Robert Frost18741963 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
1 / 14
Title:
Robert Frost18741963
Description:
Frost claims that he wrote this poem about his friend Edward Thomas, with whom ... the poem has been and continues to be used as an inspirational poem, encouraging ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation
Number of Views:208
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Title: Robert Frost18741963
1
Robert Frost(1874-1963)
- ? 4 Pulitzer Prizes
- ? read poetry at a presidential
inauguration. - ? received honorary degrees from 44 colleges
- ? unofficial poet Laureate, one of the most
celebrated Americans modernist poets
2
I.Biographical Introduction
- born in San Francisco in 1874.
- his mother brought him to New England at his
eleven, with which his poetry has always been
associated. - After graduating from high school in 1892, Frost
entered Dartmouth College but soon left to work
at old jobs and to write poetry. - In 1897, he was accepted as a special student by
Harvard but withdrew after two years because of
his increasing dislike for academic convention.
For the next twelve years, Frost made a minimal
living by teaching and farming while continuing
to write his poems.
3
- In 1912, he and his family moved to England,
where he found a publisher for his first book of
verse, A boys will (1913). - Determined to win recognition in his native land,
Frost returned to the US and settled on a farm in
his native land. - By the end of his life he had become a national
poet he received honorary degrees from
forty-four colleges and universities and won four
Pulitzer Prizes the United States senate passed
resolutions honoring his birthdays and when he
was eighty-seven he read his poetry at the
inauguration of President John F. Kennedy.
4
II. Main Works
- A Boys Will 1913
- North of Boston, 1914
- Mountain Interval, 1916
- New Hampshire 1923
- Collected Poems 1930
- A Further Range 1936
- A Witness Tree 1942
5
III. Frosts View and Theme
- His poetry concerns New Englands nature. He saw
nature as a storehouse of analogy and symbol, so
his concern - with nature reflected deep moral
uncertainties. - His poetry often probes mysterious of darkness
and irrationality in the bleak and chaotic
landscapes of an indifferent universe. - The quest of the solitary person to make sense of
the world has become the central theme of all
Frosts collections and made his poetry among the
most accessible of modern writers. - The poetry of Robert Frost combined pastoral
imagery with solitary philosophical themes.
6
IV. Frosts Style
- rejected the revolutionary poetic principles of
his contemporaries, used traditional forms such
as the blank verse, plain language of rural New
Englanders, and a graceful style. - there is a steady tone of wry humor, and a
virtually inexhaustible verbal grace. - He used symbols from everyday country life to
express his deep ideas. - As a whole, Frosts art is an act of
clarification, which, without simplifying the
truth, renders it in some degree accessible to
everyone.
7
V. About the Poem The Road Not Taken
- Frost claims that he wrote this poem about his
friend Edward Thomas, with whom he had walked
many times in the woods near London. Frost has
said that while walking they would come to
different paths and after choosing one, Thomas
would always felt wondering what they might have
missed by not taking the other path. - About the poem, Frost asserted, You have to be
careful of that one its a tricky poem very
tricky. Superficially, the poem has been and
continues to be used as an inspirational poem,
encouraging self-reliance, not following where
others have led. But a close reading of the poem
proves not so.
8
The Framework of the Poem
- Stanza One---- Describes Situations
- Stanza Two---- Decides to Take Less-travelled
Road - Stanza Three---- Continues Description of Road
- Stanza Four----Recalls the Road Taken and Not
Taken
9
Appreciating the Poem The Road Not Taken
- Reflective Questions
- 1. According to this poem, is Frost an innovative
poet or not? Why? - 2. What does the speaker do when facing two
diverged roads? What is the speakers initial
response? - 3. Describe the similarities and differences of
these two roads. Why does he choose the other
road?
10
- 4. How do you understand the word sigh?Is it a
kind of nostalgic relief or regret? - 5. What might the two roads stand for in the
speakers mind? (the symbolic meanings) - 6. Why does Frost himself claim that this is a
tricky poem? What does he want to convey in this
poem?
11
4. How do you understand the word sigh?Is it a
kind of nostalgic relief or regret?
- The word sigh is a tricky word. Because sigh
can be interpreted into nostalgic relief or
regret. If it is the relief sigh, then the
difference means the speaker feels glad with the
road he took. If it is the regret sigh, then the
difference would not be good, and the speaker
would be sighing in regret. Hence, sigh is
ambigous here for the speaker is not showing
whether his choice is right or wrong.
12
5. What might the two roads stand for in the
speakers mind?
- Clearly, this poem is endowed with abundant
symbolic meanings. In the speakers mind, the two
roads not only refer to the real roads he has to
take while walking in the yellow wood, more
sigificantly, it means two different ways of life
when one hesitates before the lifes crossroad.
Different choices will lead to different futures.
- For the poet, it also shows his attitude towards
poetry creation. He prefers to take the
less-travelled road suggests that he doesnt
follow suit but employs the traditional pattern
in spite of the influence of modernist
innovation
13
6. Why does Frost himself claim that this is a
tricky poem? What is the theme this poem?
- Three things make his poem tricky---- the time
frame, and the words sigh and difference. - Traditionally, this poem has been understood as
an inspirational poem, seeming to encouraging
people to be self-reliant and not following where
others have led. Actually, it does not moralize
about choice, it simply says that choice is
inevitable but you never know what your choice
will mean until you have lived it. This is also
the theme of the poem.
14
- Thats all,
- Thank you!
