Paths in the woods and lanes on highways are not the only things that can diverge. Two individuals' perceptions of the same poem can also differ substantially.
We can allow for such difference if the differing interpretations are reasonably supported by evidence in the poem itself and perhaps also in the historical context of the poem and our knowledge of its author.
You have already offered your own interpretations of Frost's "The Road Not Taken," and you have also just read an explication of the poem that differs from what most of you have written (google.doc Explication: Road Not Taken). In a paragraph or two, briefly summarize the reading of the poem in this explication and explain why you agree or disagree with it. For full credit post promptly by 7:30 am on Thursday, February 9.
The person who wrote the explication on he road not taken, seemed extremely cynical in his views of the poem the Road Not Taken. To begin with, he said that a bunch of readers for many generations have been reading it for generations as a fluffy, happy poem, win they are really wrong. The writer continues to say that neither of the roads is less traveled by and that when the person in the poem was saying that he took the road less traveled by he was really just making up the "less traveled by" part and was trying to make himself into a role model that even he himself couldn't live up too. In the end, the writer concludes, the person in the story just picked a path in life.
ReplyDeleteI think this idea is ludicrous (no offense to the essayist). If the person has read even a single other Robert Frost poem, they can obviously see that being sarcastic and cynical of life is not, in any way, his style. I would like to offer the poem, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening as evidence. In this poem it is almost the exact opposite of what the writer of the Explication thinks a Robert Frost poem should be. Robert Frost's poem's try to give the reader valuable lessons about life. His poems are serious and insightful, not belittling and cynical. To conclude, I completely disagree with the explication essay.
This explication offers an interesting interpretation of "The Road Not Taken." The author of this piece brings about the idea that, in fact, these two paths are exactly the same. The author says that this was just a case of a man coming to a fork in the road and having to make a decision of which way to go. There was no reason for choosing one way over the other, but a decision had to be made in order to keep making forward progress in whatever the situation was. The author believes Frost is not advising you on which path to take, but rather Frost is just saying that you have to choose a path. Therefore, the author of this piece concludes that Frost is being hypocritical in the last paragraph. Up to the last paragraph, Frost has spoken about how these two paths are completely equal; however when looking back at his decision, Frost claims that choosing the road less traveled has made “all the difference.” Frost sighs with insincerity when looking back at his decision, as he knows that in all truth he just happened to choose the right path, but he wants to make it seem as though he knew what he was doing when he chose that path over the other.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this explication’s interpretation of the poem, and it has actually altered my understanding. This explication brings good proof to why this poem seems to be contradicting itself in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th stanzas. I believe there is only way to explain how Frost could first say that both roads were equally worn from travel and then later say that he chose the road less traveled. Frost contradicts himself because he is trying to make it seem as if he really knew what he was doing when he chose one path over the other when, in reality, he had no real reason for choosing that path. I agree with this explication that Frost is simply being hypocritical when looking back at his experience of choosing one path over the other.
I agree with certain points brought up in the explication. Once you accept the fact that neither of the roads are less travelled by; therefore, making both roads equal, the entire interpretation of the poem changes. Firstly, if both roads appeared equal, then the speaker had no reason to think he made the correct choice because there was no reason behind his decision. The speaker made a choice and later on states that it “made all the difference”. This is just the speaker’s way of assuring himself that he made the right choice, when in fact, he’s not even sure what he was choosing between. He does not know what the outcome would have been if he were to have chosen the other path.
ReplyDeleteIn the explication, the author mentions that “there is no Right Path—just the chosen path and the other path.” I don’t agree with this point. I think there is a right path, but there are times when you can’t be sure that you chose the right path. Like the speaker in the poem, even if one did choose the right path by chance, he would still wonder whether he made the correct choice. The right path may be chosen at random, but a right path still exists.
