Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” is a symbolic poem of the complications people must face in the course of their lives. Although it is not difficult to understand the meaning of the poem through it’s title, it is however hard to interpret what the author means when he describes the roads. Throughout the poem, the two roads appear similar at times and different at others. He uses free imagery to make his poem more complex for the audience.
In the first stanza, Frost attempts to do many things: he illustrates the setting; he describes the roads; and he explains the significance of the roads. The setting of the poem is drawn in a yellow wood, which suggests that it is autumn. In the following line, “And I’m 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”, the narrator shows his regret that he could only take one (Frost,HO). This demonstrates to the reader that the roads are of great importance, and because he can only travel one it will leave him forever wondering about what it would be like if he had took the other. The narrator spent a lot of time choosing which path to take.
After he studied the first road cautiously, he examined the second one. At first he is more attracted to the second road because “it was grassy and wanted wear” which meant that it was less traveled by (Frost,HO). To say that the path “wanted wear” is a personification (Frost,HO). It gives the road the human characteristic of wanting. After evaluating both roads, he decides that they are equal. He then states that they are really worn about the same. This gives the reader something to think about. If the two roads were utter...
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... one he did.
Frost gives just enough details in his writing to provide the viewers with a clear picture but allows them the freedom to create their own interpretations. One of the main things that make this poem attractive is the dilemma of picking a path. People immediately relate to that dilemma because most people face it numerous times throughout their lives. The Paths in the woods and forks in roads are metaphors for the many problems and decisions that fill one’s life. This poem says that we are free to choose, but we do not really know what we are choosing between. It does not say to take the path less traveled by nor take the path that is more traveled. The speaker knows that he will either second guess the decision somewhere down the line or wonder what was down the other path. In reality there is no right path, only the chosen path and the other path.
Robert Frost is an iconic poet. One of his most well-known poem is titled “The Road Not Taken”. This poem is about the narrator monologue about his travels and choices he faced. It opens up with the view with a fork in the road where two roads take different routes. The narrator must choose which road he will take. The narrator describes his setting vividly of the woods that he is traveling in and the choices he must make, such as “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back.” (14-15). The roads are not only literal choices, but also figurative choices. As they represent all life choices one must make in their lifetime. Frost uses multiple elements within his poem to bring the meaning of it to the reader’s attention. This poem is a metaphor for the choices people must make in their lives and how those choices impact their lives forever.
During the early 1800s, two parties were developed having different perspectives on government and the Constitution. The Democratic Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, were always characterized by following the strict construction of the constitution. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, were characterized by following the broad construction of the constitution. The presidencies of Jefferson and Madison proved this characterization to be somewhat accurate. Although the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists did support their own ideas and views, they also did many things that contradicted them.
The differing opinions on how the government in the post-Revolutionary war period should be run ultimately created the first rise in political parties. The Federalist belief in a government run by wealthy men and opposing Republican support for and agrarian society split the nations people in support of a government most beneficial to them. Differing reactions to the French Revolution showed the distinct difference in Federalist and Republican belief of who the government should be run under. The National Bank and the excise tax on liquor revealed differing views on how strictly the Constitution should be interpreted and the Alien and Sedition Acts reveal an attempt of one party to dissolve another. The contrasting views of Hamilton's Federalism and Jefferson's Republicanism were the ultimate contributors to splitting the nation on views and establishing the first political parties.
Hamilton's Federalist Party and the Democratic Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson had polarized views on the majority of the important political issues. These two political parties which possessed differing opinions and views pertaining to the future of the U.S. government were persistent in their respective arguments against each other. The strongly contrasting views of these two parties are the foundation of the puissant and sometimes callous attacks by the Republicans against Hamilton and his economic plan. Although Alexander Hamilton was viewed as an arrogant self-promoting individual, the primary reason he faced fierce opposition from the Democratic Republicans against his economic plans was strictly rooted in the fundamental differences that Hamilton and the Republicans held when debating their proposed structures of the U.S. government.
John Adams was the last Federalist president which led to the next 16 years of Thomas Jefferson as president for two terms and James Madison as president for two terms. Jefferson and Madison were members of the Republican Party, which had principles and philosophies that were very different than the views of the Federalists. Jefferson and Madison each abandoned the Republican philosophies for Federalism. Jefferson and Madison took on Federalist views while being President of the United States. However, Jefferson and Madison each picked somewhere to stand their ground and keep some of their Republican views.
By 1817 the great American experiment was in full swing. America was developing into an effective democratic nation. However as the democracy continued to grow, two opposing political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. The Federalists saw it differently. They opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. The seemingly solid divide between Federalist and Republican would begin to blur during the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. For, neither Republican president was able lead the nation with purely republican ideals.
