What Is The Literary Elements Of The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken”, can be easily misunderstood, and perhaps for decades it was. Scholar Frank Lentricchia believed that in this poem, the message is that people don’t get a choice in life to pick one path rather than the other, because their lives are already mapped out for us. However, Mark Richardson had a different idea. He thought that it’s not that we don’t get a choice in life, it is that we don’t realize how the choice affects us until later in life. Although these two ideas sound reasonable, what Robert Frost really meant in this piece of writing was not that people choose between two paths, but instead they must forge their own.

In the story, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, there is a tale about a traveler, that has walked upon a set of two roads (ln. 1). Although this is what the story literally says, there is hidden meaning behind its words. There is a difference between reading a poem, and understanding what a poem is trying to tell you.

Frost uses several techniques in his poem, but perhaps the most significant is his use of the metaphor. First, he describes “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (1). The roads represent the different choices that people have to make in life and how there isn’t always one choice to be made. Each path is an important decision which he must make, so he has to choose carefully when examining each path. When he “looked down one as far as (he) could to where it bent in the undergrowth” (4-5), this represents him not being able to predict and see the future. The forest represents the unknown, and he cannot see or predict his unknown future. One may think that his choice

In the Robert Frost poem ‘’The Road Not Taken’’ there is a pervasive and in many ways intrinsic sense of journey throughout. In such, the poem explores an aspect associated with human decision, or indecision, relative to the oxymoron, that choices with the least the difference should bear the most indifference, but realistically, carry the most difficulty. This is conveyed through the use of several pivotal techniques. Where the first such instance is the use of an extended metaphor, where the poem as a whole becomes a literary embodiment of something more, the journey of life. The second technique used is the writing style of first person. Where in using this, the reader can depict a clear train of thought from the walker and understand

The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost describes the dilemma in decision making, generally in life each individual has countless decisions to make and those decisions lead to new challenges, dilemmas and opportunities. In Frost’s poem, the careful traveler observes the differences of each path, one is bent and covered in undergrowth (Frost 5) and the other is grassy and unworn (Frost 8). In the end he knows he can only choose one of the paths, after much mental debate he picks the road less traveled and is well aware that he will likely never return to experience the other. By examining Frost 's "The Road Not Taken," we get a deeper understanding of

Frost uses symbolism in the word in the first line of the first stanza in ‘yellow’ of the wood. This symbolises the season autumn and the autumnal time in ones life where time is running out and decisions need to be made, this demonstrates

Frost uses imagery in the colors and descriptions of how the under growth looked to the narrator. He describes the wood as yellow, the path was “grassy and wanted wear”.

The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost starts out with the speaker facing a dilemma. He must make a decision about which path to take. Frost utilizes metaphor and tone to develop his theme about having to make decisions in life, whether they be something as major as choosing a career to pursue or something as simple as choosing what movie to see or what to have for dinner. The speaker states, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

In the first line of the poem Frost already begins to lay out his setting for the reader saying, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood”(1). This allows the reader to visually see what the narrator sees, which makes the poem much more powerful and realistic. Also Frost had to use imagery to put reader in the narrator’s shoes, so it’s as if the reader also has to make the decision on which road is the best to take. Even though the roads are not any different from each other, the details the narrator gives makes even the reader for a moment believe that one is better than the other. This manipulation that Frost creates using imagery makes the reader experience first hand the theme that he made which is to make the best of your situation. Frost was able to put the reader in the same situation and cause them to even weigh their options for a

First and foremost, Frost’s use of universal symbols, gives us/ the readers an unquestionable mood. “Night” divulged in the poem is more than the time from sunset to sunrise and bedtime. Unfortunately, the “night” exposed in the poem is a symbol of the man’s darkness. No doubt, “Rain” and “furthest city light” interconnects with the darkness of the man’s life which ties to the mood. As, the speaker advance through the city he becomes more depressed and isolated. Correspondingly Stanza 4, line 2-3 notes

Frost uses imagery and symbols to depict vivid scenery. Robert Frost invokes the imagery of a wood with two roads

No matter who you are or what you do, you must make decisions every day in your lifetime, whether it be choosing what to eat that day or choosing which occupation you would like to do for the rest of your life. No matter how big or small the decision there is always more than one option available. For every choice that is chosen, there is one that you did not pick — the school you didn’t go to or the outfit you did not wear. Robert Frost has written about choices like these in his poem “The Road Not Taken”. The narrator in the poem comes to a fork in the road and needs to decide which road he will take and which road he will not take. A number of poetic devices work together to help develop an overall understanding and relatability to the poem. They also support the poem’s theme ¬¬— to choose your pathways in life and be content with them whether they seem popular or not. The devices used to create this effect and theme is imagery, symbolism, and connotative and denotative language.

Life is full of choices. The choices can be very risky or not perilous at all. There may be some that are predetermined, and others that may pose an obstacle, as they have to be determined in limited time. A single choice can alter the course of someone’s life in a positive or negative way. Robert Frost is a 19th century poet who lived most his life in rural areas, and his exposure to nature inspired him to create many of his famous works of writing such as the poem, “The Road Not Taken”. In the poem, Robert Frost portrays the narrator to be baffled in a predicament, as he has to choose between

Robert Frost’s style of writing is obscure. Depending on the reader, his stories can be seen as complex or completely straightforward. In one of his poems, “The Road Not Taken,” he leaves it up to the audience to interpret it in whichever way they would like. They could see it as a journey in which the character had to make a major life decision or as a trip where the character is simply deciding where to go. Furthermore, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is one of Frost’s clear and straightforward piece of work. In this poem, he uses a frank concept to grasp the reader’s attention in order for him/her to appreciate the idea of it. Frost’s utilization of rhyme and melodic tone captures the mind of the audience. Because of his way of writing,

The first theme, the outdoors, is best revealed in his poem “The Road Not Taken.” In this poem, Frost uses a fork in a road to describe making decisions in life. Given the main idea, most likely the poem is referring to Frost’s decision to leave farming to follow poetry. Frost uses five lines of poetry in each verse with similar length. Using the technique of inferring, analysts can conclude that the poem relates to the theme of “perfect” decision making. It shows that decisions can not always be perfect. Frost uses symbolism and imagery to display a visual representation of a decision. For example, in lines 1 & 2 Frost uses the fork in the road in a forest as a reference to a decision with two choices. He evaluates each side (trade-offs in a decision) and chooses a side as in lines 4 & 5. Shortly after, he describes the side he chose. He says the road was “grassy” and that it was “not worn.” This creates not only a mental image but the realization that one side can visually appear better than the other. On line 12, he states that there are leaves on the ground which we can picture and also believe that it is autumn. From line 16 to 20, he repeats the first stanza. This represents the reflection of his decision. Although he repeated the first stanza, Frost removed the word yellow, that described the woods, and also said that he chose the one less traveled, and he did not regret it. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference (The Road Not Taken).” Frost does this to show that decision making can be hard, but it is best to evaluate and choose the decision that is best suitable, not what everyone else chooses. Throughout this poem, Frost tries to bring attention to questionable/uneducated decisions in life and make the best of them through his tone and word choice. Frost’s theme of imperfection can be seen either