Comprehension Strategies

Tips for Reading a Poem

1.       Read the poem all the way through, twice.

For my poem I chose Robert Frosts, “The Road Not Taken.” I chose this poem because it is often used in a secondary education and is a very well written poem. Robert Frost uses great scenery to set up his poetry and relates to many different people on all levels of reading.

2.       Think about any background knowledge that you have that will help you connect to the people, animals, or objects in the poem.

Knowing many of Frosts poems I know that scenery will play a large role within this poem along with a person who is accompanied by a choice during this poem. I do have precious knowledge of this poem so I know what to expect within this poem. Frost often has a larger idea behind what he uses his people for and uses scenery to accompany the people within his poetry. Reading this poem we can relate to this individual because he is forced to make a large decision based on a road which can apply to all of our lives in one way or another. We all must choose a path in life and make choices to the best of our knowledge and not always choose the path that looks the easiest such as the person in this poem did.

3.       Try to make a picture in your head of what’s happening in the poem.

                While the paths do seem very similar as I read this poem I envisioned that it is not all about how different they look, but the choices we make which will help to change each of these paths for better or for worse.

4.       What do you think the poem is about?

I feel that this poem is about life and the choices that we make within our lives to help shape them. The two paths represent different ways that our lives can go and that maybe the easy path will not help us out in the long run. This poem is as if we sat down and wrote how our life is and possibly could have been. This poem makes us stop and think about our lives and maybe even choices to come in the future. I really enjoy this poem because every time I read it I get a different read slightly and it makes me rethink my life every time. I would like to use this in a classroom because it could make them think about choices and possibly choices to come in the future. The way people can look at this poem they can pull out so many tidbits of useful words, lines, and stanzas that can help each person in a different way and possibly help some where possibly we as teachers cannot.

5.       Textual evidence

Stanza 1 we see that there are two roads that we can choose from, but can not choose both. Talks about checking out each option and not rushing to a decision because there are underlying things to deliberate about.

Stanza 2 continues to deliberate between the two paths while still dissecting each to see which one looks like a better choice. Begin to notice in this stanza that the choice is not easy and that the path which looks the more worn may not be the best choice for everyone involved. Sometimes taking the other path may provide more useful.

Stanza 3 get to the fact that choosing one path may lead you down a road that you might not be able to come back from. This stanza gets back to the fact that the decision is one which needs much deliberation and must be taken seriously because it will have lasting affects on you.

Stanza 4 talks about how the person within the poem took the road less traveled and that changed everything for this person  and this is the work of all the deliberation helping to have made the choice and how he didn’t look back after making the choice. Sums up all of the stanzas by showing how the road less traveled worked out for him in this instance.

6.       Background knowledge

Before this time of dissection this poem I had read the poem several times and discussed it within different classes with several other people. I am pretty familiar with Frosts work and like a lot of his poetry this poem does not disappoint. Packed full of details and scenery that helps the reader through every line.