2. Focus Questions
What would you say is the most important
decision you have made so far in your
life? How did you make this decision?
Looking back, was it a good decision or do
you have regrets?
3. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler,
4. Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
5. long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
6. 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.
7. Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
8. I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
9. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
10. Literary Devices
Metaphor
The poem revolves around the metaphor
comparing the decisions we make on the
journey of life to a fork in the road. Just as
we must decide which road to take when
travelling in order to arrive at a location,
we must make decisions in life that will
greatly impact our destination. The
speaker is a “traveller” on the road of life
who wishes that he could go both
directions and avoid making a decision.
11. Literary Devices
Symbolism
1.
“Yellow” - The yellow coloring of the woods is
representative of the light, hope, and promise that the
speaker is standing before. His future is bright and
stretches before him. Though both paths are equally
lit, he must choose only one.
2.
“Woods” - The poem is set in the woods because
we get an image of a quiet, deserted place where the
speaker is left alone to decide. There are no road
signs or people to stop and ask for directions.
Similarly, there are no signs in life designed to help
people choose their path.
12. Symbolism
3.
“Roads” - The roads are symbolic of the paths we take
in life. Every road leads to a specific place and the
nature of one’s destination depends entirely on the
decisions that are made. We don’t just arrive at a
location; we make a series of choices that lead us there.
4.
“Morning” - The morning represents a new beginning
and the endless possibilities the day ahead has to offer.
Frost sets the poem in the morning to reveal that the
speaker is in the early years of his life and his future is
spread out before him.
13. Meaning:
The literal meaning of this poem by Robert Frost
is pretty obvious. A traveller comes to a fork in
the road and needs to decide which way to go to
continue his journey. After much mental debate,
the traveller picks the road "less traveled by."
The figurative meaning is not too hidden either.
The poem describes the tough choices people
make when travelling the road of life. The words
"sorry" and "sigh" make the tone of poem
somewhat gloomy. The traveller regrets, leaves
the possibilities of the road not chosen behind.
He realizes he probably won't pass this way
again.
14. Poetic devices:
•There are plenty literary devices in this poem to be
discovered. One of these is antithesis. When the
traveller comes to the fork in the road, he wishes he
could travel both. Within the current scope of our
physical world, this is a non possibility (unless he has a
split personality). The traveller realises this and
immediately rejects the idea.
•Yet another little contradiction is two remarks in the
second stanza about the road less travelled. First, it's
described as grassy and wanting wear, after which he
turns to say the roads are actually worn about the same
(perhaps the road less travelled makes travellers turn
back?).
15. The image
• The most common literary technique in
the poem is symbolism.
• The Road in the poem represents the
direction of life, while the wood symbolizes
our lives.
16. Future is unpredictable
•
•
•
•
bent into undergrowth two roads diverged
complicated better claim:
grassy, wanted wear
more challenging & adventurous
17. The image
• The wood---life
• Life is like the wood because no one can clearly
see or predict what will happen in the future due
to the obstacles in the way such as branches
and bushes, which blind our eyes.
18. Which one is not taken?
• By whom?
• Two choices?
19. The Theme
Which one to take, that is the question!
However, many of us agree that we would like to
choose
• the more travelled path because we are more likely to
• know what the coming result is.
• Taking the more challenging way is too threatening or
difficult for an average person.
• Apparently the road not taken by the majority is the
second one—grassy and wanted wear.
20. • Initially, the poet depicted the uncertainty and the
mental suffering of making choices..
• Before making his decision, the poet had his
mental struggle,
• [L3]“be one traveller, long I stood”.
• After comparing the two roads,
• he [L13]“kept the first for another day”.
• However, he knew there was no chance to return,
though he stated that
• “I doubted if I should ever come back.”[L15]
21. The poet knew he had only one life
• and he would like to lead a different one.
• Gradually, he gained confidence in his choice. At
the end of the poem he urged and encouraged
that people should try something new instead of
following others.
• ‘I took the one less traveled by,
• And that has made all the difference’.
22. • The last point is the ambiguity we
see in the poem. Frost is too wise to
be absolute.
• He never denied every possibility.
• Balancing each choice, he made his
choice but still left room for readers
to have their final say.
