Question

During the discussion, what main similarities and/or differences did participants identify between the two poems?

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost
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;
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,
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.
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.

I’m Nobody! Who Are You?
by Emily Dickinson

Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!

How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!

Answer 1

Answer: Similarities:

1. Both poems deal with themes related to choice, individuality, and identity.

2. Both poems use nature imagery to illustrate their respective themes.

3. Both poems are relatively short and use simple language.

Differences:

1. "The Road Not Taken" is a narrative poem that tells a story about a speaker who must choose between two paths. "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" is a shorter, more whimsical poem that asks a rhetorical question about the nature of identity.

2. "The Road Not Taken" has a more serious tone, while "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" is playful and irreverent.

3. The two poems use different types of rhyme and meter: "The Road Not Taken" uses an ABAB rhyme scheme and iambic tetrameter, while "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" uses an ABCB rhyme scheme and iambic trimeter.

4. The poems were written by different authors in different historical periods: Robert Frost wrote "The Road Not Taken" in 1916, while Emily Dickinson wrote "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" in the mid-19th century.

Step-by-step explanation: