Road Blocks
Jessica Garcia
Dr. Kaye Rappaport
English 1302
19 September 2012
Road Blocks
Every person, in whatever stage of life can relate to going through a journey. Though we might not all have walked the exact same path, each person experiences an internal and physical journey. An internal journey is a reflective journey of the mind and spirit filled with uncertainty, challenges and conflicts. The growth we derive from such journeys can present us with an avenue for self-discovery and self-evaluation, leading us to challenge. Furthermore, a physical journey accompanies and ignites the inner journey and is often the catalyst for change in the individual. Robert Frost’s poems “The Road Not Taken,” “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and “Acquainted with the Night” all portray these journeys, but each with differing means of struggles toward that journey. Frost uses the concurring theme of the connection of man and the natural world in all three poems to emphasize such struggles.
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” both portray weighing of choices in life. The former is about youth and experiencing life and the latter is about old age, or more probably, an old spirit wearied by life. In both poems the speaker is in a critical situation where he has to choose between two paths in life. In “The Road Not taken” the speaker chooses the unconventional approach to the decision making process, thus showing his uniqueness and challenging mentality while in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” the speaker seeks a life without any pain and struggle but at the end, he has to comply with social obligation, which reflects his responsibility towards the society. On the other hand, in the poem "Acquainted with the Night" Frost focuses on the speaker’s depression and loneliness through a depiction of a late night journey. Instead of struggling with choices, the speaker is idle in being dissatisfied. He has walked beyond the city limits
Dr. Kaye Rappaport
English 1302
19 September 2012
Road Blocks
Every person, in whatever stage of life can relate to going through a journey. Though we might not all have walked the exact same path, each person experiences an internal and physical journey. An internal journey is a reflective journey of the mind and spirit filled with uncertainty, challenges and conflicts. The growth we derive from such journeys can present us with an avenue for self-discovery and self-evaluation, leading us to challenge. Furthermore, a physical journey accompanies and ignites the inner journey and is often the catalyst for change in the individual. Robert Frost’s poems “The Road Not Taken,” “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and “Acquainted with the Night” all portray these journeys, but each with differing means of struggles toward that journey. Frost uses the concurring theme of the connection of man and the natural world in all three poems to emphasize such struggles.
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” both portray weighing of choices in life. The former is about youth and experiencing life and the latter is about old age, or more probably, an old spirit wearied by life. In both poems the speaker is in a critical situation where he has to choose between two paths in life. In “The Road Not taken” the speaker chooses the unconventional approach to the decision making process, thus showing his uniqueness and challenging mentality while in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” the speaker seeks a life without any pain and struggle but at the end, he has to comply with social obligation, which reflects his responsibility towards the society. On the other hand, in the poem "Acquainted with the Night" Frost focuses on the speaker’s depression and loneliness through a depiction of a late night journey. Instead of struggling with choices, the speaker is idle in being dissatisfied. He has walked beyond the city limits
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