While there were some instances where the Hamiltonian Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans managed to coexist in a somewhat peaceful manner, most of their tenure as political parties was filled with feuding and disagreement over the economy and role of the national government. The men were true to their beliefs and strategies in which they best believed to lead to a functioning, united America, and while often disagreeing they simply wanted to see the nation thrive and succeed. Major issues, including those of Hamilton’s suggested fiscal system as well as loyalties to the French, only contributed to their constant dislike of each other and their intentions, and most likely contributed to their demise as political parties.
The party dominated Congress and most state governments outside of New England. Upon taking office Jefferson set out to reduce the national debt. Jefferson was unhappy with the national debt that he felt was a legacy of Federalists like Hamilton and decided to shift from those policies. Hamilton believed that if the government borrowed from the rich citizens, those citizens would have conferred interest in the country’s growth. Jefferson as a non- federalist believed that Hamilton’s national bank was unconstitutional and decided to abandon that policy, trim the federalist budget, and cut taxes. Jefferson as a Democratic-Republican did not like or trust the government due to its limit on the freedom of the individuals, but he acknowledged the necessity. Jefferson believed in a democracy where the people and the states have most of the power.
...uy code “explains the strict code that young boys have to live by, a code of masculinity, it’s a day by day check list on how to be a true man in the eyes of other men. Kimmel investigates the values; rites and expectations young boys have to live up to in today's society. The Story “Nilda” Explores two brother relationships to the Guy code. Rafa represents someone who follows the guy code unquestionably and the narrator represents someone whose relationship to the guy code is complicated, and we see both of these relationships to the “guy code” coming out in their relationship the Guy land is made of three cultures: Entitlement, Silence and protection, which Rafa lives by but Yunior ignores them. Ultimately Nilda complicates Kimmel text “the Guy code” because of Yunior who doesn't want to follow any rules of Guy code and Rafa as someone who lives by following them.
In Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken," the writer's tone and setting help to illustrate the struggle every person goes through to pick the correct path. I find this poem greatly related to my own life, since I have chosen a path taken by so few, a path of academia and self-sacrifice. The general subject of this poem is a person faced with two roads, two ideas, and two possibilities for action. "The Road Not Taken" addresses the choice between these two roads, and with the results of the choice which the poet makes. This paradox raises the evident question of whether it is better to choose a path in life on which many people travel, or to choose the path less traveled and explore it for oneself.
Abraham Maslow adopted the theory, and it was focused on discussing the development of professional organizations that are devoted to a more humanistic psychology. There are important topics that dominate the theory such as creativity, self-actualization and individuality as central themes to the theory. Humanistic approach is paramount and has played a critical role in ensuring understanding and new ways of thinking concerning mental
The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost tells of a traveler who comes to a fork in a road and is forced to choose which path to take. Composed of four stanzas of five lines each, the poem was written in iambic tetrameter with an ABAAB rhyme scheme. One of Frost’s earlier works, this piece is extremely popular and known to many. However, the popularity of this poem causes many people to take it for granted. Be that as it may, if one chooses to read between the lines and look closely, the true message of the poem comes through. One must look closely at the descriptions, symbols, and title of the poem to interpret a deeper meaning.
Perhaps one of the most well-known poems in modern America is a work by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. This poem consists of four stanzas that depict the story of the narrator traveling through the woods early in the morning and coming upon a fork in the path, where he milled about for a while before deciding upon one of the two paths, wishing he could take both, but knowing otherwise, seeing himself telling of this experience in the future.
One of Robert Frost’s most well known poems is The Road Not Taken. Frost had mentioned numerous times that it was a “tricky- very tricky” poem (Grimes). This can be examined in the structure of the poem, the symbolism, and the diction. The simple language he uses in the poem reveals the common relevance of the poem to the people. People have to go about making choices each and every day of their lives. However, sometimes we come to a cross-road in our lives that can be life changing that is what the sentence structure reveals to us (Mcintyre). He uses common words but in a way that is unclear to the reader. For example the opening line of the poem is “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (Frost, Robert. “1.”). The reader is not sure what is meant by yellow woods. It may mean the onset of fall or even the coming of spring. The season could relate to the speakers stage in life. It may mean this is their youth and they have to make a decision that will plan out the rest of their life, such as I am about what college to attend. Or is it indicating he has reached his mid-life, the fall, and is now presented with opportunity to change his...
In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, author Robert Frost uses the simple image of a road to represent a person’s journey through life. A well-established poet, Frost does a proficient job of transforming a seemingly common road to one of great importance, which along the way helps one identify who they really are. This poem is one of self-discovery. Frost incorporates strong elements of poetry such as theme, symbolism, rhyme scheme, diction, imagery, and tone to help create one of his most well known pieces about the human experience.