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Robert Frost

Robert Frost. Biography. Born in San Francisco in 1874, but is always thought of as a New England poet. Moved with his wife and kids to New Hampshire. Schoolteacher Farmer. Biography. Lived in England from 1912 to 1915 Edward Thomas, T.E. Hulme, and Ezra Pound

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Robert Frost

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  1. Robert Frost

  2. Biography • Born in San Francisco in 1874, but is always thought of as a New England poet. • Moved with his wife and kids to New Hampshire. • Schoolteacher • Farmer

  3. Biography • Lived in England from 1912 to 1915 • Edward Thomas, T.E. Hulme, and Ezra Pound • One of our country’s most beloved and award-winning poets • Kennedy Inauguration, 1961 • Pulitzer x 4!

  4. Themes, Guiding Questions, etc.. • THE INDIVIDUAL: Good or bad? Compare to Thoreau and Emerson. • NATURE: Again, compare to the Transcendentalists. Did Frost worship nature? Revere it? Respect it?

  5. “Birches” • What is the poem’s meter and rhyme scheme? What do we call the type of verse in which this poem is written? • Describe the scenario that the speaker imagines when he sees birch trees. What realistic objection to his idea does he recognize in lines 4-5? What “matter of fact” does “Truth” break in with in lines 5-20? • Why does the speaker prefer to see birches bent by boys rather than by ice? • There’s a vivid simile in the first 20 lines of the poem. What is it? What effect does this simile have on our reading of the poem?

  6. “Birches” • Lines 20-40 descend into the persona’s memory. What kind of boy does the persona describe in these lines? Where does he live? Why does he swing birches? Who do you think this boy might actually be? • Line 41 signals the last part of the poem when the persona returns from memory to reality. Now you can explain more fully what his (the speaker’s) life is like. What might the “pathless wood” suggest or symbolize? • What might birch swinging symbolize?

  7. “Birches” • Explain the lines “May no fate willfully misunderstand me/ And half grant what I wish and snatch me away/ Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love:/ I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.” • What complex, conflicting attitudes toward life does Frost reveal through this parable about birch-swinging? • Why is the poem composed in blank verse? In other words, how does the form of the poem contribute to its meaning?

  8. “After Apple-Picking” • What does the title of the poem suggest? What connotations and references does the apple bring with it in our culture? • Easy question: who is the speaker (persona)? How old is he? What kind of man is he? • What event does the narrator describe in lines 9-12? • What does the narrator dream about? Why do you think this dream invades his mind? • What will trouble the sleep of the narrator in the end?

  9. “After Apple-Picking” • What is the difference between the woodchuck’s sleep and human sleep? • What universal human dilemma does Frost suggest in this poem? • Comment on the rhyme scheme. Does it rhyme? If so, does it rhyme regularly? • In what verb tense is the poem written? • Tough question: can you synthesize your answers to numbers 9 and 10 into some sort of general comment connecting the form of this poem to its meaning?

  10. Some critics on the form of “After Apple-Picking” • Reuben A. Brower: “Everything said throughout the poem comes to the reader through sentences filled with incantatory repetitions and rhymes, and in waves of sound linked by likeness of pattern. From the opening lines, apparently matter-of-fact talk falls into curious chain-like sentences, rich in end-rhymes and, echoes of many sorts. But although the voice seems to be lapsing into the rhyming fits of insomnia, the fits shape themselves into distinct and subtly varied patterns.” • Brower reads the poem as “a blurring of experience”: “The meaning implied by the self-hypnosis and dreamy confusion of rhythm is finely suggested in the image of 'the world of hoary grass,' the blurred seeing of morning that anticipates the night vision.”

  11. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” • When do the events in the poem take place? • Who most likely owns these woods? • What do the woods in this poem seem to represent? • What does the horse seem to represent? • What do the last four lines suggest about what’s going to happen after the poem ends?

  12. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” • There is a tension in the poem about whether the speaker should stay or move on. What is it that tempts him to stay? • What is it that urges him to move on? • Look closely at the rhyme scheme of this poem: what do you notice about it? What do you think Frost’s intention might have been in employing this rhyme scheme? • Some critics have suggested that by repeating “Miles to go before I sleep,” the poet meant us to read the line both literally and as a metaphor. What could it mean other than that he still had a long way to travel that night?

