EDUC 581-002
Summer 2011
Patti Burford
The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost
5
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
10
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
15
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
20
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
2
EDUC 581 – Socratic Seminar
Audience – 8th grade students
Purpose – Decisions can change lives for the better or for worse.
Ideas and Values – courage, truth, choice (judgment), perseverance
Selected Text: “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
Pre-Seminar:

Summarize background information:
1. Review definition of tone and have students refer to handout (last page)
2. Give background information about Robert Frost via PowerPoint
 Born March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, CA and died January 29, 1963 in Boston, MA
 Father died when he was eleven and he moved to Salem, MA
 Went from job to job (including teaching) while still writing poetry
 Sold first poem in 1894 and got married in 1895
 Spent two years at Harvard, but had two children to raise so he became a chicken
farmer
 Had signs of tuberculosis (a disease caused by bacteria that attacks the lungs)
 Moved poultry business to Derry, NH
 His first son died soon after and his fourth daughter died a year later
 Grief and suffering caused Frost to turn more and more to poetry
 Began to teach again but then in 1912, he sold his farm, moved to England, and
dedicated his life to writing poetry
 1915 returned to the US, but did not like his new found fame
 Wrote many poems including “Nothing Gold Can Stay” which is referenced in The
Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
 Returned to teaching and kept writing
 Daughter died in 1934
 Week lungs caused him to spend winters in Florida, but remained on Harvard staff
 Wife died of a heart attack in 1938
 Delved into writing poetry again
 Only surviving son took his own life in 1940
 Wrote more poetry
 1961 recited “The Gift Outright” at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy
 More poems published then died from complications following a operation in 1963
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Fi-Gi/Frost-Robert.html
3
3.
Share Sherman’s Lagoon cartoon strip: Using fuzzy logic to make decisions
http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=62550
4. Discuss how to make good decisions
The Keys To Making a Good Decision
1. Identify the decision to be made as well as the objectives or outcome you want to achieve.
2. Do your homework. Gather as many facts and as much information you can to assess your options.
3. Brainstorm and come up with several possible choices. Determine if the options are compatible with
your values, interests and abilities.
4. Weigh the probabilities or possible outcomes. In other words, what's the worst that can happen? What
will happen if I do A, B or C and can I live with the consequences?
5. Make a list of the pros and cons. Prioritize which considerations are very important to you, and which
are less so. Sometimes when you match the pros against the cons you may find them dramatically
lopsided.
6. Solicit opinions and obtain feedback from those you trust or have had a similar situation to contend with.
There may be some aspects you haven't thought about.
7. Make the decision and monitor your results. Make sure you obtain the desired outcome.
http://www.essentiallifeskills.net/gooddecision.html
5. Introduce vocabulary words
Vocabulary word:
diverged (lines 1 & 18)
undergrowth (line 5)
wear (line 8)
trodden (line 12)
Definition:
to move, lie, or extend in different directions from a
common point; branch off
low-lying vegetation or small trees growing beneath larger
trees; underbrush
to undergo gradual impairment, diminution, reduction,
etc., from wear, use, attrition, or other causes
to form by the action of walking or trampling: to tread a
path
4
ages (line 17)
hence (line 17)
the length of time during which a being or thing has
existed; length of life or existence to the time spoken of or
referred to
from this time; from now
http://dictionary.reference.com/
Questions:


Opening
1. What one word best describes the author’s tone? (Round Robin)
2. What is the main idea of the poem?
Core
1. How do line 9-10 and line 19 differ? Why is this significant?
2. What is the significance of the “sigh” in line 16?
3. Why does the speaker use a dash at the end of line 18?
4. How do you think the poem would change if the speaker would have taken the first road? How
would this change the tone of the poem?
5. What does Robert Frost mean by “and that has made all the difference” (line 20)?
Inspiration for this question found on http://books.google.com/books?id=7etIXPufigC&pg=PR9&lpg=PR9&dq=the+road+not+taken+socratic+seminar&source=bl&ots=9DthgfUzzT&sig=6mSwWAkiej
jAGGNzEwx14RRe2sw&hl=en&ei=urMLTuxKuLo0QH7jo1k&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=the%20road%2
0not%20taken%20socratic%20seminar&f=f

