High school teachers can make poetry easier and more interesting by teaching a poem and allowing students to make connections between the poem and their lives.
Analyzing Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken"
- Lyrical poetry, rhyme, meter
- Making decisions
Lesson Objectives to Analyze Frost's Poem
- Understand the definition of a lyrical poem
- Identify the meter and rhyme of a poem
- Comprehend how to read a poem for the literal and metaphorical meaning
Lesson Materials Needed
Either a text which includes Frost’s poem or a copy of the poem for students. Overhead or PowerPoint with notes and assignment instructions.
Quickwrite to Introduces the Theme of "The Road Not Taken"
Make a list of all the decisions you have to make on a daily basis, no matter how minor. Then list what sorts of things influence you when you make those decisions.
Give students five minutes to write their list, and then have them share what they wrote with a partner. Pick three students to share one decision and its influences with the class.
Notes and an Example to Model Poetry Analysis
Use a PowerPoint or an overhead as a visual. Have students copy the definitions into their notes for lyrical poetry, rhyme, and meter.
Have students copy down the example lines of poetry into their notes:
I heard a fly buzz when I died;
The stillness round my form
Was like the stillness in the air
Between the heaves of storm.
Then read the two lines with exaggerated emphasis on the accented syllables. Have students mark the meter in their notes and write down the rhyme scheme.
Discuss and Analyze "The Road Not Taken"
- Using either a textbook or copy of the poem, read the poem aloud to the students and have them write down what they think the poem is “literally” saying. Give the students two minutes to write before having them share with someone close to them.
- Read the poem a second time, and instruct students to identify the rhyme scheme and meter and mark it in their notes.
- Ask students to read the poem to themselves and underline three words which connote emotion and identify any symbolism in the poem
- Discuss with students the metaphorical meaning of the poem and urge them toward making a connection between the qualities of a lyrical poem and the theme of the poem
Use Quickwrite to Make Connections
Make a list of difficult decisions you are likely to have to make in the next five years (examples: where to go to college, what career to choose).
Follow Through Assignment After Reading "The Road Not Taken"
Write a well-organized paragraph explaining a time you chose to take the “road not taken.” Include details and specific reasons you chose to go the road not taken instead of taking the easy way.
The lesson is appropriate for advanced eighth or ninth graders or eleventh graders studying American Literature. Students should have some experience with poetry, but do not need to be advanced.
A poetry lesson with a connection students can make in their own lives teaches them to understand the meaning of poetry as well as its importance. During the lesson the teacher reviews the meaning of key concepts, models analysis, and facilitates discussion. The students take what they learned and use meta-cognition to connect the poem to their lives by writing about a time they needed to make a hard decision.
Susan Townsend - I'm a high school English teacher who has taught AP English Language and Composition, for juniors and seniors as well as regular and ...
