“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
Text Passage
Directions: In the “Notes” column, consider the following:
 Write down the main idea of a stanza.
 Make any inferences.
 Record ideas or questions you have about the poem you want to share with others.
 Write any reactions to the poem or insights about its meaning or writer’s style.
 Interpret figurative language.
Underline or highlight pertinent text associated with your notes.
Text
Notes
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.
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” In The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems. Edited by Edward Connery Lathem. New York:
Henry Holt, 1979. (1915)
ELA Grade 7: "The Road Not Taken"
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Student Name ______________________
“The Road Not Taken”
Writing Task
Directions: Please respond to the prompt below in writing. You may use your notes and
graphic organizer to inform your writing.
Writing Prompt
After reading “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, choose one of the stanzas in response to
this prompt: What is the theme of the poem and how is it developed over the course of one of
the poem’s four stanzas?
Remember to:
 State your impression of the poem’s theme clearly.
 Support your position about the theme by including how Frost’s word choice,
repetition, and structure convey his message.
 Cite evidence from the poem to support your analysis.
 Consider alternate themes from the poem and address them.
ELA Grade 7: “The Road Not Taken”
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