Closing
1. Choices in life present themselves all the time. How does making choices often mean making
compromises?
2. Think of a time when you have made an important decision. What factors helped you make
that decision? Why would you or would you not make that same decision today?
Post-Seminar:

Sometimes it takes courage to admit you made a bad decision. We can sometimes learn from the
mistakes of others. Based on your experience, write a letter to a new seventh grade student offering
advice to make his/her academic transition easier. Perhaps this will encourage the seventh grade
students to take the right road.
Process Activities:

Students will share their writing prompts with one another.
5
tone = speaker’s attitude
POSITIVE TONE WORDS
admiring
adoring
affectionate
appreciative
approving
bemused
benevolent
blithe
calm
casual
celebratory
cheerful
comforting
comic
compassionate
complimentary
conciliatory
confident
contented
delightful
earnest
ebullient
ecstatic
effusive
elated
empathetic
encouraging
euphoric
excited
exhilarated
expectant
facetious
fervent
flippant
forthright
friendly
funny
gleeful
gushy
happy
hilarious
hopeful
humorous
interested
introspective
jovial
joyful
laudatory
light
lively
mirthful
modest
nostalgic
optimistic
passionate
placid
playful
poignant
proud
reassuring
reflective
relaxed
respectful
reverent
romantic
sanguine
scholarly
self-assured sentimental
serene
silly
sprightly
straightforward
sympathetic
tender
tranquil
whimsical
wistful
worshipful
zealous
NEUTRAL
(+, -, or neutral)
commanding
direct
impartial
indirect
meditative
objective
questioning
speculative
unambiguous
unconcerned
understated
NEGATIVE TONE WORDS
abhorring
acerbic
ambiguous
ambivalent
angry
annoyed
antagonistic
anxious
apathetic
apprehensive
belligerent
bewildered
biting
bitter
blunt
bossy
cold
conceited
condescending
confused
contemptuous
curt
cynical
demanding
depressed
derisive
derogatory
desolate
despairing
desperate
detached
diabolic
disappointed
disliking
disrespectful
doubtful
embarrassed
enraged
evasive
fatalistic
fearful
forceful
foreboding
frantic
frightened
frustrated
furious
gloomy
grave
greedy
grim
harsh
haughty
holier-than-thou
hopeless
http://foshaylc.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2010/9/2/42621980/tone_and_mood.pdf
hostile
impatient
incredulous
indifferent
indignant
inflammatory
insecure
insolent
irreverent
lethargic
melancholy
mischievous
miserable
mocking
mournful
nervous
ominous
outraged
paranoid
pathetic
patronizing
pedantic
pensive
pessimistic
pretentious
psychotic
resigned
reticent
sarcastic
sardonic
scornful
self-deprecating
selfish
serious
severe
sinister
skeptical
sly
solemn
somber
stern
stolid
stressful
strident
suspicious
tense
threatening
tragic
uncertain
uneasy
unfriendly
unsympathetic
upset
violent
wry
6
Bibliography
http://books.google.com/books?id=7etIXPufigC&pg=PR9&lpg=PR9&dq=the+road+not+taken+socratic+seminar&source=bl&ots=9DthgfUzzT&sig=6mSwWAkiejjAGG
NzEwx14RRe2sw&hl=en&ei=urMLTuxKuLo0QH7jo1k&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=the%20road%20not
%20taken%20socratic%20seminar&f=false
This website lists various questions as well as the level of most of the questions.
http://foshaylc.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2010/9/2/42621980/tone_and_mood.pdf
This lists positive, neutral, and negative words to describe tone.
http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=62550
This is a Frank and Ernest cartoon depicting choices/decision making.
http://www.essentiallifeskills.net/gooddecision.html
This site lists the components of good decision making.
http://www.ketzle.com/frost/roadnot.htm
This website contains the poem, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Fi-Gi/Frost-Robert.html
This site has relevant background information about Robert Frost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQDkG7_QHq4
This is an analysis of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.
http://dictionary.reference.com/
This is the source for the definitions of the vocabulary words.