The Road Not Taken / Robert Frost

Pre-Reading Activity
A. In pairs, read the situation below and make a list to help you decide what you would do.

Your friends are travelling abroad during the vacation and you really want to
join them. However, you have been offered a fantastic summer job. You are
afraid that if you miss this opportunity, you may not get another job.

Pro of traveling abroad Pro of taking the job

In reaching a decision, you used the thinking skill of PROBLEM SOLVING.

This means:

 identifying the problem

 considering the options
 weighing the pros and cons of each option
 reaching a decision

B. What do you usually do when you have a problem or dilemma to solve? Do you follow the
steps above? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________

Think of a problem you have solved and tell you partner. Were there any additional
steps that you used to reach your decision?

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 The Road Not Taken / Robert Frost

The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no steps had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day,

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Basic Understanding
Key Vocabulary

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 The Road Not Taken / Robert Frost

diverged

doubted

equally

hence

sigh

traveler

undergrowth

Vocabulary Practice

A. Match the words in column A to their meanings in column B

A B
1. Traveler a. divide
2. equally b. someone who goes to places far away
3. doubt c. plants and bushes
4. diverge d. the same
5. undergrowth e. not sure about something
6. wanted wear f. demand
7. wood g. needed to be walked on
8. make a difference h. change something
9. claim i. forest

B. Complete the sentences using the words below. Make any necessary changes.
bend * doubt * fair * lead * sigh * sorry

1. The speaker was ________ that he could not take both roads.
2. The traveler could not decide which road to choose. They both looked equally ________.
3. The speaker looked down the road to where it ________ in the undergrowth.
4. One way always ________ on to another, so the speaker ________ that he would ever
come back.
5. In the future, the speaker will be telling about his experience with a ________.

C. Describe or draw the scene that the poet describes.

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 The Road Not Taken / Robert Frost

D. Answer the questions:

1. Which stanza describes the main idea?

Main Idea Stanza

1. The speaker decides to take the less-traveled road.
2. The speaker decides his location.
3. The speaker's decision changed his life.
4. The speaker doesn't think he will ever try the other road.

2. What does the poet like about the second road he considers?
___________________________________________________________________

3. Find the lines in the poem that have a similar meaning to each sentence below.
a. I wish that I could walk down both roads. _____
b. I chose the less-traveled road. _____
c. I didn't think I would ever return to try the other road. _____
d. I will only know if I made the right decision in the future. _____
e. The choice I made affected my whole life. _____

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 The Road Not Taken / Robert Frost

Analysis and Interpretation

A. The setting is the time and place in which the events occur. What is the setting of
the poem?
B. You learned about the skill of Problem Solving. What is the speaker's dilemma in
the poem and how does he solve it? Complete the graphic organizer below. Use
the thinking skill of Problem Solving to help you.

Problem / Dilemma

Option 1 Option 2

Distinguishing Different Perspectives

Look at this picture: solution

It is 8:00 C. A metaphor
on Tuesday describes
morning something
and Sarah, using
an 11th other
grade words isorstill
student, images. For example, saying "my
fast asleep.
little sister is a feather" – meaning that she does not weigh very much.
Now read what two different people said about this:
This poem also uses metaphors. Consider the questions below.
a. "These1. teenagers!
Complete Why do they go
the following to sleep so late when they know they have school in the
sentences:
morning?
a. ThisSarah is irresponsible!"
poem also uses metaphor for _________.
b. "Poorb.Sarah! She must be
The crossroads inreally tiredis– ashe
the poem stayed up
metaphor forso_________.
late last night studying for her
history exam. She was still studying when I went to sleep at midnight!"
2. The Road Not Taken is about having to choose which road to take on a journey
Identify which person in Sarah's family said each of the above quotes:
through the woods. However, the whole poem can also be seen as a metaphor for
a. her motherthe journey of 12
b. her life.year
Canold
yousister
explain how?
____________________________________________________________________
Each person had____________________________________________________________________
a different view, or perspective, on what they saw.

Distinguishing Different Perspectives is a skill that helps you understand how different people
understand a person, a situation or an event differently. They can look at the same thing but see
it in another way.
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With a partner, think of other situations where it is useful to be aware of perspectives that are
different from you own. Share with the class.
 The Road Not Taken / Robert Frost

Now let's apply this thinking skill to questions 3 and 4 below.

