Robert Frost in the poem, “The Road Not Taken” makes it clear that no matter whatever path you go on; the roads aren’t that different. It does not matter what path you decide to take, because wherever you end up, you'll end up. The path you take will make you end up the same person regardless. The roads lead to a certain inevitability. Frost uses many rhetorical strategies such as diction, syntactical strategies, and repetition to make his hidden point clear. One of Frost most effective methods was his strong use of diction. Frost provides several examples of his technique to set the tone for the rest of the poem. He truly emphasizes his point when he carefully uses the words “equally” and “same” to further show the readers that there was no "road less traveled by" because they were the same. Also, Frost in the second stanza used the word "fair" to further illustrate that he looked down one path as far as it bent in the undergrowth and took the other because it was "just as fair." The man couldn’t distinguish between these two roads because they’re the same. …show more content…
In the last stanza, the author does something very interesting. The author states," I shall be telling this with a sigh" which further reveals the point to the reader. That through out the story he has been telling it in past tense, when he says,"I" he places the poem in present tense. Frost intentionally did this to draw attention to specific part of the poem. In addition, the author makes it clear of how indecisive he is when it come to making a decision to what road she wants to go on. When the author states, “Because it was grassy and wanted wear” which indicates that he was leveling and weighing his decision about what road to take. With the use of analogy, we see that the author is comparing the to roads in order to see which one he should take. Which sends a message that he is hesitant of his
Anticipation is prevalent throughout The Road, which is set by the narrative pace, creating a tense and suspenseful feeling and tone.
In the second stanza, Frost lets the reader know that the traveler has chosen to take the path less traveled by: "Then took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim." The path that the speaker chose to travel down was obviously not for everyone, hence “the road less traveled by." The fact that the traveler took this path over the more popular, secure one indicates the type of personality he has. He does not feel the need to follow the crowd but rather to do more of what has never been done before.
Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, is a descriptive poem about a person’s conflict with the right path to take throughout life. The choice that this person makes can affect him forever. There are lots of choices like this throughout a person’s life that are made that piece together the future. What they do with these choices and the decisions they make are up to them. Although the narrator of this poem is faced with a dilemma, he still makes the best decision possible and takes the best road, which happens to be one that no one else has chosen to take.
Frost makes this the only stanza which also begins with a new sentence, indicating a stronger break from the previous ideas. The tone clearly shifts from the uncertainty of the first three stanzas. When speaker expresses that he “shall be telling this with a sigh,” Frost masterfully creates a visual sigh in the third line of this stanza when the speaker states, “...and I -- / I took the one less traveled by…” creating a more personal connection with the reader (16, 17, 18). Frost leaves it to the reader to determine if the sigh is of joy or sorrowor of sorrow. Although part of him is regretful, he realizes that the things he has seen and the places he has been because of the road he did take made him who he is and “made all the difference” (20). Frost leaves the reader with many unanswered questions, wondering whether or not the speaker is happy with his choice or if he wishes he had gone on the road not taken. The rhythm and meter in "The Road Not Taken," leaves the reader unsettled and questioning. Frost uses a loose iambic tetrameter throughout his poem but mixes in other types of meter. This sound pattern creates the illusion of an irregularly beating heart reflecting that of a person who is in the middle of a big decision or crisis. Throughout the poem, the speaker skips a beat which carries the reader along with
All people are travelers, all choosing their paths on a map of their life. “The great thing about man for Frost is that he has the power of standing still where he is.” There is never a straight road there are always curves and turns in which one must encounter and act upon. Readers can interpret the poem “The Road Not Taken” in many ways. It is a persons past, present and the way one see things, which determines their choices and paths they follow. This poem shows how Frost believes that it is the road that you choose that makes you the person you are.
