BY ROBERT FROST
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
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 there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In 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.
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.

At first I think she is calling a child, my neighbor, leaning through her doorway at dusk, street lamps just starting to hum the backdrop of evening. Then I hear the high-pitched wheedling we send out to animals who know only sound, not how they sometimes fall short.
In another yard, beyond my neighbor’s sight, the cat lifts her ears, turns first toward the voice, then back to the constellation of fireflies flickering near her head. It’s as if she can’t decide whether to leap over the low hedge, the neat row of flowers, and bound onto the porch, into the steady circle of light, or stay where she is: luminous possibility–all that would keep her away from home–flitting before her.
I listen as my neighbor’s voice trails off.
She’s given up calling for now, left me to imagine her inside the house waiting, perhaps in a chair in front of the TV, or walking around, doing small tasks; left me to wonder that I too might lift my voice, sure of someone out there, send it over the lines stitching here to there, certain the sounds I make are enough to call someone home.
BY W ILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
BY ROBERT FROST
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Poetry Analysis Response
Directions: Step1: Complete a TPCASTT for your poem a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Title-Make predictions
Paraphrase-Turn the poem into your own words NOT SUMMARIZE
Connotations –find all the sound devices and figurative language
Attitude (Tone)-choose an adjective that describes how the author feels about the topics discussed
Shift-Does that attitude change? Where?
Title-Where your predictions correct?
Theme-Choose an abstract topic from the text and discuss how the author treats it
Step2: Write a theme statement
The ______ _, ___________ by ____________ is about____________ and reveals that ____________________.
(genre) (title) (author) (topic/abstract concept) (Truth according to the text)
Step 3: Cite 3 pieces of evidence from your TPCASTT (Evidence is usually in the form of quotes, paraphrasing, or using interpretations of figurative language.)
Step 4: Explain how those pieces of evidence support the theme
Step 5: WRITE A PARAGRAPH EXPLAINING HOW THIS IS THE THEME OF YOUR POEM (Topic Sentence, Supporting
Sentence, Evidence Sentence, Breakdown Sentence, Explanation Sentence, and Conclusion Sentence)
70 90
The student has a complete theme statement as part of the claim.

Theme is a topic and the truth about the topic according to the author.
THERE IS NO “C”
HERE
50
The student has an incomplete theme statement as part of the claim.

Theme is a topic and the truth about the topic according to the author.
Student has a complete introduction (Attention
Grabber, Background, Claim).
The claim is complete
 The author’s name, genre, poem title, a topic and the truth about the topic according to the author.
Student has an incomplete introduction (Attention
Grabber, Background, Claim).
The claim is incomplete

The claim MUST at least have a topic and the truth about the topic according to the author.
Student has no Claim
The claim does not have at least a topic and the truth about the topic
The student identifies at least three poetic devices, quotes the text, explains how it is the poetic device they claim it to be, and explains discuss how they support the theme
Topic Sentences are complete(Transition,
Main Idea, Opinion)
The body paragraphs follow a logical structure
(Topic Sentence, Supporting Sentence, Detail or Example Sentence, Breakdown Sentences,
Explanation Sentences, Conclusion sentences)
The student identifies at least two poetic devices, quotes the text, attempts to explain how it is the poetic device they claim it to be, and attempts to explain discuss how they support the theme
Topic Sentences are incomplete
The body paragraphs follow a mostly logical structure (Topic
Sentence, Supporting
Sentence, Detail or Example
Sentence, Breakdown
Sentences, Explanation
Sentences, Conclusion sentences)
The student identifies at least two poetic devices, but does not discuss how they support the theme
NO topic sentences
The body paragraphs have little to no structure