Road Not Taken Individuality

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Similar to millions of high school students, 30 years ago I was assigned to read Robert Frost’s famous poem, The Road Not Taken and concluded the poem emphasized individuality and the power of choice. As a result, I have frequently shared, arguably the most well know passage of the poem with my children to encourage them to take their own path in life. Therefore, I would surmise both of my children can begrudgingly recite the last two lines of the poem “I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference” (Frost, 1915/2012, pg. 624). Subsequently, I am sure they will be gleefully amused to discover, after additional research I have concluded Frost’s celebrated poem is more complex and has a significantly deeper meaning beyond the encouragement of individuality and having the fortitude to travel your own path (Orr, 2015). …show more content…

624). The title of the poem clearly emphasizes the road that was not used, rather than focusing on the road that was selected less. Which is an important distinction given that one statement accentuates the choice the traveler did not make versus the other emphasizing the selection of a less travelled path. Hence, the contradiction of the title and the end of the poem convolutes the primary point of the poem and allows readers to draw different conclusions regarding the overarching thought Frost was attempting to

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