3. Frost himself referred to The Road Not Taken as a "tricky, very tricky" poem.
a. Understanding of the poem depends on the perspective through which you interpret the
word "sigh". Explain the meaning in the poem of these two possible perspectives:
i. Sigh = sigh of contentment ___________________________________________
ii. Sigh= sigh of regret _________________________________________________
b. Which perspective do you think the speaker meant? Why?
____________________________________________________________________
4. The speaker says he took the road that "wanted wear" (line 8) and that was "less traveled by"
(line 19).
a. What kind of perspective on life might this traveler have?
__________________________________________________________________
b. What kind of perspective on life might make someone prefer the road that the poet didn't
take? __________________________________________________________________

Bridging Text and Context

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 The Road Not Taken / Robert Frost

Read the information below about the poet's life and then answer then answer the
questions that follow.

Robert Frost was born in California but grew in Massachusetts, part of the region
in the northeastern USA known as New England. After he finished school he took
on all kinds of jobs but he always knew he wanted to be a poet. Although he spent
two years at Harvard University, he left his studies and became a farmer to
support his family. Alongside his farming activities he also wrote poetry and taught
at various schools, colleges and universities throughout his career. In his poetry he
often used the rural settings he lived in to present his social philosophical ideas.

1. From what you know about Frost's life, how do you think the poet himself took
"made all the difference"?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. How does this information affect you understanding of the poem?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Post Reading Activity

Choose from the following options:

1. Some people claim Frost wrote this poem to make fun of a friend, Edward Thomas,
who had trouble which roads to take when they went on long walks together.
Imagine you are Thomas and write a letter telling Frost what you think of the poem.
2. Write a dialogue between the traveler and a friend, explaining his choice of road
and where it led him. You may act it with a partner for the class.
3. Learn the poem by heart and bring a picture or do a PowerPoint presentation to
illustrate it.
4. Watch the film “Sliding Doors” and explain how the poem is reflected in the movie.

Post Reading Activity

CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING LIST OF ACTIVITIES:
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 The Road Not Taken / Robert Frost

1. Choose another poem written by Robert Frost and analyze the poem, as
we did in class with “The Road Not Taken”. Pay attention to imagery and
symbolism, literal and figurative meanings, theme, metaphors and similes,
mood, style, rhyme schemes, etc. How does the poem relate to your life
experience? *Make sure the poem chosen is approved of by your teacher

2. Choose one of the following:

a) Create a painting, color drawing, or a collage or find a work of art that best
exemplifies the theme(s) of the poem. Explain how it suits the words and message of
the poem.(100 words)

b) Find a song connected to the theme of the poem. Compare (in writing) the song
with “The Road Not Taken’ (100 words)

c) Create your own poem based on one of the themes of the poem.(the length of
the original poem)

d) Create a rap, pop, classical, or other musical background for the poem
(“soundscape”) Explain your choice (100 words)

e) Interview Robert Frost about the poem and about himself. Write at least 10
questions.

3. Interview a family member older than you. Ask that person to describe a time she
or he faced a major choice, dilemma, or decision in her or his life. Ask about the
details surrounding the decision – the circumstances, the nature of the “two roads
that diverged”, the event(s), the difficulty of weighing the choices available, feelings
at the time, the other people who had to be considered, thoughts about the
consequences, the final decision, how that decision turned out, and regrets, if any,
or good feelings and satisfaction, if any. How might your family member “be telling
this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence….”? How will she or he look back
at it? Which road did she or he choose? Did that make “all the difference”?

Write this part as a straight-forward interview or take all the information you gather from the
interview and write it as a story.

Reflection

Answer the following questions.

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 The Road Not Taken / Robert Frost

1. Did you enjoy the poem? Why or why not?

__________________________________________________________________

2. What did you learn from reading the poem?

__________________________________________________________________

3. Do you think that being aware of the stages of Problem Solving will help you
make better decisions and solve problems more easily in the future?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Adapted from Literature Program foe 4 points/ UPP and ECB