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The Road Not Taken Rhetorical Analysis Essay

574 Words3 Pages

Quarter 2 EWP
At many points in life, one is faced with various choices, and the decisions contribute to one's identity and how one perceives oneself.
The metaphors of the two paths in “Road not Taken” by Robert Frost, the crystal stair in “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, and the caged bird in “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar represent the speaker’s exposure to choices in life through which they develop their identities.
The two paths in “Road not Taken” by Robert Frost, represents the speaker’s exposure to choices in life through which they develop their identity. Frost employs the metaphor of two roads that diverge and lead in different directions. "Two paths diverged in a yellow wood." (Frost, Line 1). The speaker is presented with a decision between the two paths; both look identical, with no less traveled path evident. Frost applies the metaphor of the two paths to communicate a choice in life, where the decision between them dictates where their journey will take him. The two paths convey the deeper meaning of their identity. The two paths that lay upon Frost represent choices in life. Each choice one makes shapes one's identity. One’s choice unvails parts of one’s identity. …show more content…

Hughes presents the metaphor of the crystal stairs as the mother warns her son about the hardships in life. “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” (Hughes, Lines 1-2). The son is faced with a choice of whether he takes his mother's advice and perseveres through challenges in life or give up. Hughes uses the metaphor of a crystal staircase to symbolize an easy life, whereas the mother’s stairs represent a challenging life. Hughes expresses the deeper meaning of identity through the metaphor of crystal stairs. The son’s choice between giving up when life gets hard or showing resilience reflects how choices affect one’s

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Many times, drastic surprises are present due to the multiple routes that are offered to you, having the ability to compel your thoughts after time. Metaphors are included throughout the poem of “The Road Not Taken”, Frost stating, “And both that morning equally lay, in leaves no step had trodden black,” . When I read this, I immediately connected back to reactants of those who are somewhat against the truth without true experience. I found George related to this as being the factor of the majority of the world, what most people think to be as true rather than living through it. This created standpoints of anger until realization towards the end of the book overcame.

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To express this the author uses a metaphor which expresses this theme because the author keeps on referring to their life as not being a crystal stair. In the poem Langston Hughes states, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” (2). This metaphor is used to show that the speaker’s life is hard, tough and not easy. Because a crystal stair is

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In “Speech to the Young”, the personification that Brooks writes is, “say to the down-keepers / the sun-slappers, / the self-soilers, / the harmony hushers” (2-5). The figurative language used in each poem impacts the meaning of it. In “Mother to Son”, having it all be one metaphor of that “Life for me ain’t no crystal stair” (Hughes, 2, 20), makes it seem more personal, more of someone sharing how they view life, with the imagery adding onto the metaphor while giving the reader a clear image of how they view the “stair” ( life ). The personifications in “Speech to the Young” impacts the meaning of the poem by making the reader easily visualize those who may try to “bring you down in life”. The various uses of figurative language and imagery in each poem impacts their

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Anabelle Crum-Gross Mcskeane Adv. English 8 6 January 2023 Essay Has identity or belonging ever played a major role in your life, or made you question a decision you have made? The caged bird in “Sympathy” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the road in “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, and the metaphor “I am an island” in the poem “I am a Rock” by Simon and Garfunkel all have metaphors that prove the author does not feel like he belongs.

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It is metaphorical because the quote means that life wasn’t easy or as clear as a crystal stair. Normally, a crystal stair seems shiny, perfect, clean and privileged. The speaker uses metaphor

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“The Road Not Taken” primarily focuses on two subjective paths which can be interpreted differently be many who stumble upon the two. While “Birches” compares life’s journey to a wood without paths, no directions, nor instructions and continues to see through the eyes in his youth up to his death. The examination of comparing and contrasting the different journeys in life, and the meaning of the poems will be the main focus, though they are also significant pieces of literature for they both recall past memories in Frost’s life and have shaped him to be the author he was in the early 19th

