held up as an example of the way in which taking one’s own path results in positive, beneficial changes in one’s life, and in the way one sees the world. However, while this poem does seem to describe an individual progressing on his or her own path, the poem’s meaning goes far deeper than that. A surface reading reveals the meaning as one about individuality, ...

The Mending Wall

The Mending Wall is a poem that revolves around the saying, “Good fences make good neighbors,” as stated in the 27th line. The speaker and his neighbor, both separated by a wall made of stone, are the main protagonists in the poem. The poem itself is a setting where both the speaker and his neighbor record one of their rare instances of meeting one another – during spring, a time when they make repair on their sides of the wall together (Holland 365-385). A thorough reading of the poem would bring one to realize that the speaker is highly unconvinced as to why the ...

‘Instructor’s Name’

‘Subject’ Literature has been used in its various forms, like short fiction, novels, poems, plays, for centuries by writers, who use this medium to express their imaginations, emotions, and ideas. Each genre, in its own way, entices its reader and tries to entertain and enlighten him. Sometimes, a similar literary device, like symbolism, metaphor or imagery, is handled in a different way in different genres. The two literary works discussed in this essay, “The Road Not Taken” and “A Worn Path”, have both employed the symbolism of the journey. Both the authors have portrayed, in their work, a journey, which is ...

A Comparative look at the theme of nature in the poems “The Oak” Alfred Lord Tennyson and “The Road Not Taken” Robert Frost Both Alfred Lord Tennyson’s The Oak and Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken deals with the theme of nature. Both poets incorporate each word in a specific manner that adds literal and figurative meanings to the overall essence of the poems. Robert Frost and Alfred Lord Tennyson use symbolism, figurative language, and rhyme to convey their views of the road that Frost cannot choose and the oak tree that develops from a human perspective. Tennyson ...

Presentation and Analysis of the POEM ‘The Road not Taken’ by Robert Frost

[The author’s name]

This essay is to present you with the analysis and aspects of interpretation of the poem ‘The Road not Taken’ written by Robert Frost in the 1920s. ‘The Road not Taken’ is the story of a man and his choice of a road. The thematic core of this poem’s story is the symbolism of a journey. It is a poem written in four stanzas. Each stanza is in the rhyme scheme ABAAB. Robert Frost, the poet who wrote this poem is one of the most popular poets within the borders of the literary community. The themes met ...

Thesis

Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’ and Eudora Welty’s ‘A Worn Path’ are contrastingly different yet similar in some ways. While one is a poem, the other is a short story; however, they both seem to reveal a similar sentiment and expression of the protagonists. In ‘The Road Not Taken,’ the narrator, while waking on a road reaches a point where the road splits in two different directions. He stops to ponder which road to take and opts for the road less travelled. He was far from the madding crowd and close to nature. In ‘A Worn Path,’ the story revolves around ...

Presentation and Analysis of two literary works – Reflections on the way both literary works ‘The Road not Taken’ and ‘A Worn Path’ representing different writing kinds, a poem and a short story respectively, approach the same thematic core, the one of a Journey’s Symbolism – Comparison and contrast of both works in terms of their context, writing style, underlying meaning [The author’s name]

Abstract

This paper will present you with a comparison and contrast of two literary works. Both the literary works which have been chosen, belong to the same theme, the one of a journey’s symbolism. The first work which will ...

Introduction:

For this paper, the two literally works selected are the road not taken and I used to live here once. The theme of symbolism of the journey will be analyzed for both pieces of literature. Below is a critical analysis that compares and contrasts how the theme has been portrayed in both works.

Road Not Taken:

The poem Road Not Taken by Robert Frost was published in 1916. It has been described as one of the best known poems worldwide. The setting of the poem is unique; it immediately engages the reader and captures their attention from the start. It is one of ...

Introduction

Philip Levine was born on January 10, 1928 in Detroit city of Michigan State. He is famous for his poetry work about the working-class Detroit. He started working in car manufacturing plants at the age of 14 but later as a lecturer at California State University for thirty years teaching in the English Department. Robert Lee Frost (23/3/1974 -29/1/1963) was an American poet born in San Francisco, California. His poet's work is known to depict a rural setting. He started working on his farm before becoming an English teacher at various schools and universities.

The two poets have various similar connections. Looking at their biography, we can see the following connections:

Poetry: both Philip and Robert are poets ...

The poem by Robert Frost and the modern day song by George Strait portray the alternative path of life which is chosen by very less people. The artistic expressions express the nature of the way which is chosen by such people and also explore the possibilities which await the individual who opts for the path which is less traversed by people. Both the works have touched the hearts of innumerable people across the globe with the quintessence. While Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken exudes his poetic wizardry in the stanzas of the poem, George Strait’s The ...

