Thursday and Friday all students will complete the NPS Spring Writing Benchmark in class. Those who are "early finishers" should plan to bring something to read on Friday (not on their cell phones). Those who are absent can complete this assignment in the Testing Center.
Today, students will work in pairs to compare and contrast "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost and a letter he also wrote. We will begin reading on page 376 of the textbook; there, students will find directions for a quick-write assignment. Once students have read and analyzed the poem and the letter, and discussed similarities, differences, and characteristics with their partners, students will answer questions 1-7 in complete sentences on page 380.
"The Road Not Taken" "Crossing Paths" (letter) Quick-write Prompt: Think of a choice you made that marked a turning point in your life--trying out for a sports team, signing up as a volunteer in your community, standing up for a friend. Go back to the moment when you made the choice, and imagine you made a different one instead. Jot down notes about how you envision your life would be different if that turning point had never happened. (5+ minutes of writing) Thinking Critically Questions from page 380: 1. Why might Frost have chosen to write about roads that go through woods rather than roads that go through a garden or a wide-open plain? (Consider what woods might SYMBOLIZE or stand for. Think also of the expression: "We're not out of the woods yet.") 2. The speaker faces a hard choice in deciding which road to take. What do you think he means when he says that he "kept" the first road for another day (line 13)? How do we know that he realizes his choice of paths is utterly final? 3. From what the speaker says in lines 6-10, is one road really "less traveled" than the other? Explain the CONTRADICTION in these lines. 4. Do you think the poem's final line is meant as VERBAL IRONY, or is it a sincere statement? Give reasons to support your response. 5. How would you describe the TONE of the poem--the speaker's attitude toward the subject? (Keep in mind that according to Frost, the most insightful question one could ask about the poem concerns line 16: Why the sigh?) Which words, phrases, or lines in the poem convey this tone to you? 6. Talk over your responses to Frost's letter "Crossing Paths." What connections do you see between the poem and thi incident Frost describes in the letter? What questions would you like to ask Frost? Why? Extending and Evaluating Question from page 380: 7. What is your opinion of the speaker's CONTRADICTION in lines 13-15 about having a chance to take the other road? Do you think people can ever go back and try another road? Explain your response. Today, students completed group work over the poem "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins and individual work over the poem "Faces" by Sara Teesdale. The first involved discussion questions, and the second involved questions plus a quickwrite (first hour did not get to the quickwrite, and will not complete it). Absent students must make up the group work as well as the individual work. The documents are attached below. ![]()
Today, we will complete a poetry anticipation guide for introductory discussion, and then we will begin copying down some of the poetry terms we will need for the unit. We will complete the copying of terms tomorrow. ![]()
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CategoriesAuthorMrs. Helton Archives
November 2016
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