Keenan
HMAL
Name_____________
Robert Frost
Answer the following questions for "The Mending Wall" by Robert Frost:
Read lines 1-11 to answer the following questions:
1. What does the wall mean to the farmer?
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2. What happens when the ground swells?
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3. Why do the upper boulders "spill into the sun?"
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4. Hunters do not deal with stones, but rather with ______________.
5. Compare and contrast the goals of the farmer and the hunter.
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Read Lines 12-19 to answer the following question:
6. In lines 12-19 what purpose does the wall serve for the two neighbors?
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Read lines 20-27 to answer the following questions:
7. What does the narrator or speaker compare the rebuilding of the wall to?
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8. What reason does the narrator give for him and his neighbor not needing walls?
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Read lines 28 to 34 to answer the following question:
9. According to the narrator, “good neighbors” who really need fences own __________.
Read lines 35-45 to answer the following questions:
10. The narrator says he sees his neighbor "move in darkness." Why does he say this?
What does the "darkness" symbolize?
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11. Why do you think the neighbor hides behind the tradition of his father's saying
"Good fences make good neighbors?"
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12. Summarize the two different arguments for having or not having a wall.
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Questions for “Out, Out—“ by Robert Frost
1.
What is the effect of starting with a description of the saw, rather than with the
boy?
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2.
What is the effect of the line: “And nothing happened: day was all but done.”?
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3.
Why does the author choose to create alliteration out of the “S” sound?
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4.
In which lines is the saw personified? What is the effect?
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5.
Why is the boy’s first response a “rueful laugh” (line 19)?
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6.
Who is the “they”/“them” in lines 10, 14, and 20?
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7.
What does the poet mean by “Then the boy saw all—” (line 22)?
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8.
What is the purpose of the word “So” in line 27?
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9.
How does the structure or diction or syntax emphasize the swift progression of the
boy’s death?
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10.
What is the meaning and effect of the sentence “No more to build on there.”
(line 33)
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“Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost
1.
Who/What is the narrator?
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2.
Why is the narrator acquainted with the night?
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3.
Why does the narrator walk in the rain?
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4.
Why did the narrator drop eyes when passing the watchman?
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5.
What is the cry?
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6.
What is the luminary clock?
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7.
Why is the time neither wrong nor right?
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“The Road Not Taken” – 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;
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.
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,
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.
1.
Where is the “traveler” as he starts telling his story?
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2.
How does the diction, or “word choice,” reflect the themes within the poem?
Hint: The first line…
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3.
What prevents the “traveler” from seeing father down the road?
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4.
What regret does he express in the first stanza of the poem?
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5.
Which road does the traveler choose?
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6.
What does the word “that” refer to? (Line 9-Second Stanza)
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7.
What similarities between the two roads does the traveler point out?
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8.
What is said about the two roads on that fall morning?
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9.
What decision did the traveler make in the woods, as the two roads “equally lay”
before him?
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10.
What does the traveler realize as he takes one of the roads?
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11.
Does he think his decision will have any impact on his life? Yes / No
Quote from the poem to justify your answer.
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