Question 1

However, the larger part of the poem exhibits elements of American Literary Modernism. The aspect of this modernism is that the poem has a very basic language. However most of the poem’s modernistic elements emanate from the meaning of the poem. A lot of unclear things are present in this poem. Additionally, the poem’s mood is also not particularly uplifting. The unclarity of the poem is first displayed in the 2nd stanza where the poet describes a path as “grassy and wanted wear”. This means that less people had used that particular path in comparison to the second path. ...

Introduction

Literature is an art which communicates an idea be in the form of poem or prose. The way the word is woven to form sentences befitting the theme, and at the same time, conveying the message is an art in itself. In fact, there are many instances where two different literary works written at different times have a similar theme to convey. One set of such two works are the poems “The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost” and “I Used to Live Here Once by Jean Rhys.” Though he titles seem different, they have something in common to share ...

The modern world is dominated by technological influences that have seen a change in the lifestyle and behavior of man. A comparison is always made on how the day-to-day life of man is being influenced by the technological developments. This has different impacts on people depending on how they handle the changes. Observing the behavior displayed by man, one can only be amazed at the power of how technology has turned man from being a naturally social creature to a machine like individual. Robert frost is one of the modern poets who has observed the changing trend in man even with the ...

Choices are things that have been discussed in literature for many years, as it carries a universal resonance for all people who wish to reach a destination or accomplish a goal. Frost’s protagonist in the poem “The Road Not Taken” is seemingly obsessed with the time where he came across a fork in the path in a forest, took one path, and didn’t go back and take the other one. He hems and haws about what might have been on the inside, even as outwardly he exclaims that he did take the road less traveled (and therefore preferable). He is ‘sorry he ...

‘The road not taken’ is a poem by Robert Frost. The main theme in the poem regards the decisions an individual makes and how they determine one’s future (Frost, 2010). Frost uses irony effectively to tell the story that the road one takes in life can either represent a right or wrong decision, but it ultimately counts. This paper will provide a literature review of the poem. The speaker in the poem faces a dilemma while in the woods. Before him, lay two roads that were equally worn and both overlaid with un-trodden leaves. Both roads are almost equally worn out ( ...

One of the most anthologized, analyzed and quoted poem in American poetry is the work of Robert Frost entitled “The Road not taken” that was published in 1912. Several interpretations made in this poem suggest that the author wanted to express non-conformity and individualism. However, upon the reading the poem it appears that the speaker wants to insinuate a literary depiction of a person’s decision to choose between two paths at the end of the road, which translates to the way a person would choose his own life’s path. The poem has an existential theme that conveys emotion, intellect and ...

1. Robert Frost provides an excellent example of a poet who experienced a long career, going from strength to strength. Accessible and down-to-earth, his work still continues to be popular today. Although much of his material is based in New England, most readers can relate to it as he focusses so accurately on human experience; his themes have not aged over the years and show no sign of aging in the future. “The Road Not Taken” is a famous and well-anthologized poem in the history of American poetry. A common interpretation asserts that the narrator in the poem is upholding ...

In the poem The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost is not suggesting the reader, when confronted with a ‘fork in the road’, take the road less frequented. In fact, neither of the two roads mentioned in the poem are less frequented. In the third stanza of the poem, the author writes:

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black Oh, I kept the first for another day!

This clearly shows that both the road were covered by leaves that had not been stepped upon, and hence, it traveler would not be able to guess which one had been tread on ...

The poem “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost, is an interesting poem because it is cries out to be interpreted in a symbolic or metaphorical way. Published in 1916,‘The Road Not Taken” has been interpreted by many readers to be an inspirational work that tries to stir a feeling of individualism in the reader. This, however, might be a misunderstanding of Frost’s cryptic, and very unspecific words, which, based on his close friendship with Edward Thomas, could have been intended to convey a completely different message all together – a message not so uplifting, as many readers may have thought. Matthew Hollis ...

The two pieces of work, ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost, and ‘A worn Path’ by Eudora Welty both describe two separate journeys by two characters. The two journeys, though in separate worlds, are loaded with symbolism in the characters, elements of the journey and the emerging themes. The poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ brings out the choices made in terms of what course to take in life while the short story ‘A Worn Path’, shows the undying determination of a traveler to finish the course of her journey.

Symbolism of the journey

Though appearing simple and subtle, the story ‘A Worn Down ...

