Rock It PoetryMaurice Goldston

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

Road Not Taken-DIDLS

D- The diction in the poem revolves around the phenomenon of choice. “Two roads” are presented as two different but visually equal, minus the footsteps, roads. The speaker is “sorry” he couldn’t travel both but choses the one without leaves that were “trodden black”. The ending does not reveal the choice as positive or negative, only that it made all the difference.I- The imagery is simple yet elegant. Robert Frost often wrote about his north eastern life and that is reflected in the fact that the poem takes place in a “yellow wood”. The most important imagery is that the “roads” are both fair and lay equally. This contradicts the connotation that there is a clear choice of good and evil that many people interpret from this poem. One road was however less traveled than the other.D- There are to “fair” roadsThe speaker chose the road less traveled for that reason aloneThe speaker is not aware of the impact of this choice yet

Road Not Taken DIDLS ContL- An important aspect of the language in “Road Not Taken” is that it is written in the past tense. This reveals that the speaker has chosen a path, but the last stanza is written in future tense “I shall” implying that the speaker is not fully aware of the consequences of his actions. The language also goes into great details describing the roads as equals and gives attention to the fact that he could not see how the road endsS- The poem begins as the speaker is reflected on a choice that presented itself to him. The speaker reflects on the fact that the is no clear right or wrong choice, the only visible difference being that one seemed to be more traveled than it’s alternative. The poem ends in the ‘not-so-distant’ future as the speaker believes his choice will make all the difference.

Fire and Ice DIDLS

D- The opening phrase in the poem gives insight to its large scale apocalyptic theme “Some say the world will end…” . The diction also serves to display the factors of the world’s impeding doom “desire” and “hate”. The poet chose fire and ice to represent desire and hate, respectively. The diction also suggest a second meaning in that desire and hate hold to the power , and will eventually use it, to destroy the “world” or human society.

I- The poem’s imagery is mostly left for the reader to determine. By that, I mean when one is presented with an unclear apocalyptic scenario one’s mind is given ,and takes advantage of, free reign to image what that that looks and feels like. The poem does however outline the agents used to destroy the world. The world will either end in sea of desire fueled flames or will freeze with frigid hate.

D- Fire represents DesireIce represents HateThe poet has presumably suffered from both “from what I’ve tasted of”

Fire and Ice DIDLS

L- The language in Fire and Ice is very personal. Although the effects of fire and ice would ,in the context of the poem, be felt globally he bases their presumed effects off the experience of his life. “From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire” and “ I think I know enough of hate to say that for destruction ice is also great” provide evidence of the personal aspect of the poemS- The poem is structured as comparing and contrasting opposing views of how the world will end. The poem begins as a broad view of the topic, but Frost then relates each theory to his life. The poem shifts from broad to personal.

Curiosity- Alastair Reid-DIDLS D-The diction of the poem including “unlucky” “improbable” and

mentions of life and death provide in depth insight to what the poem is about: Curiosity is not a bad thing, in fact it is what makes living worthwhile. The poet bases his premise off of the idiom ‘a cat has 9 lives’. By using an animal that, according to the idiom, knows what its like to die he establishes credibility to his story.

I- The most powerful imagery aligns with the diction. The images of the cat including “litter of kittens” “smell rats” provide visuals of the occurrences and happenings that accompany curiosity.

D-The poet believes that cats go and return from hell The poet believes that Dogs live comfortable lives in comparison

to curious cats The poet believes humans can learn from cats by being more

curious and living more entertaining lives.

Curiosity-DIDLS Cont

L-The language in this poem is very figurative as it relies heavily on personification. The cat seems to be setting a example for the humans. Dogs and Cats respectively are given many human capabilities.

S- The structure of the poem consists of a presentation, and explanation and an example. The poem starts by presenting two clichés: “Curiosity killed the cat” and “Cats have 9 lives”. The poem then gives examples of how cats live.