I can examine the difficulty often found in making decisions that go against the crowd through the poetry of Robert Frost.

Lesson:

1. Read and annotate the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. Once you have completed this, complete the paraphrasing on the right. The beginning of every sentence in each stanza has been started for you.

2. Rhyme Scheme: You will determine the rhyme scheme of the poem of The Road Not Taken. This organizer provides you will seven different types of rhyming scheme. You must decide which of the seven, and determine what effect the rhyming has on the reader.

3. Setting: In this organizer you will examine the literal and figurative setting in the poem. You will learn about the four components of the setting, as well as the importance of each component in poetry.

4. Inference: This organizer is designed to break down each stanza of the poem and make inferences to help analyze the poem.

5. Extended Metaphor: While completing this organizer you will learn that there is an underlying message in the poem. You will pull out key words in the poem that help you in determining the message that Robert Frost.

6. Complete the The Road Not Taken Exit Ticket to demonstrate full understanding of the poem as well as the skills necessary in analyzing poetry.

7. Once you have finished all of the activities related to "The Road Not Taken" complete the Robert Frost Poetry Assessment which focuses on the different skills associated with analyzing poetry.

*Extension Activity Available*

Extension:

1. As you’ve discovered in your study of ―The Road Not Taken,” the poem is about choices that change a life. You’re going to write a poem about a choice you’ve made. Your poem can be serious or silly. You may even want to write a parody of the original poem.

2. Choose an idea for your poem, and an ―"inciting” incident. An inciting incident is something that happened that forced you to make a choice. For example, in ―The Road Not Taken,” the speaker had to make the choice. He had to choose a road if he wanted to continue on his travels.

3. Then, create a list of consequences of your choice. In ―The Road Not Taken,” the speaker tells the reader that the choice ―made all the difference,” but he doesn’t explain what he means by ―difference.” In your poem, explain the results of your choice. An example has been done for you.

Example:

1. Choice: becoming a vegetarian.

2. Inciting incident: choosing at lunch between meatloaf and a salad.

3. Consequences: my family thought I was weird, my friends teased me, people tried to trick me into eating things with meat in them, I felt healthier, I was doing something to help the earth, I had trouble finding a variety of meals in the school cafeteria, I started to do more cooking, I’m interested in becoming a nutritionist.

4. Write a draft of your poem. If you like, you can use a similar rhyme scheme and meter as ―The Road Not Taken” or you can write your poem in another rhyme scheme, or in free verse.