Tiffany Powers

POETRY HOMEWORK

“The Road Not Taken” By: Robert Frost

• Diction: The diction in this poem is very descriptive. Examples are “yellow road” and “lay in leaves” which show how Frost uses adjectives to describe the different paths that the speaker can take. The “road” infers that there is a path you can take. This poem is told in first person

point of view.

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The images in this poem show the reader that the speaker has choices to make on what path to take. Frost uses words like “grassy”, “leaves”, and “two

roads diverged in a wood”.

IMAGES

This poem is about someone trying to figure out which path to take because they are not sure

which way to go. The speaker looks at each path and sees what each path has to offer. “And looked down one path as far as I could,” shows that the

speaker is trying to figure this out.

DETAILS

The figurative language uses phrases like “yellow wood” and “sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler” to make the reader visualize the

speaker being forced to make a decision… chose a path to take.

LANGUAGE

The sentence structure of this poem is very descriptive and has a simple rhyme scheme of “ABAAB” that goes on through the whole poem.

The structure and scheme make this poem have a very light tone for the reader and makes the reader understand it because it is so simple.

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

“Fire and Ice” Robert Frost• Diction: The diction in this poem is simple. This

poem has meaning behind it. “Fire” and “ice” stand for “love” and “hate” which makes this poem very easy to understand. The way Frost

wrote this poem makes the reader think that he would rather have the world end in “fire” rather

than “ice”.

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Frost uses imagery to paint a picture in the readers mind. The big one is “fire” and “ice”. He also uses words like “destruction” and “suffice” to help the

reader visualize the meaning of this poem.

IMAGES

Frost wrote this poem to show that the speaker had experiences with love and hate. Love is “fire”

and hate is “ice”. Love and hate are two of the biggest symbols used in this poem. The speaker tells the reader that love can spread faster than

hate can and that we should chose love. Hate can destroy people and their relationships in many different ways. Its healthier to love than hate

someone.

DETAILS

Frost uses figurative language. Frost uses words like “fire” and “ice” to have a meaning other than what is stated. “Fire” symbolizes love and “ice”

symbolizes hate. In this poem the pronoun “I” is used a lot so it is told in the first person and is an

opinionated poem.

LANGUAGE

The sentence structure in this poem starts out as an statement and the end of the poem is an

opinion. The speaker states that his opinion is “fire”. The rhyme scheme is interesting and it

keeps the reader attentive.

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

“Curiosity” Alastair Reid• Title: I think this poem is going to be about

someone who has a curiosity about things. • Paraphrase: The speaker gives advice to the reader

on life. He tells us there are two different types of life. “Cats” live care-free, adventurous, and

irresponsible lives. “Dogs” live worrying about consequences, don’t take risks, and have their life together. This whole poem is advice: “curiosity will not cause us to die- only lack of it will” or “only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all.”

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• Connotation: Reid uses an extended metaphor to describe the lives of different people. “Cats”

are risk takers and “Dogs” are people who approach a situation with hesitation. Allusion is present in the beginning. Reid starts the poem right of the bat with allusion when she starts

with the “cat” “dog” analogy.

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• Attitude: The attitude of this poem appears to be judgmental. At the very beginning the speaker

takes defense with the “cat” when he states that “curiosity killed the cat”. The speaker then

moves into comparing “cats” and “dogs” in the next stanza. In the speakers opinion the reader must go out and experience things in order to

know what life is like.

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• Shifts: The shifts in this poem occur when the speaker goes back and forth arguing about “cats” and “dogs”. The narrative switches between “cats,” criticizing “dogs” and vice

versa. The rhyme scheme is AB-AB. • Title: After reading the poem and understanding

what it was about the title became more clear for me. This title simply means that the speaker has an difference between two different types of personalities and what to explain his curiosity to

other people.

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• Theme: The theme of this poem is the comparison between two different groups of

people. The dogs are the type of person willing to live a simple, safe life which is not a bad thing but their lives will end up being boring and dull. The other group of people are the cats. The cats are people willing to take risks and question the world and their lives will be unique. The cats are

the only way to live according to the speaker.

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