“Edward Thomas, Robert Frost and the
Road to War” by Matthew Hollis
• Directions: Read and annotate (on a separate
sheet of paper) the article.
• Write down:
– 3 new facts you learned.
– 2 connections that can be made between
Hemingway and Frost.
– 1 new insight you had (What was new or
surprising to you?)
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.
A reading by Robert Frost himself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ie2Mspukx14
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.
Remember
A detail is a fact, revealed by the author or
speaker, that supports the attitude or tone in a
piece of poetry or prose.
Find one significant detail in the first stanza.
Understand
The detail “yellow wood” (line 1) suggests
. It may also suggest
.
OR
When a person sees a “yellow wood”, he or she
may think of____________________.
Apply
Fill in graphic organizer below, noting similarities and differences between the two roads, as expressed in the
words of the poem. Place quotation marks around the evidence you select from the poem.
Details exclusive to road the speaker
takes
Details that both roads share
Details exclusive to the road the speaker
does not take
Analyze
Try to write at least 2 sentences in which you explain the possible
purpose and effect of poet’s use of “yellow wood” to describe the
scene.
The poet uses the words “yellow wood” (line 1) to suggest
because
The poet uses the words “yellow wood” (line 1) to suggest
because
Evaluate
• With two of your classmates, compare and
contrast your analysis statements. Determine
which of the three most clearly articulates the
poet’s purpose and best describes the effect
of his having used the words “yellow wood.”
Create
• In one or two paragraphs write about a time
in your life when you made a choice but
always wondered what your life would have
been like if you had chosen the alternative.
Incorporate three words or phrases from the
poem that help connect Frost’s experience
with your own.