General Discussion Requirements:

Be sure to use evidence (support) from the poem byquoting and by using a parenthetical citation — there are twoacceptable methods of citing a poem: e.g., the speakerattempts to convince himself of a deeper meaning more than once, such asby stating that "the other" road has "perhaps the better claim" (Frost856). OR by citing the line numbers: (Frost 9-10).

• Note that MLA requires a slash (/) to denote line breaks for poems, which can be interesting for some poetry, e.g.:
  Theminimalist speaker refutes capitalization and grammar standards todirectly state, "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in / my heart)"(Cummings 1-2).
  • In this case, the poem's first two lines are: "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in / my heart)i am never without it(anywhere" (1-2). The first full stanza reads:
  • my heart)i am never without it(anywherei go you go,my dear;and whatever is doneby only me is your doing,my darling)
• Please follow the punctuation and capitalization of your poem as itappears originally in the text; merely insert the slash (/) to denotethe line break.

Remember that we are citing the author and the textbook morefully in our major essays; no Works Cited page is needed for anyDiscussion assignment, but a parenthetical citation should appear whenappropriate.

"The Road Not Taken"

This poem is often misunderstood because the final few lines areoften quoted out of context; the poem's title is actually focused on theroad "not taken" rather than the road "less traveled" (Frost 19).Similarly, the poem's speaker notes more than once how the mind tries totrick itself into making meaning out of seemingly similar or randomevents.

Write a 250-word response answering the following:

• In the first stanza, the poem's speaker gazes fixedly atone of the divergent roads, almost studying it. However, at the startof the second stanza, he impulsively "then took the other" (Frost 6).Looking at other parts of the poem, such as the "sigh" in the finalstanza, was his decision impulsive? If so, what might a life-choice ordecision be that would mirror these metaphoric circumstances?

Instructions

• Your original post must be at least 250 words.
• You should be specific and reference details from the textfor your answer. (See the note above regarding how to formatcitations).
• Use a / to indicate a line break when citing poems; see our textbook and online writing (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.center for more information.
• You must use full sentences and proper grammar.
• Use the third person objective (no "I" or "you")
• Use the literary present tense (the narrator states, not "stated")