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The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost is an intelligent poem about separating yourself from the rest and finding out who you are by making your own choices. Frost uses paths in the woods to describe his thought process when it comes to decision making and his success that stems directly from those choices. It’s about branching away from the influence of mob mentality and living life how you want. The metaphorical paths in Frost’s poem directly correlate to real life and the choices that people make throughout their life, their “paths”. Therefore, The Road Not Taken is a metaphorical poem explaining the importance of taking time to think about your decisions, following the paths that you want to regardless if it is not typically chosen, and recognizing

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By the end of the poem, we have learned that the difficulty of choices is that sometimes you really have to let fate take the lead. The use of symbolism with the paths shows that it doesn’t matter which side has been taken more but which is the best one for you. Frost’s use of a metaphor and symbolism helps us clearly understand the meaning of the poem and what he is really trying to say. “The Road Not Taken” is a poem in which we learn that sometimes we have to let fate take the lead. With the use of literary devices and tone we acquire that this poem is trying to show us that life is a mixture of both life decisions and fate.

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This is re-iterated at the end of the poem, the individualist nature of the persona is expressed as he takes the road, “less travelled”, metaphorically representing him denying societal values and suggesting a change in perspective. While Frost may connote regret as a challenge throughout the poem, readers understand it acts as a guide to making the right choices for developing

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What if life had multiple paths people could take or people could choose from? What is life on a less traveled path, Or a path never traveled? Well in the Short poem “The Road Not Taken” By Robert Frost he’s here to tell you what it’s like in a life of this;He does these things by using Diction, Metaphorical Language, and Form to tell us what it’s like on the road less traveled.

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Throughout this poem, Robert Frost uses extended metaphors to convey that every human has a path that causes them to constantly make choices that will continue to shape their lives. In the first lines of the poem, Frost states, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood/ And sorry I could not travel both” (Lines 1-2). Immediately, the idea is established that the speaker has to make a decision.

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However the author expressed himself by speaking about the road that he took, but the poem is called the Road Not Taken, Could it be that all this time Mr. Frost was speaking about the road he didn 't take? An article called "The Poem Everyone Loves And Everyone Gets Wrong" talks in behave of the poem 's title and give you fact of how the author came about the poem. The article states how the poem was originally called Two Roads. Frost then wanted to challenge readers and ask them self question as of what was the poets ideas, what did the author want to tell the readers.

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There will come a time in every person’s life where he has to make a decision that could alter his life forever. In fact, this exact situation may occur multiple times in his existence. In trying to make the right choices, a person might weigh both options and take into account all the possible effects and arguments for each. For example, when he was growing up, Robert Frost would take strolls with his friend, Edward Thomas, who would constantly face the struggle of choosing the right path and would always worry about whether he made the right decision. In his poem, “The Road Not Taken,” Frost portrays this relatable clash of choices.

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In the poem, “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost uses beautifully crafted metaphors, imagery, and tone to convey a theme that all people are presented with choices in life, some of which are life-altering, so one should heavily way the options in order to make the best choices possible. Frost uses metaphors to develop the theme that life 's journey sometimes presents difficult choices, and the future is many times determined by these choices. Throughout the poem, Frost uses these metaphors to illustrate life 's path and the fork in the road to represent an opportunity to make a choice. One of the most salient metaphors in the poem is the fork in the road. Frost describes the split as, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both (“The Road Not Taken,” lines 1-2).

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The two paths symbolize the life of the traveler and all his life decisions. This poem expresses life, because in life, there are important decisions that in some instances can make a really big change, sometimes it’s hard to find your way out of something, and there are many possible ways you can do it. “Then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim” are verses where we can clearly see that this is a decision in to which he is putting a lot of thought. Throughout the poem, we learn that there are two paths to take, but the traveler, who we suppose is Robert Frost, is uncertain of which one to take. We learn that this is really a life decision, and not just a choice between two paths.

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