The (incredibly blatant) author of the explication for "The Road Not Taken" takes a completely different approach than the average person would when reading this poem. He says that this poem is not an account of a perfect life. In fact, he thinks that Robert Frost's life was far from ideal. This critic points out that there is no difference between the two roads. Instead of representing the difficult choices that a person has to make in their lifetime, the two roads represent the connection between free will and choice. People need to realize that some aspects of their lives are completely out of their control. When the poem says "For ages and ages hence", it is referring to the fact that the author may feel some remorse about how his life played out. The main message of this story is not "Live your life like Mr. Frost lived his." Instead, it is something closer to "seize the day and make every moment count."
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read this interpretation of the poem, I was completely appalled. How could someone who simply read the poem contradict what is clearly written in the text? Once I read explication in a more in depth manner, I realized that I do agree with this explanation. The manner in which I originally read the poem led me to believe that this poem was holding an "all positive message". The critic brings up a single point that changed me. He said that since this poem is called "The Road Not Taken" and not "The Road Less Traveled," it must contain an element of remorse. Maybe the author felt that the end result of his life should be seen as a case where he did not seize the moment or did. "That made all the difference."
As we read each take on the true meaning behind "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, we noticed that each interpretation was nearly exactly the same. Most of us told of the decisions we are faced with in our lives and how we need to face those decisions with our own uniqueness. After reading the alternate explication of the poem, I have a whole new, refreshingly unique outlook on the poem. The writer of the explication depicts the tale of a man that has made no decision at all. The man stood in the forest, which the writer explains as a metaphor for an important decision in life, and went down a road. Over time, the speaker has built up this courageous story about the brave act he did by taking the road less traveled by. However, when he says that it is entirely false. There was no road less traveled by, there was only one road. The explication explains that when the speaker sighs at the end of the poem it is not a sigh of pride, rather it is a sigh of disbelief in what he himself is saying. He has built up this lone ranger, brave man image and deep inside he knows it is merely an exaggeration. He knows deep down that he is nothing but a hypocrite. The explication explains that the end of the poem is not marked by content with the decision made, rather it is marked by remorse from the speaker. Remorse for what he may have missed out on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the alternate explication of the poem. In my interpretation on the class document I shed the speaker in a negative light and I think this explication supports my theory. I do not think the result of this poem was infinite happiness, I think the result was a life marked by infinite regret. While some may argue that this essayist went about his writings in a hostile, insensitive way, I think that he did so with strong points and the courage to finally end the misconception of this poem. To me, this poem is no fairy tale, it is no story of an average man turned super hero, it is not the story of courage. It is the story of an old man trying to make himself out to be more than he actually is. It's about a glorified hypocrite.
From the beginning, I have believed, unlike most, that the two roads in the poem are the same. Why else would Frost, a seemingly smart man, write that the roads "Had worn them really about the same?"
ReplyDeleteWhen most people read the explication given by the man from sparknotes they think of an old man with a cane, quite like Marvin Posner. When I read it, I think of a sophisticated, young man with a knack for writing. This young man is in agreement with my aforementioned statement that the roads were the same. He also says this whole poem was a made up story. He says that the roads were the same, and that Robert Frost, being the puerile dunderhead that he is, made up a whole story that he took the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference. Unlike Leib and many others I am going to go out on a limb here and agree with this guy because I think this is the true interpretation for this poem.
An anonymous author gives an insightful explication of Robert Frost’s often misquoted and misunderstood poem “The Road Not Taken.” While reading the poem, it is important to remember a couple of things. Firstly, like in every poem, one must read and reread everything to ensure complete understanding of the stanzas. Also- and this is important- everyone must acknowledge Robert Frost is a talented writer and artist. In the following paragraph(s), I will defend his honor and establish that the seemingly misleading line “Had worn them really about the same” flows perfectly with the poem’s message. This may conflict with other people’s opinions; there are those who choose to view his poem in a more happy-go-lucky “yeah! Go toward your dreams!” situation, and for that I am sorry. If I could go back and stop the greeting cards from perpetuating this cliché, I would.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator starts off by giving readers a picture: there are two roads- and this guy can only choose one. First the narrator looks down one of the roads for a long time, trying to see all the way down. What he saw is up for interpretation. Apparently, if we take it simply, he probably saw a pretty worn out road, for in the next line he goes ahead and takes the other road. Now, look very closely. He took it because “And having perhaps the better claim/Because it was grassy and wanted wear”, which means that he took it because it looked like it was less worn out than the first one. Maybe he would go into uncharted territories and find something magnificent. However, readers are soon informed that this is not the case, when in the next lines it says “Though as for that the passing there/Had worn them really about the same”. The fundamental message of the poem is beginning to be drawn out. He thought that this second road was less-traveled than the first road because it was “grassy and wanted wear,” but when he starts going along he realizes that both roads have been traveled about the same.
