TAKE-HOME ESSAY ON ROBERT FROST
Question 1.
Poetry relates implicitly or explicitly to a dramatic situation that is conveyed to the audience through the insight of the speaker’s state of mind. This can be seen in both of Robert Frost’s well-known poems “The Road Not Taken (1916)” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (1923)”. A dramatic situation can be considered as: "a situation, in a narrative or dramatic work, in which people are involved in conflicts that solicit the audience 's empathetic involvement in their predicament." (Lyman A. Baker, 2000). Robert Frost portrays the weighing of choices in life that play an influential role in the difficult decision-making process. This is developed through key elements such as character (persona), …show more content…
In the poem, “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker has to make a big decision in his life. The speaker comes across an intersection where “two roads [are] diverged”, which he encounters on his autumnal journey. Frost uses the situation of comparing the two roads implicitly as a metaphor for making difficult choices in life. As the speaker considers his choices and says, “And looked down as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth”. Unable to see what lies ahead, the undergrowth represents future for speaker is unclear. It indicates his confusion and offers a feeling of uncertainty in carrying out his decision. The speaker examines both roads and considers the second better than the first “because it was grassy and wanted wear”. Frost personifies path, giving it human desires, which illustrates the concept of free will. The dramatic situation is thus heightened through the speaker’s inner struggle to come to a final decision. The speaker knows that once he chooses the path, he will not be able to return, but he is ready to take the risk, hence his choice symbolizes risk-taking. Like “The Road Not Taken”, in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, speaker also has to make a big decision in his life. When the speaker stops in his journey, the division between the village and woods is shown. The woods can be seen as a symbol for …show more content…
In the “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker would like to follow both roads but cannot do so because they diverge in two different directions. His choice to take the less travelled path leads him to say, “I doubted if I should ever come back”. The inner conflict of the speaker arises as he questions the decision he has already made. Thus, Frost implies that the important decisions we make in life are irreversible. The speaker believes that at some time in the future, he will be thinking of the two possible paths “with a sigh”. This offers a dramatic moment for the speaker as the expression can be interpreted as a sigh of relief from a good choice or a sigh of regret from a poor choice. By the end of the poem, the speaker says, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by/ And that has made all the difference”. The hyphen creates a pause in his statement, making it more expressive before taking the final decision. The narrator explicitly states that he took "the road less travelled by," meaning the road or choice that would not normally be taken by travellers. By taking a different pathway, he makes the non-conformist choice, as it seems to be the right one. In the poem, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”, the speaker stops beside isolated set of woods that take him out of daily life. Like “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker must make a choice in his
Question 1.
Poetry relates implicitly or explicitly to a dramatic situation that is conveyed to the audience through the insight of the speaker’s state of mind. This can be seen in both of Robert Frost’s well-known poems “The Road Not Taken (1916)” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (1923)”. A dramatic situation can be considered as: "a situation, in a narrative or dramatic work, in which people are involved in conflicts that solicit the audience 's empathetic involvement in their predicament." (Lyman A. Baker, 2000). Robert Frost portrays the weighing of choices in life that play an influential role in the difficult decision-making process. This is developed through key elements such as character (persona), …show more content…
In the poem, “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker has to make a big decision in his life. The speaker comes across an intersection where “two roads [are] diverged”, which he encounters on his autumnal journey. Frost uses the situation of comparing the two roads implicitly as a metaphor for making difficult choices in life. As the speaker considers his choices and says, “And looked down as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth”. Unable to see what lies ahead, the undergrowth represents future for speaker is unclear. It indicates his confusion and offers a feeling of uncertainty in carrying out his decision. The speaker examines both roads and considers the second better than the first “because it was grassy and wanted wear”. Frost personifies path, giving it human desires, which illustrates the concept of free will. The dramatic situation is thus heightened through the speaker’s inner struggle to come to a final decision. The speaker knows that once he chooses the path, he will not be able to return, but he is ready to take the risk, hence his choice symbolizes risk-taking. Like “The Road Not Taken”, in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, speaker also has to make a big decision in his life. When the speaker stops in his journey, the division between the village and woods is shown. The woods can be seen as a symbol for …show more content…
In the “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker would like to follow both roads but cannot do so because they diverge in two different directions. His choice to take the less travelled path leads him to say, “I doubted if I should ever come back”. The inner conflict of the speaker arises as he questions the decision he has already made. Thus, Frost implies that the important decisions we make in life are irreversible. The speaker believes that at some time in the future, he will be thinking of the two possible paths “with a sigh”. This offers a dramatic moment for the speaker as the expression can be interpreted as a sigh of relief from a good choice or a sigh of regret from a poor choice. By the end of the poem, the speaker says, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by/ And that has made all the difference”. The hyphen creates a pause in his statement, making it more expressive before taking the final decision. The narrator explicitly states that he took "the road less travelled by," meaning the road or choice that would not normally be taken by travellers. By taking a different pathway, he makes the non-conformist choice, as it seems to be the right one. In the poem, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”, the speaker stops beside isolated set of woods that take him out of daily life. Like “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker must make a choice in his