Choosing Your Path in Life
Kayla Plencner
ENG125: Introduction to Literature
Instructor Hannah Martin
September 23, 2013

Choosing Your Path in Life
In a person’s life, many decisions have to be made, like the decision to get your homework done now or put it off until later, with the possibility of it being late or falling behind. We all face the decision on which path(s) to choose in life. Robert Frost’s 1916 poem “The Road Not Taken” demonstrates how the poet emphasizes ambiguity, which is “the use of language that has more than one meaning, creating uncertainty about how to interpret what has been stated,” (Clugston, 2010) that is associated with life choices. He also uses a metaphor, which is “an image that imaginatively compares one thing with another, showing how each has qualities that resemble the other,” (Clugston, 2010) by comparing the two roads with life choices of right or wrong. This poem captured my interest because it represents the decisions people make every day and the after effect that these choices may have on one’s life. In this essay I will use the formalist approach, which is “most widely used in literary criticism; it focuses on the form and development of the literary work itself,” (Clugston, 2010) to better explain my analysis. The poem is made up of four stanzas that include five lines each and the rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAAB. Although this is a short poem that does not take away from the fact that it has powerful meaning. People may never know the true meaning behind Robert Frost’s famous poem, “The Road Not Taken” but we all have our own opinions, beliefs and interpretations. Stated in Washington Times, “In the 44 years since [Robert Frost]'s death in 1963, much has been made of the elusiveness of his poetry as if he were hiding a lot and had a lot to hide.” (Ganz, 2007). I believe that Frost’s way of writing is very challenging at times as he likes to try and hide his emotions and feelings among his work. Very few can understand what he is trying to say and some may never know. In the beginning of the poem the speaker is instantly challenged with a conflict. He is alone, traveling through the woods when he approaches a fork in the road. As stated in the poem, “And having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear” (Clugston, 2010), he thought to himself maybe one road was better than the other because it was grassy, but upon further observation he realized they were both equally worn from those who passed before him. Both paths remained untouched that day so he marked the road not taken for another day even though he knows it is unlikely that he will get the opportunity again. Frost then proceeds to say he had chosen the path less traveled by and with a sigh he indicates that this choice had made all the difference in a negative way. Frost does not go into much detail about where exactly this poem takes place as the poem starts off with the line “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” The two roads represent the conflict which forces the speaker to make a decision and the yellow wood stipulates that the poem takes place during the fall season, as well as the line “In leaves no step had trodden black.” When I was reading this poem I was able to imagine every detail to create a picture in my mind. In conclusion, we all face decisions in life and whether they are good or not is our lesson to learn. Sometimes we tell the circumstances of our decisions and other times it is not at all what we expected. I believe the meaning of this poem was to teach us that life is a journey to help discover who we are. Decisions are a part of life and only you can decide where you go on your path in life. We have to accept the good with the bad and move forward from our mistakes.

References
Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Ganz, R. (2007, Feb 18). The major poet's vivid life ; what robert frost's notebooks reveal. Washington Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/410037564?accountid=32521