Robert Frost

1. Robert Frost

2. Biography Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, to Isabelle Moodie and William Prescott Frost Jr ( a descendent of Devonshire Frost who sailed to New Hampshire in1634). His Father teacher who was a hard drinker, a gambler and a harsh disciplinarian that fought to succeed in politics as long as his health allowed it. Robert Frost lived in California until he was 11. When his father died he moved with his mother and sister to eastern Massachusetts, near his grandparents. He attended Dartmouth College and was a member of the Theta Delta Chi From 1897-1899. Then he went to Harvard University were he studied Philology, but did not complete the degree. Soon after buying a farm, he became well known for his voice that was both rural and personal. Frost married Elinor Miriam White and they had 6 children togather. In March of 1894 Robert Frosts first poem was published by The Independent, “My Butterfly: An Elegy”, which brought him $15. With this, he decided he wanted to devote all his time to his poetry instead of teaching. He wanted to move to Vancouver, and she to England, With a flip of a coin, they moved to England. So, in 1912 they sold their farm and moved to Gloucestershire village of Dymock, England, where he was a devoted poet. His first book A Boys Will was published the next year. He made some crucial contacts in England, including Ezra Pound, the first american to write a favorable review on his work. In 1915, returned to America, bought a farm in Franconia, New Hampshire, starting a career of Writing, Teaching and Lecturing.From 1916 he was a English professor at Amherst College. He became well known for his poems, American school children often had to memorize “Stoppinf by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. In 1920, Frost lost his wife and 4 of his children, he also suffered from depression and contiual self doubt. After the death of his wife he became attracted to his secretary and aadviser, Kay Morrison. To whom he composed on of his finest love poems, “A Wittnes Tree.” Frost participated in the inauguration of President John Kennedy in 1961 by reciting two of his poems. He travelled in 1962 in the Soviet Union as a member of a goodwill group. Over the years he received a remarkable number of literary and academic honors. On January 9th 1963 his death was announced and he was buried in the Old Bennington Cemetery in Bennington, Vermont.

3. Robert Frost • Mending Wall • After Apple Picking • The Wood Pile • Birches

4. Social Influences His child hood would play a part in his writing, because childhood is such a major part of your life.The poems were drawn from his own life,recurrent losses, everyday tasks and loneliness. Political Influences The fact that his father was into politics kind of brought him into it, that brought the Political influences into his writing. Especially were he participated in the inauguration of President John Kennedy in 1961 were he read 2 poems. Philosophical Influences The death of his father when he was 11, and the fact that he was an alcoholic and gambler. The death of his wife and 4 of his children would also play a part in his work. Also Kay Morrison, the women for which he wrote “A Witness Tree.”He was also deeply influenced by English poets, such as Rupert Brooke.

5. Literary Criticism Frost's poems show deep appreciation of natural world and sensibility about the human aspirations. His images - woods, stars, houses, brooks, - are usually taken from everyday life. With his down-to-earth approach to his subjects, readers found it is easy to follow the poet into deeper truths, without being burdened with pedantry. Often Frost used the rhythms andvocabulary of ordinary speech or even thelooser free verse of dialogue. 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. (from 'The Road Not Taken‘) http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rfrost.htm

6. My Poem: Friendship No matter how far away you are,We still are the best of friends, No distance that couldn’t be eaten up by car,We’ve passed over a lot of bumps but stuck through until the end,I know how strong our friendship is,and you’ll never replace ours with yours and his,3 years age difference,friends for a year,and its something time will never immense,well will never grow apart,as long as we always talk, and keep everything in the clear,That you will remain in my heart,Our crazy horror movie nights,with scarecrows, and a cornfield,those will never yield,with a bunch of laughs it was sealed,and with a big bowl of popcorn,we became inseparable,2 girls joined by the sport of curling,This past year we made so memorable,and we will always remember, that’s what we’ve sworn,Our crazy fun curling trips,Calling each other booger, Silly & Billy, even Darling,we’ve been through it all,we’ve been through it all, and I never did get back my clip,I still remember the crazy guy in the mall, to many memories to count, I could never name them everyone,not even if I started where this begun,such an enormous amount,I love my Aly,Soon we’ll have our trip to China and Maui,another crazy, wild adventure,or just crazy random time,we laugh at distance, cause we haven’t grow in a serrate directionAll my favorite memories I’ve shared with her,What’s mine is hers, and what’s hers is mine,Singing while doing our makeup in the bathroom,falling on ice, I will never forget,over Brad Gushue we always swoon,of course I will never forget how we met, one day at curling, 2 crazy girls in the same dimension.

7. Reason How I wrote a poem to imitate one of Robert Frosts pieces… I took the rhyme scheme from “After Apple Picking”, and used it in my poem I wrote about friendship, and I also used the same amount of lines as well. It was a random rhyme scheme, now real pattern or if there was, I could not see it.

8. What I Found Challenging What I found most challenging was writing the poem, because there was so much I wanted to say. I didn’t put in everything I wanted because I couldn’t word it to make it fit in with the rhyme scheme. I also found finding a Literary Criticism hard, because I still wasn’t a hundred percent sure what it was so I tired my best, and am hoping that what I found is one.

9. What I Found Appealing Even though the poem I found challenging, it was also the most appealing as well. It was the best part, because I enjoy writing poetry, but I find it hard to write something when I need to. So it was the best part to me and most challenging.

10. APA Biblography • Liukkenon, P. (2000). Robert (Lee) Frost Books and Writers Retrieved Decemer 12th, 2005 from the world wide web: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rfrost.htm • The Academic American Encyclopedia. (1995). Biography of Robert Frost.American Poems . Grolier Electronic publishing. Retrived December 12th, 2005 from the world wide web: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/robertfrost/ • Nelson, C. and Brunner, E. (1999-2002). Robert Frost. Modern American Poetry. University of Oxford Press. Retrived December 13th, 2005, from the world wide web:http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/frost.htm