  13. “Desert Places” • Dramatic situation? • How does the snow-covered landscape make the persona feel in this poem? • Compare to “Stopping by Woods…”

  14. Compare/Contrast • How are the woodchuck in “After Apple-Picking” and the horse in “Stopping by Woods” similar? Different?

  15. “Out, Out—” • What is the dramatic situation? • How are people’s fears about death expressed in the last two lines of the poem? • Do you think the speaker agrees with that attitude? Why or why not? • What attitude is expressed towards rural life and work in this poem?

  16. “Out, Out--” To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,Creeps in this petty pace from day to dayTo the last syllable of recorded time,And all our yesterdays have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!Life's but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stageAnd then is heard no more: it is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing. • Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5. • Despair, hopelessness, meaninglessness

  17. “Mending Wall” • What is the dramatic situation of the poem? • According to the speaker, why is it not necessary to rebuild this wall? • From whom did the neighbor get his saying, “Good fences make good neighbors”? Why is this ironic? • What is the something referred to in the first line that “doesn’t love a wall”? Give at least two possibilities. • What is the “darkness…not of woods only”? • What might the wall symbolize? In your view, what philosophies about human social relations does the poem explore?

  18. “Design” • Analyze the form of this poem. What kind of a poem is it? • Identify the three “characters” discussed in the poem. What color is each one? What is happening to the three characters? • Think carefully about the different meanings of the word character. Which definitions of the word might Frost be applying in line 4? How does each definition affect the meaning of the line? • Identify each of the similes in the octave. • What is ironic about the flower in the poem? • Briefly paraphrase what questions the poet asks in the sestet. • In line 13, the poet answers his own questions with another question. In your own words, explain how this question answers the previous one. • In line 14, Frost qualifies his answer with a reservation, beginning with a crucial “if.” What final question remains in his mind? How would you define a “design of darkness”? • What do you think the poem’s overall message might be? What was Frost trying to get at in this poem?

  19. “Death of the Hired Man” reading quiz • Remember: the point of these quizzes is always to prove to me that you’ve done your homework! • What are the names of the 3 main characters? • What is their relationship to each other? • What happens at the end?

  20. “Death of the Hired Man” • Describe the basic problem facing Warren, Mary, and Silas. • Why is Warren reluctant to hire Silas? • What is Silas’s attitude toward Harold Wilson, the college boy about whom he reminisces? What does he wish he could teach the boy, and why? • How does Mary feel about Silas? Find four remarks in the poem that reveal her true feelings. • Describe how Warren’s attitude toward Silas differs from Mary’s. Do you think Warren’s feelings about Silas are mixed? Give evidence from the poem to support your opinion. • Identify the details in lines 103-110 that provide a vivid image of the setting. Besides contributing to atmosphere, what does this passage reveal about Mary’s character? • Find and write the two definitions of “home” in this poem. Which definition do you favor, and why? • State in your own words the poem’s message. Do you think this message has any particular importance in today’s world?

  21. “Death of the Hired Man” • Consider the possible irony in this poem. Warren and Mary, able to hire Silas and to become controlling factors in his life, are here themselves controlled by Silas’s independence. Do you think the poet is pointing out that, in the long run, it is the free spirit who has the power to dominate those who “live by the rules”? Do you think this idea is true or false? Explain your answer.

  22. Review for Test • Here are the poems you need to know: • Masters: “Richard Bone,” “Lucinda Matlock,” “‘Butch’ Weldy” • Frost: “Birches,” “After Apple-Picking,” “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” “Desert Places,” “Out, Out,” “Design,” “Death of the Hired Man” • Also, don’t forget you’ll be responsible for memorizing and then explicating 10-12 lines of a poem • Any of the ones we’ve read, except for “Design”

  23. Review for Test Format: • Fill in the blank/very short answer (you won’t need complete sentences): • Background info • Biography • Terms • Other surface-level questions • Identifications • 3 and 5 point questions, just like last time • Explication (30-40 pts)

  24. Practice Explication! • “Mending Wall” • The Big Stuff • The Details • Tentative thesis?

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