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost shows the reader how the choices they make will be hard decisions and will follow them. The setting of this poem takes place in the woods, in the fall. The woods will typically be a quiet and serene place making the setting an ideal place for decision making. The setting also helps to show the symbolism that Frost shows by describing the two paths. Frost uses pathos when appealing to the reader’s feelings because any reader has had to make a decision in their life. Creating this symbol helps to relate to the reader. The Imagery that is created helps to make the reader feel as if they are standing in the snowy woods, looking down two paths, and trying to make the decision of which one to take. Frost used
The poem’s diction is fairly simple so that educated and uneducated people alike would be able to read and understand the poem somewhat easily. Because Frost prided himself upon being accessible and relatable to all people,
In this poem, Frost illustrates that every person has his own opinion. He states “Then took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim” (line 6-7). What make it better was “it was grassy and wanted wear” (line 8). It was something that was obviously not for everyone because it seems that the other people take the more popular one. “And both that morning equally lay/ In leaves no step had trodden black” (line 11). No one had yet to pass by on this road since the leaves have fallen. “I kept the first for another day” (line 13). The desire to travel down both paths is expressed and is not unusual, but “knowing how way leads onto way” (line 14). The speaker of this poem realizes that the decision is not just a temporary one, and he “doubted if I should ever come back”
In the opening stanza, Frost describes coming to a point during a walk along a rural road that diverges into two separate, yet similar paths. The narrator finds that he ...
The two roads presented in this poem represent difficult decisions we are faced with in life. He uses the relationship between the paths and real life decisions throughout the whole poem. This is an example of extended metaphor, which is used to help the readers understand the analogy between the two. The man in the poem said: “long I stood” (3), which lets us know the decision was not made instantly. It was hard for the man to make a final judgment.
In the poem, a person is walking along a path in an autumn forest in the early hours of the morning, when he stumbles upon a fork in the road. The speaker wishes that he would be able to travel down both of them, but he has places to go, and he does not have enough time. One is worn out from people walking along it so much, and the other is grassy and barely worn from fewer people walking on it. Although neither of them had been traveled on that day, as the leaves were still fresh on the ground, the speaker was compelled to travel the second or grassier path. The speaker fin...
The main theme of the poem that Frost attempts to convey is how important the decisions that one makes can be, and how they affect one’s future. In lines 2-3, he expresses the emotions of doubt and confusion by saying, “And sorry I could not travel/ And be one traveler, long I stood”, which explains how the speaker contemplated their decision of which road to take. In the closing, line 20 of the poem further reestablishes the theme when it states, “that has made all the difference”, meaning that making the decision of which road to take for themselves is the important key for a successful future. Frost helps to express this theme by using symbolism to portray a road as one’s journey of life. Using symbolism, Frost suggests that the speaker of this poem is taking the harder of the two roads presented before them, because the road the speaker chooses, “leaves no step had trodden black” (12...
This poem is one of many written by Frost in 1916 and it is commonly used in high school writing classes. It has been written about frequently and often analyzed because of the connection people feel to the poem for the reason that everyone has to make life choices. The reading of the poem touches a wide variety of readers because each one can identify with the writers predicament of having to make a choice, with two different options, as in the poem which road to take either the well-traveled path or as he decides the less journeyed. As an outcome of this choice, the writer states, that his life was profoundly different than it would have been had he taken the other road. The other road the more traveled and seemingly the safer of the two makes the reader seem more fearless to except what the unknown has to offer thus making his own way in the world. In reading further the roads are almost the same both being beautiful and equally passable. The writer tries to explain why things happened the way they did and that is a significant moment in his life. One might pick the road that gets them to w...
Robert Frost's original intent in writing the poem was not to convey the inspiration that it has for almost a hundred years. He had written the poem to poke fun at his friend, Edward Thomas, with whom he had taken many walks. Thomas was hesitant and always wondering what would happen if he had chosen a different path (http://www.yoga.com/raw/readings/frost_road.html). In fact, Frost sent the poem to his friend, then in France, and got the response, ?What are you trying to do with me?? (http://www.libarts.sfasu.edu/Frost/PopPoems.html). However, Frost did see the impact the poem was having and stated, 'Do not follow where the path may lead?Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.'
Frost uses several literary devices in this brief account, such as imagery, personification, metaphor, and alliteration. Descriptions of “yellow wood,” depicting an autumn forest, and “no step [in the leaves being] trodden black,” indicating a fresh and natural recently untrodden environment, are included to create a picture in the reader’s mind and make the situation ore real and easily related to. It is possible that Frost may have purposely used the word “yellow” to imply the splitting paths. ("Cummings Study Guides") When describing the two paths, the narrator mentions that one “was grassy and wanted wear,” using personification to make it seem as if that path is calling to him to travel upon it. In the same phrase, Frost also makes use of alliteration to draw attention to the calling of the first path. ("Use of Literary Devices in Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken")