Premium Essay

Road Not Taken Allusion

Submitted By
Words 581
Pages 3
I truly believe that everything that we do and everyone that we meet is put in our path for a purpose. There are no accidents; we're all teachers - if we're willing to pay attention to the lessons we learn, trust our positive instincts and not be afraid to take risks or wait for some miracle to come knocking at our door (Gibbs,1). In life we take so many different paths are taken. Some paths that are shown are harder to choose from than others. In the poem, The Road Not Taken, the theme of the poem shows that there are paths in life that we can decide to take and it can define our lives forever and Robert Frost portrays this using symbolism, metaphors, and allusion. Symbolism is used in this poem to portray the difficulty of which paths to take. This can be shown when he says, Two roads diverged in a wood (Frost, line 18). Altogether it is symbolized as if he was in the woods and there were roads that could be taken to lead to different places. The woods is the author's life and the paths are the different paths that could be taken when living his life. The fact is that all these roads lead to there own separate destinations. Towards the end he takes the path that is not really used by others which makes a big difference in his life. …show more content…
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood/And sorry I could not travel both/And be one traveler, long I stood (Frost, line 1-3). He uses the metaphor a man in the woods traveling and saw two paths that he had to choose from which is very difficult for him to choose from. This metaphor is extended throughout the whole poem to compare life as a journey. There are different opportunities or “roads” that are taken in life that can be difficult to choose from. The choice that was made was up to the author and when he made the choice it changed his

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Individuality

...by Capitol Records as the third single from the album “Teenage Dreams”. This song was considered by Perry as the most important song for her on the album. The song is a self-empowerment anthem with inspirational lyrics regarding participation, public speaking, awareness and exercise of rights, and many more factors that promote individuality. To say this in another way, this song is about the breaking of personal limitation that seem to hold people back. A plastic bag being blown through the wind is aimless and has no control of where it’s going. Katy Perry paints the same picture in her lyrics when she writes that “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind wanting to start again?” The plastic bag in her song is an allusion to the American Beauty movie and a simile because she compares a person to a plastic bag. Plastic bags blown through the wind have no direction. This is so true to some people with no goals, ambitions and sometimes no ideas of what to do with life. The artist was referring to people who felt like they did not have control of their life but needed a second chance. A house of cards can be an example...

Words: 1596 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Poetic Devices

...Fairy Queen ’ or job. This poem was confusing to me, because I didn’t know if it was talking about a woman or a job. But it seems like he would take his job over anything. This poem has a little bit of rhyme scheme and rhyme. The poetic devices are repetition and personification. The repetition is how they are repeating over and thorough. The personification is the cowslips tall her pensioners are, in their gold coats spots you see. The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost (contains Imagery & Rhyme Scheme don’t know how to say it) “ The Road Not Taken ” by Robert Frost is about a ‘ Road ’. The Road is used as a metaphor and as an extended metaphor of choices we have to make in life. The form in the road is used as a metaphor throughout the poem, it is termed as an extended metaphor in line 6 where the person is thinking of taking one road but takes another. This could be a metaphor for thinking of your choices before deciding. This could be a metaphor of making decisions during the fall of your life or when you are getting older. In the beginning, the woods are yellow meaning in the autumn. Nature is also used as a metaphor in the poem. A poetic device used in this poem is personification: “ Because it was grassy and wanted wear ” He means, The grass wanted wear but ...

Words: 667 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

English

...(book, 2011) Symbolism of the Journey ENG 125 September 11, 2011 Symbolism of the Journey, a comparison of two stories The short stories “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty and “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost are both stories that involve using the journey as a symbol. The symbol that the journey portrays in both of these pieces of literature is that of life. Life as a human being involves the right of choice in one of the literary works, and a lack of choice in the second. This paper will compare and contrast these two literary works which share the same theme. The comparison of the two stories will involve a comparison of the content, form, and style in an effort to provide deep insight into the theme of the stories; as well as insight into the hidden meanings poetry offers its readers to touch us on a deeper level. Content In the story “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, content is developed through a complex series of descriptions. The story begins with a description of the setting which is a cold December morning in a far off path through a pinewood forest. The character is an old Negro woman who is described as being very old and small and wearing a head tied red rag. The woman is further described as wearing a dark red stripped dress and apron and carrying a cane and an umbrella. These descriptions of the setting give the reader a clear picture of the setting and character in the story as well as how the character moves when the author describes her as moving...

Words: 2653 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

English Review Sheet

...English 2328 Spring 2011 Unit Two: Early Twentieth Century Review Sheets |Survey Highlights |Modernism in American Literature |Imagism, Imagery, Image | |Major Authors |Some distinguishing characteristics— |From Pound's "A Retrospect": | |Historical Context |Rejection of traditional values and assumptions, in society and art. |—Three principles of Imagism: | |Intellectual Movements |Strong break with traditional literary forms and techniques of |1. Direct treatment of 'thing' whether subjective or objective. | |Genres, Elements of Literature |expression. |2. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the | |Authors |—Avant-garde, innovative |presentation. | |Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, and T. S. Eliot |—Frost's "old-fashioned way to be new" |3. As regarding...

Words: 2032 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Linda Hogan's Essay Walking

...When she walks, life continues forward. The whole walking aspect throughout the entire essay is to explain how she is moving on and how everything behind is nothing but a mere memory. She doesn’t realize the importance until she walked further, grew older. She understood that “the people who came before me and how they knew the placement of stars in the sky… Without written records, they knew every night, the small, fine details of the world around them and of immensity above them” (Hogan). The speaker begins to illuminate the power previous lives held. The word “immensity” promotes not just a great value but a value at its peak. The use of diction helps expand on the status of the predecessors. The speaker soon returns to “the dry, red road, I pass the place of the sunflower, that dark and secret location where creation took place,” in which she began her insight and discovery (Hogan). “It is a world of elemental attention, of all things working together” (Hogan). The attention that is required to work is the knowledge that humans must obtain to benefit in any way possible. Elemental was used to distinguish separate groups however it proves that an element cannot live without another, a sense of helping each other. And lastly Hogan quotes “be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands” thanking the many of the past lives that brought the present to...

Words: 1315 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Regional Southern Fiction

...Regional Southern Fiction Regional southern fiction writers focused on the dialect, characters, customs, and setting of a specific region when they wrote their stories (Campbell 2010). Dialect and detailed descriptions of the region were integral to the story to make the characters authentic to the region and for readers to understand the region in which the characters lived. The descriptions of the land and the accents of the characters are what separated the south from the north. In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” and Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the reader learns about the journeys of two old ladies. While these journeys are both life journeys they are different in nature. The protagonist in “A Worn Path’s” story is about a journey of race and the obstacles in life that she has had to overcome and still has to face each day of her life, while the protagonist in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is about a spiritual journey that one must take in order to find favor with God and receive His grace and all of His goodness. Both of these stories transcend time and please because the themes in both of these while different can be seen in the world around us today. Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” is a journey about race and the obstacles the old lady has to overcome in order to help her grandson whom swallowed lye a few years back and occasionally gets sick so Phoenix Jackson has to travel through the woods into town to get him medicine. The time of year that this particular...

Words: 2399 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Nothing Gold Can Stay vs. I Used to Live Here Once

...as well as the differences. The formalist approach will be my choice of critical analysis of the two works, which will aid in forming my comparison and contrast of both works as well. “The poem of the Robert Frost, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is discussing the beauty of life’s wonderful but short-lived treasures, as example chasing dreams and spending time with loved ones. It is illustrated by Frost those treasures in the world related to the nature through the use of metaphors, imagery, diction, and allusion. The poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” helps open one’s eyes to the harsh realities of nature’s path and although we must all succumb to the laws of nature, it is these unbreakable laws that make life so treasured (Shmoop, 2010). On the other side the literature “I Used to Live Here Once” is a somewhat mysterious story of a woman who seems to be a ghost visiting her childhood home. The narrator follows the woman on her journey from a nearby river and down an old unfinished road that leads to the home where she grew up. Once she reaches the house, there are two young white children playing outside and the woman tries to tell them that she used to live there (Deirdre,...

Words: 2616 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Tish A. Long Argumentative Analysis

...through a government shutdown and several months of sequestration, provided critical support to the raid that killed Usama Bin Laden, provided relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and monitored the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, all while providing notification and warning on developing crises throughout Asia, Africa and the Middle East. https://www.nga.mil/About/History/NGAinHistory/Pages/LetitiaALong.aspx http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/09/letitia-long-woman-charge-major-intelligence-agency/ After an introduction from INSA President Ambassador Joe DeTrani, Director Long's speech began with an allusion to Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," to describe NGA's decision not to continue down the easier path of maintaining the status quo, but rather to take the road less traveled. Director Long described how NGA has decided to not only pursue, but to be the leader in the Intelligence Community (IC) on revolutionary IC Information Technology Enterprise (ITE) advancements in the coming years—beginning with the IC Common Desktop in conjunction with DIA. She also discussed the importance of continuing to drive innovation in visualization, not just in GIS and the traditional NGA portfolio, but also in leading the charge to "connect the bits and bytes to the brick and mortar"—visualizing the cyber landscape and threat environment. She described visualization as the best means of unlocking the complexities found in big data....

Words: 1470 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

How to Read Computer Technology Like a Professor

...From How to Read Literature Like a Professor Thomas C. Foster Notes by Marti Nelson 1. Every Trip is a Quest (except when it’s not): a. A quester b. A place to go c. A stated reason to go there d. Challenges and trials e. The real reason to go—always self-knowledge 2. Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion a. Whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion b. Not usually religious c. An act of sharing and peace d. A failed meal carries negative connotations 3. Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires a. Literal Vampirism: Nasty old man, attractive but evil, violates a young woman, leaves his mark, takes her innocence b. Sexual implications—a trait of 19th century literature to address sex indirectly c. Symbolic Vampirism: selfishness, exploitation, refusal to respect the autonomy of other people, using people to get what we want, placing our desires, particularly ugly ones, above the needs of another. 4. If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet 5. Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before? a. There is no such thing as a wholly original work of literature—stories grow out of other stories, poems out of other poems. b. There is only one story—of humanity and human nature, endlessly repeated c. “Intertexuality”—recognizing the connections between one story and another deepens our appreciation and experience, brings multiple layers of meaning to the text, which we may not be conscious of. The more consciously...

Words: 3545 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

8th Grade Science?

...| | CCRS | CONTENT STANDARDS | EVIDENCE OF STUDENT ATTAINMENT | RESOURCES | 91929384130 | EIGHTH GRADE: TO BE COMPLETED THROUGHOUT THE COURSEREADING LITERATURE: RANGE OF READING AND LEVEL OF TEXT COMPLEXITY By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of Grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. [RL.8.10]READING STANDARDS FOR INFORMATIONAL TEXT: RANGE OF READING AND LEVEL OF TEXT COMPLEXITY By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the Grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. [RI.8.10]WRITING STANDARDS: RANGE OF WRITING Write routinely over extended time frames, including time for research, reflection, and revision, and shorter time frames such as a single sitting or a day or two for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. [W.8.10]KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. [L.8.3]VOCABULARY ACQUISTION AND USE Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. [L.8.6]SPEAKING AND LISTENING STANDARDS Engage effectively in a range of...

Words: 8518 - Pages: 35

Premium Essay

English

...Born on September 4th, 1908, Richard Wright was born in Roxie, Mississippi (outside of Natchez) on a plantation where his illiterate father was a sharecropper. Wright was raised by his relatives at by the age of 17, he was ready to get out into the world. He headed into Memphis, Tennessee (his relatives lived right outside the city) where he worked odd jobs and educated himself. He read array of novels as he grew up and his education helped him realize the unjust ways of segregation. In 1927, Wright moved to Chicago after the peak of the Harlem Renaissance (a pivotal time for African Americans to express themselves through music, writings, and art). In Chicago, he worked as a postal worker, but was laid off with the depression. Wright then joined the Federal Writers Project, a state sponsored guild for authors, in which Wright composed his first novel, Uncle Tom’s Children. During this time, Wright joined the Communist party, which was often carried out into his writings. By 1939, Wright had moved to New York City and kept ties with the party for only a few more years. He married in 1941, and had left the communist party by 1944. During World War II, Wright lectured around New York. With the end of the War, Wright moved to France in 1947 where he continued to write his novels, which often contained themes of racism, poverty, and political matters. His books were often partly based on his life and what he had observed in his lifetime. Wright was the first African American...

Words: 4394 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Housman's to an Athlete Dying Young

...triumph and his glory filled  parade through the town in which the crowd loves and cheers for him. As Bobby  Joe Leggett defines at this point, the athlete is "carried of the shoulders of  his friends after a winning race" (54). In Housman's words:  The time you won your town the race  We chaired you through the market place;  Man and boy stood cheering by,  And home we brought you shoulder-high. (Housman 967).  Stanza two describes a much more somber procession. The athlete is being carried  to his grave. In Leggett's opinion, "The parallels between this procession and  the former triumph are carefully drawn" (54). The reader should see that  Housman makes another reference to "shoulders" as an allusion to connect the  first two stanzas:  Today, the road all runners come,  Shoulder high we bring you home,  And set you at the threshold down,  Townsman of a stiller town. (967)  In stanza three Housman describes the laurel growing "early" yet dying "quicker  than a rose." (967) This parallels "the 'smart lad' who chose to 'slip betimes  away' at the height of his fame" (Explicator 188)....

Words: 1612 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Please

...before. Poetic Device: Analogy Definition: a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification. Example: Obeying is to a servant, like ordering is to a master. Poetic Device: Allusion Definition: an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference Example: When she lost her job, she acted like a Scrooge, and refused to buy anything that wasn’t necessary. Poetic Device: Diction Definion: the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing Example: Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on Poetic Device: Metaphor Definition: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable Example: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day Poetic Device: Simile Definition: a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid Example: as black as coal Poetic Device: Hyperbole Definition: exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. Example: That joke is so old, the last time I heard it I was riding on a dinosaur Poetic Device: Synecdoche Definition: a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa Example: The word “glasses” refers to...

Words: 2691 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Middlesex And Fun Home: A Literary Analysis

...for being their fathers, but both had pasts that turned out to have a great effect on their children’s stories. As for Cal’s father, his name was Milton Stephanides and it turns out he was first cousins with Cal’s mother, Tessie, but that did not stop the two from falling in love and getting married, which is obviously very unusual. Milton’s life comes to an end in a car crash when he was essentially trying to save Cal from a blackmailer that claimed Cal had been kidnapped. As for Alison’s father, his name was Bruce Bechdel who was a man that we learn had engaged in sexual relationships with both men and young boys. Two weeks after Alison’s confession of her sexuality, her father was hit by a Sunbeam Bread truck while he was crossing the road that was also suspected as a suicide. Alison had even described the death of her father as quoted, “Queer in every sense of that multivalent word”. It was very interesting how similar the main characters lives were in terms of their fathers deaths and their discovery of their own sexualities as teenagers. Another factor of queerness stemmed from the plots of the two stories. Middlesex on its own was just a very all around out of the ordinary story of a person raised as a girl with male biological traits, not to mention all of the events that take place in their life. Cal’s life was anything but normal beginning with the past of his ancestors. His grandparents were brother and sister, his parents were cousins, and his brother was only known...

Words: 1757 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Christian Prophecies In The Bible

...and concern only Israel and Judah. Why would one look anywhere else to understand their prophecies? Let's start with the Book of Revelation. Revelation is a letter written to seven churches within the system of ancient Roman roads. It is written in two parts. The first part of Revelation addresses each of the seven churches, containing messages from Yeshua to each of them. The second part of Revelation, an Apocalypse, covers three themes. It covers Jewish history, current events of the First Century, and thirdly, the Second coming of Messiah. The only prophecies in Revelation that are left unfilled are the prophecies concerning the second coming of Messiah. The prophecies in Revelation were fulfilled during the years between the Greek occupation of Judah, the revolt of the Maccabees, the Roman occupation, all culminating in the final destruction of the Temple during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Revelation 12:7-13 is a cryptographic description of those historical events. Revelation includes concepts taken from Isaiah, Psalms, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the apocalyptic Book of Enoch, which most Christians are not familiar. Ezekiel and Daniel serve as the backbone of Revelation. It must be noted that Revelation contains more Old Testament allusions than any other New Testament book. One may be wondering, "Why would the Apostle John, the author of Revelation, send seven churches a summary of Jewish prophecies?" Remembrance is a very critical part of Judaism. One must...

Words: 1863 - Pages: 8