The Road Not TakenThe Road Not TakenBy Jessica Li

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The Road Not Taken

• Two roads diverge in a yellow wood• Two roads: The

crossroads of life,

the dilemma of

human decision-

making.

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The Road Not Taken• Two roads diverge in a yellow wood• diverge: different

decisions lead to

different results

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The Road Not Taken• Two roads diverge in a yellow wood• in a yellow wood:

something that blocks

your vision; you feel

bewildered

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The Road Not Taken

• And sorry I could not travel both. And be one traveler, long I stood

• travel both: I want to

keep both

● long I stood : It is hard

for me to make a

choice

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The Road Not Taken

• And look down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth

• as far as I could: I

manage to envision

my future

● bent in the

undergrowth:there was

something I failed to figure

out

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The Road Not Taken

• Then took the other, as just as fair, and perhaps having the better claim.

• as just as fair: The other

one is as good as the

previous one.

● the better claim: the

better appeal

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The Road Not Taken

• Then took the other, as just as fair, and perhaps having the better claim.

as just as fair ( Fact)

the better claim (Opinion)

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The Road Not Taken

• Because it was grassy and wanted wear

• wanted wear: lacked

walking / few people

ever walked on it

few people choose

this

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The Road Not Taken• Though as for the passing there had

worn them really about the same• the passing: the

passing people

● had worn them really

about the same: the

same number of people

ever walked on them

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The Road Not Taken• And both that morning equally lay in

leaves no step had trodden black• both equally lay in

leaves: both roads lay

(lie) with leaves

covering them

both roads can be a

good choice

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The Road Not Taken• And both that morning equally lay in

leaves no step had trodden black• no step had trodden

black: no leaves had

become black due to

people’s wear

I can’t see the

differences between them

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The Road Not Taken• Oh, I kept the first for another day!• I decided to go back to

the first road for another

day.

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The Road Not Taken• Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

● way leads on to way:

a way will lead to another

/ there are crossroads

along the way

there is no way of

turning back

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The Road Not Taken• I shall be telling this with a sigh

somewhere ages and ages hence:• This is a reverse line

--- Somewhere ages

and ages hence, I shall

be telling this with

a sigh.

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The Road Not Taken• I shall be telling this with a sigh

somewhere ages and ages hence:• with a sigh: I may feel

regretful for not taking

the first road

I may feel regretful

for not doing something

I like

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The Road Not Taken• I shall be telling this with a sigh

somewhere ages and ages hence:• ages and ages: years after years

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The Road Not Taken• Two roads diverge in a wood, and I---

I took the less travelled by, and that has

made all the difference.

● the less travelled by: the road that few

people ever took/ the alternative job

● has made all the difference: has made

everything different/ I am what decision I

made

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Robert Frost • March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963• He never had a formal degree although he

enrolled at Harvard.• He won 4 Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry• Frost’s poems express

a sense of common humanity

(common humane nature).

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Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

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Nothing Gold Can Stay

∆ first green

---- new bud

---- youth

∆ is gold

---- is precious

∆ hue

---- color

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Nothing Gold Can Stay

∆ early leaf

--- new bud

∆ a flower

--- something precious and beautiful

∆ only so an hour

--- her beauty only lasts for a short time

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Nothing Gold Can Stay

∆ leaf(A) subsides to leaf (B)

--- leaf(A) means the new bud

--- leaf(B) means a normal leaf

∆ subsides to N

---- goes down to

---- sinks to

---- declines to

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Nothing Gold Can Stay

∆ Eden sank to grief,

--- Eden means pleasure or joys

∆ dawn goes down to day

--- dawn means the early time, the youth

---- day means the day time, the rest years

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Robert Frost • Frost’s poems have appealed to/ draw /

attract generations of readers.

---- His poems are popular with people of all ages.

● Frost’s poems are mostly descriptions of rural life and everyday events that explore deep aspects of human experience.

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Robert Frost • John F. Kennedy said, “ he has

bequeathed (left behind) his nation a body of (a large number of) imperishable (durable) verse (poems) from which Americans will forever gain joy and understanding.

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Robert Frost

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Edward Thomas• Edward Thomas liked to choose routes at

random.

--- He took the road at will.

