Poetry

1. Poetry Definition – Writing in language chosen and arranged to create a particular emotional response through meaning, sound and rhythm. • “Poetry can communicate before it is understood” (T.S. Eliot) • “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words” (Frost) © Michal Preisler

2. Choice & Cost Every choice you make has a cost because choosing to do one thing means giving up the opportunity to do something else. Faced with the same options , different people make different choices because each person has his / her own way of making decisions based on different values and beliefs. When faced with the need to make a decision we try to think about the cost and guess the outcome. © Michal Preisler

3. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost © Michal Preisler

4. © Michal Preisler

5. The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth; And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step 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. 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 thereHad worn them really about the same, I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere 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. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzUm0wqhE7E © Michal Preisler

6. Analysis and Literary Terms • What is the poem about ? • The poem is about a dilemma, the need to come to a decision / solve a problem • This is the theme of the poem • Theme – the central philosophical idea of a story or poem. We can usually find the theme by asking ourselves – what is the poem / story about? © Michal Preisler

7. Is the speaker really standing in a forest thinking which way to go? • What does the road symbolize ? The road = Life • Symbolism - the use of a concrete image (symbol) to represent an abstract idea. © Michal Preisler

8. What is the main dilemma in the poem? The speaker is at a fork in the road – he has to choose which way to go. • The fork in the road is a metaphor for a point in life when you need to make a choice. • A metaphor is a type of comparison in which one thing is described as if it was something else (example: life is a box of chocolates) © Michal Preisler

9. How does the speaker solve his dilemma? • He compares the two roads • He weighs the pros and cons • He tries to foresee the future • Which road does he choose? • the less traveled by • The more adventurous / the less conventional ?? © Michal Preisler

10. HOTS – Problem Solving Problem solving is a thinking skill the involves: • Identifying the problem • Considering the options • Weighing the pros and cons of each option • Reaching a decision © Michal Preisler

11. How do you think the speaker feels about his choice ? • Last stanza takes place in the future • Sigh of relief ? Sigh of regret ? • The “what if ??” • Why is the poem called “The Road NOT Taken” and not “The Road Taken” ? © Michal Preisler

12. Robert Frost 1874-1963 Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California but spent most of his life in New England, a rural area in the north east of the United States. The area is characterized by hills, woods, farms and small towns. Frost himself worked for many years as a farmer, in addition to teaching English and writing poems. His poems reflect the sights and sounds of where he lived, the fields, farms and woods and scenes of everyday life. All those elements make Frost’s poems accessible, leading readers to understand the deeper truths behind seemingly simple ideas © Michal Preisler