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Acquainted With the NightReading Questions

1. What is the poem literally about? (What actually happens in the poem?)

Robert Frost’s “Acquainted With the Night” is a poem about …

2. Who is the speaker of the poem? (Describe!)

3. What is the speaker’s attitude or tone?

4. What is the poem figuratively about? (What is the deeper thematic meaning?)

Robert Frost’s “Acquainted With the Night” is a poem about …

It shows …

Acquainted With the NightDiscussion Questions

1. What are the feelings generally associated with nighttime? Why do we have these associations?2. What feelings do you associate with nighttime? Use a story from your personal experience to describe

the way the night makes you feel.

3. What is the poem literally about? (What actually happens in the poem?)4. Who is the speaker of the poem? (Describe!)

a. Where is the speaker coming from, and does he have family or friends nearby?5. What is the setting of the poem? How does the setting contribute to the theme of isolation?

a. Do you think that this entire poem happens on one night, or on lots of different nights?6. Why does the speaker stop when he hears the interrupted cry?

a. Does he think the cry is for him, or does it just startle him, and he only thinks that it could be for him after he stops?

7. What literary devices or rhetorical tools does the author use?a. Form & Structureb. Diction

i. Is the line "I have been one acquainted with the night" written that way to fit into Frost's iambic pentameter rhythm scheme, or does the structure of this line say something about the meaning of the poem?

c. Sound Devicesd. Repetitione. Parallel Structuref. Metaphor / Simileg. Symbol

8. What is the speaker’s attitude or tone?a. Is the speaker just isolated and lonely, or is he depressed? What proof for this is in the poem?b. How do you think being "acquainted with the night" makes the speaker feel? Is he dealing with

serious depression, or is he just melancholy?9. What is the significance of the night in Frost’s poem?10. What is the poem figuratively about? (What is the deeper thematic meaning?)

1. Does the speaker of this poem create his own isolation?2. How is the speaker affected by his loneliness? Does it make him sad, or is he just alone?3. What aspects of life or history do you think the word "night" could symbolize in this poem?