In the third stanza he takes a step back, and looks back to that one morning when both roads were sitting there, equally, nobody having gone through. He said that he’ll take the first one another day, but he knows it’s unlikely because once one gets on a road in life, there’s no going back. (It in a way reminds me of parallel universes. Anyways…)
The final stanza, which contains the hallmark-y last words, confuses some readers. However, if you remember to read it carefully, as previously suggested, there should be no confusion. In contrast to the penultimate stanza, the concluding stanza leaps to the future when the narrator will look back at this event. With a sigh, he will justify his decision by telling himself he “took the one [road] less traveled by.” Instead of admitting that it was mostly chance which road he chose, he is telling himself that he was being bold- he deviated from the norms and took the road most people don’t take. His decision to take that road, which was actually more of an impulse and chance than a decision, has made all the difference in his life. Who knows what his life would be like if he took the other one? Looking back, he is making it seem like he is in control of his fate, when in reality, most major happenings in our lives are all a matter of luck and chance.
In the explication of “The Road Not Taken” the writer says that people often misinterpret the poem. He says that its actual meaning has been turned into “Hallmark happy-graduation-son, seize-the-future puffery” by generations of misunderstood reading. The way that most people read the poem is that the traveler travels along the path that is less traveled. However the writer of this explication understands the poem as the traveler simply chooses a random path and years later he changes the story to add some excitement to it. In the travelers revised version of the story he claims to have taken the road which was less traveled by. I agree with this writer’s interpretation because the poem is quite confusing if you read it as the roads were similar but he took the one that was less traveled by. This interpretation of the poem offers a clear and reasonable explanation.
ReplyDelete"The Road Not Taken" is a perplexing poem, perhaps more perplexing than it should be. There are many questions that can be asked about the meaning or the wording of this poem. For instance, why does he say there was a road less traveled by if both roads looked like they had been walked on equally? This seems to be the basis of the essay we looked over in class. This writer seems to have trouble understanding why Frost would declare that he took the road less traveled by after proving that neither road was less traveled by. He then goes on to calling Frost a "puerile dunderhead" and explaining that the entire poem is ironic garbage. I completely disagree with this writer, and I think he's just some smart-a** high school student who thinks he's hilarious for sounding like he knows what he's talking about when he is criticizing a famous work of art. Kind of like me.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, Robert Frost is not a "puerile dunderhead" in the slightest. As we pointed out today in class, Frost has written many other poems in his career, and I think any artist as prolific as he was can safely be regarded as a genius. So what exactly was Frost trying to communicate to the reader through these glaring contradictions? I don't think he took the road that necessarily LOOKED less traveled by, but rather the one that he KNEW was less traveled by. I think if anybody were to travel from one place to another, they should probably know where they are going. After all, as Yogi Berra once said, "If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." I think the speaker knew there would be a fork in the road, and therefore I think he knew where each road led to. One road's destination is one where the population is big and the people there live perfectly normal lives. This is the choice most people take: to lead a normal life. The speaker decides at this fork in the road that he wants to take the other road; the one that leads to a world filled with folks who always want to try something new. Almost like taking a path back in time to the Renaissance-era of the world. Though each road looks exactly the same, Frost proves that it's not the looks that determines which road is less traveled by; it's the destinations.
This explication of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” claims that this is not a sentimental poem but a poem of regret. The writer states that people have misinterpreted the mood of the poem. Many people have thought Frost had a positive reflection on the decision made at the fork in the road. The explication makes a compelling argument that Frost has a negative reflection on the decision made at the fork in the road. Despite the choice one makes, fate will also play a role. One does not know where the road will lead him until he reaches the end. The explication’s main point is that when one takes a road he does not take the other. Hence, he will never know where the other road would have led him; he is filled with remorse.
