CBSE Book Class 9 English Poetry A Road not Taken

Poetry

UNIT-7

1. On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following questions  by ticking the correct choice.

(a) In the poem, a traveller comes to a fork in the road and needs to decide which way to go  to  continue  his  journey.  Figuratively  the  choice  of  the  road  denotes  ______________________

   (i) the tough choices people make the road of life.

   (ii) the time wasted on deciding what to do.

   (iii) life is like a forest.

   (v) one must travel a lot to realize his dreams.

(b) The poet writes,  'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.'  The word diverged means _______________.

   (i) appeared 

   (ii) curved

   (iii) branched off

   (iv) continued on

(c) The tone of the speaker in the first stanza is that of ______________.

  (i) excitement

  (ii) anger

  (iii) hesitation and thoughtfulness

  (iv) sorrow

2.  Answer the following questions briefly.

  i) Describe the two roads that the author comes across.

  ii) Which road does the speaker choose? Why?

  iii) Which road would you choose? Why?

  iv) Does the speaker seem happy about his decision?

  v) The  poet  says  "I  took  the  one  less  travelled  by,  And  that  has  made  all  the  difference."  What is 'the difference' that the poet mentions?

3.Write the rhyme scheme of the poem.

4. Fill in the blanks to complete the following paragraph that gives the theme of the  poem. Use the words given in the box below decision sorry foresee choices pleasant direction fork trail rewarding chance wonder  both

The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is about the __________ that one  makes in life. It tells about a man who comes to a ___________ in the road he is  travelling upon. He feels ___________ that he can not travel___________ paths as he  must choose one. Frost uses this fork in the road to represent a point in the man's life  where he has to choose the ___________ he wishes to take in life. As he thinks about  his ___________ he looks down one path as far as he can see trying to ___________  what life will be like if he walks that path. He then gazes at the other and decides the  outcome of going down that path would be just as ________________. At this point he concludes  that  the  ________that  has  been  less  travelled  on  would  be  more  ___________ when he reaches the end of it. The man then decides that he will save the  other path for another day, even though he knows that one path leads to another and  that he won't get a ___________ to go back. The man then says that he will be telling  this story with a sigh someday in the future suggesting that he will ___________ what  life would have been like if he had chosen the more walked path even though the path  he chose has made all the difference.

5. Roads  are  fascinating  as  metaphors  for  life,  change,  journeys,  partings,  adventure,  etc.  or  simply  as  roads.  This  is  probably  why  they,  and  all  their  attendant images, have permeated art, literature and song. In the poem, Frost  uses the fork in the road as a metaphor for the choices we make in life. Thus the  roads are, in fact, two alternative ways of life. What other nouns could be used to  represent life?

River

________________

________________

________________

________________

6. In groups of six, select, write the script of and present a skit that demonstrates decision making and conflict resolution. Follow the steps given below :

choices to be made, 

options to be considered

the influence of others

the decisions/actions taken

the immediate and future consequences of the decision.

7. 'The  Road  Not  Taken'  is  a  biographical  poem.  Therefore,  some  personal  biographical information is relevant to the deeper understanding of the poem we  have read. Go to www.encarta.com and complete the following worksheet about  Robert Frost.

  a) What "momentous decision" was made by Frost in 1912?

  b) How old was he when took this decision?

  c) Why was it so difficult to make this decision? Think and give more than one reason.

  d) Was the "road" Frost had taken easy "to travel"?

  e) Do you think he wrote "The Road Not Taken" before sailing from the USA to 

England or after? Can you quote a line or two from the poem that can support your  answer?

  f) Do you think Frost finally became popular in America as a poet?

Please refer to the link below - CBSE Class 9 English Poetry A Road not Taken