Robert Frost provides an excellent example of a poet who experienced a long career, going from strength to strength. Accessible and down-to-earth, his work still continues to be popular today. Most readers can relate to his work as he focusses so accurately on human experience; his themes have not aged over the years and show no sign of aging in the future. Frost was an American poet who was respected for his portrayals of country life in New England, his grasp of conversational language, and his accurate poetry depicting commonplace people in ordinary positions. Robert Frost was born on March ...

Robert Frost is best known for his rural life poetry and for the simple terminology he uses in his poems. However, the jargon of Frost’s poems might be simple but there is a profundity of depth and meaning in his poetry regarding the complexities of life.

The Road not Taken by Frost is set on a forest road on an autumn morning. Frost was tremendously inspired by the rural landscapes of Gloucestershire. When he moved to Britain in 1912, he rented a cottage over and became fast friends with Edward Thomas, another great critic, writer and a nature lover. These close friends ...

Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Fire and Ice” are both rhyming, rhythmic poems. However, their themes are very different. While the former explores the choices that all humans make in everyday life, the latter delves more deeply into possible causes of destruction for planet earth. While the two poems have similarities in terms of style, the main themes within them are quite different. “The Road Not Taken” is a famous and well-anthologized poem in the history of American poetry. A common interpretation asserts that the narrator in the poem is upholding independence and non-conformity. A ...

Theme: Symbolism of the Journey

Thesis Statement: Poem “The Road Not Taken” is written by Robert Frost and Story “I Use to Live Here Once” by Jean Rhys both are based on theme of Journey. Both of the writer has presented different view of journey and shown the impact of a particular journey on the life. Both of the literatures talk about different persons, different locations and different circumstances. The one common aspect presented by both of the writers that is; no matter what path you have taken there will be lots of sufferings and obstacles of the journey.

Introduction:

The meaning of journey varies ...

Compare and Contrast Robert Frost’s

Robert Frost and Eudora Welty both writers, lived thirty years apart; whereas Frost writes poetry and Welty writes novel and short story, a comparison and contrast of these two works will show that the setting of their writings is nature.

The two works, “The Road not Taken”, and “A Worn Path,“ begin with a description of nature, and they are set apart by one season. Frost’s poem begins: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” suggesting that it is fall. There are several yellow flowers that bloom in spring, however, it could not have been spring, since the poet distinctly says “ ...

"The Road Not Taken" In My Own Life

When I was a child, I had a friend named Henry; we were best friends, and nearly inseparable. One day after class, however, he told me that he had stolen the teacher's edition of our book from her while she was not looking; he had it in his backpack. He told me that, if we looked at it tonight, we could copy all the answers and get an A on our assignments for the rest of the class. I knew that Henry stealing the book was wrong, but I also knew that Henry ...

All of us go through life with our own individual journeys. The path that we take is often dependent on every single decision that we make through our journey. Often, we look back through our life what might have been if we have followed a different path. But we often realize that there are no “undo” buttons in real life. There is simply no going back. Once we have made a certain decision, we cannot do anything but stick with that decision and make the most of the decision we have made.

Our journey through life has often been depicted in ...

The Road not taken by is one of the most adored works by Mr. Robert Frost. The poem is simple yet difficult; one can not understand it so easily and the massage, poet wants to convey. It needs appropriate attention to understand and get the implied meaning of the lines of this poem. Writer has presented his thoughts in a clear, natural manner and simple way. But in reality the poem carries a deep massage to the readers. The massage given by the author in the poetry is related to various aspects of decision making in life. The poet start ...

The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost has one major theme. It talks about the paths we choose in life, the choices we make and what we may lose by taking one path instead of the other. Life is a journey and just like in any journey a person needs to make hard choices. Just as the protagonist of the story, we are often put in front of a choice and the decision we take may influence us for the rest of the life. Even though we might have a chance to try the other road later, “I doubted if I ...

Introduction

In poetry, every piece of work is unique in its own way. However, most pieces of poems follow standard forms. Poems can be entertaining and or educating, depending on the poet’s choice of the role of the poem. The special characteristics that are shared by all poems include:

In poetry, there is the emphasis of important words, which may lead to creation of rhythm or repetition. In this work, I have analyzed four ...

The journey is something that has been discussed in literature for many years, as it carries a universal resonance for all people who wish to reach a destination or accomplish a goal. Eudora Welty and Robert Frost are two authors who examine the nature of the journey, and attempt to symbolize that nature in their short stories and poems, “A Worn Path” and “The Road Not Taken,” respectively. Both “A Worn Path” and “The Road Not Taken” are about how the journey we take through life defines us and gives us purpose. Phoenix’ journey is to help others and herself; the protagonist ...