ReplyDeleteAt first glance when reading the explication. I thought the writer’s claims were ludicrous and out of proportion. But after reading the explication multiple times, I finally came to agree with the writer. Although the writer is harsh and hostile in his explication, his claims are valid. I agree that Frost has a negative reflection on the decision. Frost regrets the decision he made because he never discovered what was down the other road. In conclusion, I agree with the writer because he also thinks that this poem is one of regret and not one of sentiment.
The author of this acrid diatribe against the readers of “The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost, is certainly verbose. He uses such ad hominem attacks as calling Frost a “puerile dunderhead”. While I applaud his damnatory use of language, I must question his impassioned vilification of the poet.
ReplyDeleteI admit, I find the author’s insightful perspicacity enticing. His claims that we have attempted to ignore the reality of the poem, which clearly describes the speaker as an old coot attempting to aggrandize his meager accomplishments, such as choosing one road. The essayist elucidates the blatant duplicity of the speaker, who attempts to make it seem as though he chose the more difficult trail, when in reality, the two roads were equivalent. This is an intriguing way to read the poem. However, I have also read some of Robert Frost’s other works, and the essay seems to be making fraudulent claims. Robert Frost does not write poems about the falsity and inherent evil of man. On the contrary, he seems to be all about the pelf and the wonder therein. Though the essay offers an interesting reading, I must disagree with his claim.
I defiantly (he really means definitely) agree with this interpretation of the poem. I think this rebuttal to current interpretations is well written and correctly criticized the way most teachers teach this poem. I believe eighty percent of our class, after they read the poem and answered the questions, disregarded the intricacies of the poem and rather just breezed by it, interpreting it just as they had been taught.
ReplyDeleteThis syndical (cynical) interpretation I find to be very accurate. The interpreter is saying that when Frost came to the fork in the road he simply saw two paths that were exactly the same. He just took a guess and happened to pick the path that did well for him in the end. Frost is really lying to everyone. He took a guess at which path to take, he didn’t have good reasoning behind it he just did it (Yogi Bear) (Yogi Berra). Now that he has already made his decision he can go back and tell everyone, “Ohh! Look how awesome and smart I am for making this inelegant (?) decision. All of you should look up to me” this is very devious and very clever of him. I find this exact situation to come along in life all the time. People will make an uninfluenced decision about something and they come out on the good side of it and are able to boast to everyone about how great their decision was. This is what the interpreter is saying frost did. I believe frost is a smart enough man to pull this lie off. I believe this cynical, realistic approach to be more accurate; hence, I prefer this interpretation over the other presented.
The author believes that the poem has been misunderstood by generations as a message about choices. It should be read with accuracy, not imagination. He sees it as a poem about what the future will be like based on the present. Frost is talking about a character who will, later in life, twist the story to make him sound like a hero. He knows that it will be a false story, that he will use his story as a parable. He knows that he will second guess himself. I dissent. This is not related at all with the poem. It is a......interesting interpretation, but not very sound. His thesis is not complete. The poem never seems to imply anything about changing a story or pretending to be a hero. This commentary can simply not be taken seriously. He says that we should stop imagining, yet he seems to be the fanciful one. He is theorizing with barely any basis. He is overthinking it. It seems to be, quite simply, a story about a choice, which the subject seems to slightly regret. There is no mention of a fancied story which the character plans to tell, nor of any idea of pretending to be a hero. This is simply the commentator's feeble attempt at making an interesting view.
ReplyDeleteThis explication of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is ultimately saying that the way everybody understands this poem is wrong. Most people interpret this poem to mean that he was faced with two decisions in his life and just picked one of the choices. I think that the person who wrote this explication is correct. He says that Robert Frost happened to come across “two” of the same exact choices in life and happened to choose one of them because they were the same thing. He thinks that Robert Frost is just going to tell everyone later on that he is so great because he chose the decision that was not popular even though they were actually the same decisions. I completely agree with this explication. Everybody wants fame in life, and Robert Frost just has a brilliant way of getting it.
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