● Yet, afterward, he would always complain that they could have enjoyed ( 過去推測 ) even lovelier scenery if it had not been for ( 若非 = but for/ without) his previous choice.

---- He wasn’t satisfied with what he had enjoyed and believed what he didn’t get was even better.

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Grammar• could/ might/ would + have PP 過去推測 EX1. You could have stopped the tragedy

if you had warned him.

EX 2. The ground is wet, so it might have rained this morning.

EX 3. Without restoration, the cultural relics would have collapsed years ago.

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Grammar• If it were not for / Were it not for N, S+

would /should/could /might +VR

若非 ----( 與現在相反的假設 )• If it had not been for/ Had it not been

for N, S + would /should /could /might + have PP.

若非 ----( 與過去相反的假設 )

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Grammar EX1. 若非我父母的鼓勵，我就不會有上台

的勇氣。 If it had not been for/ Had it not been

for my parents’ encouragement, I would not have had the courage to perform on stage.

EX 2. 如果沒有救生衣，我早就淹死了。 If it had not been for/ Had it not been

for the life jacket, I would have got drowned.

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GrammarEX 3. 如果沒有電腦，許多工作都無法執行。 If it were not for / Were it not for

computers, many tasks couldn’t get done.

EX4. 若非學測，高三生壓力不會這麼大。 If it were not for / Were it not for APE,

senior students wouldn’t suffer from so much pressure.

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About the Poem • The narrator, also a traveler, needed to

choose which way to take when he was standing at a crossroads.

• In the end, he selected the seemingly less trodden/ traveled one. In fact, the number of the passing there is really about the same.

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About the Poem • Since there was little possibility of going

back for the other one, he could not help but imagine (= could not help imagining) himself telling his choice-making tale (=a long story) with a “sigh” many years later.

• Imagine (V )+ Ving

EX. Many youngsters have been so accustomed to their parents’ care that they can’t imagine living by themselves some day.

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About the Poem • Frost’s sensitive ( 敏銳的 ) poetic narrative

may arouse(= stir) great empathy (=sympathy) in many of us when we recall the past decision-making experience in our life.

---- Our life is full of alternatives, waiting for us to choose from.

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About the Poem • When in distress, we tend to look back on

( 回顧 ) the moments when we needed to make important (= major) choices, like choosing career, the one to spend life with etc.

• In effect (= in reality), once we make a choice, we have to let go of all the other alternatives because we can just take one road at a time.

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About the Poem

• Every choice will lead us to a different series of other choices, making it impossible for us to go back.

You got married but let go your dream of becoming a rock star.

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Grammar

• lead (up) to N

result in N

bring about N

give rise to N

EX. 不同的選擇會造就不同的人生。 Different choices lead to different lives.

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Grammar• lead to 地方 通往 ---

EX. The path leads to the camping site.

● lead up to N 在 --- 之前 In the days leading up to graduation I did

very little.

● a series of N 一連串的 ---

EX. A strange series of events led (up) to the murder.

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Grammar• make N possible = realize N

EX. The advanced technology made a space trip possible.

● make it possible to VR

EX. 3-D printers make it possible to assemble a station in outer space.

EX. 持續不斷的努力就可能實現夢想。 Continuous efforts make your dream

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About the Poem• The poem can also be an inspiration for

those who need to make important (=major) decisions about their futures.

• For example, a student might stand at a crossroads, such as choosing which subject to major in or which college to attend.

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Grammar

• major in N 主修 EX. I was fond of archaeology but my

parents asked me to major in English, which was contradictory to my original plan.

● major (N)

Victor is an engineering major.

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About the Poem

• Later in life, there will be career paths to choose as well. Whatever problems we are confronted with (=are faced with) and whatever our choices are, it will, at any rate(=anyway), be no use regretting any choice that has been made.

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Career Path

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Grammar

• Whatever +N

EX. Everyone should be treated equally whatever races they are.

● be confronted with N = encounter N

EX. Whatever difficulties you are confronted with, you must solve them instead of escaping from them.

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Grammar• be no use + Ving

EX. 覆水難收。 It is no use crying over spilt milk.

EX. 光抱怨而不採取行動是沒有用的。 It is no use complaining instead of

taking actions.

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About the Poem

• The final choice is ours, and ours alone.

It is yourself that can determine your life. Once you make a decision, you have to face the consequences.

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