Lesson Plan 1 –The Mending Wall

Robert Frost

Goals: To expose students to the elements of poetic creation.

Objectives:

Students will define and understand in context common poetic devices such as rhymes and meter.

Students will understand the relationship between a poem's form and content.

Standards:

For 9th/10th grade:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy: Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Activities:

1. Divide students into groups and have them research Robert Frost. They need to find out where he lived, events that influenced his life, awards that he received, etc. Complete a written report and try to include photos especially of his farm in Derry NH.

Discuss Frost's life, influences, writings, etc.

2. Find a recording of Frost reading "Mending Wall: aloud (Academy of American Poets has one.) Distribute copies for easier reference and analysis. Ask students to number each stanza for easier reference and analysis.

3. Ask a student to read the poem aloud and have the class pay attention to the diferences in the poem's rhythm.

4. Ask students to describe the rhythm of the first three lines. (Remind them that poetry often has stressed and unstressed beats.

  • Did you notice a change in rhythm during the poem? (Review iambic pentameter with students.)

(Change in rhythm represents gaps in stones)

5. Break into groups. Using form analysis worksheet, ask each group to analyze the poem's form and content.

6. Pull class together and conduct discussion of worksheet results. Question: How does Frost marry form and content in this poem?

As discussion progresses and the following questions to the mix:

  • How would you describe the speaker and tone?
  • How would you describe the neighbor? compare them.
  • What is the meaning of the word "mending" in the title and the poem? What needs mending?
  • What ways do walls become metaphorical and/or symbolic in this poem?
  • Why do "good fences make good neighbors?"

6. Read the next 6 lines silently and then aloud (lines 5-11). Is there any change in the poem's consistency? How? Why do you think Frost did this?

Assessment:

Have student's write a short argumentative essay on Frost's marriage of form and content. Students may use the following questions to assist writing their essay:

  • As the poem draws to a close, does the form continue to include gaps (rhythm, space between stones, etc.) or has the form mended itself?
  • By the end of the poem do we have a complete wall?
  • How does the form of the wall influence the theme of dispute between the neighbors?

Resources: See resources on another sheet

Lesson Plan 2 –The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

Goals: To explore with students how the choices we make in life affect our thoughts, emotion, place/setting, outcome?

Objectives:

Students will define and understand in context common poetic devices such as rhymes and meter.

Students will understand the relationship between a poem's form and content.

Standards:

For 8thgrade:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy: Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Activities:

1. Instruct students to take out a sheet of paper and write down 4 choices they made this week. Then have them a number by them to indicate least - most important (1-4). Turn and share your lists with a neighbor.

2. Write the following words on the board: Wood, Undergrowth, Trodden, Grassy, Worn. Have students turn to their neighbor once again and share what they think the words mean.

3. Ask a student to read the poem aloud and have the class pay attention to the diferences in the poem's rhythm.

4. Ask students: Based on what you've just shared with each other, what do you think the poem we are about to study is all about?

5. We are going to read a famous American poem about a choice someone has to make. Pass Out copies of the poem and have students read it silently and have them answer for themselves if their predictions were correct. Class discussion.

6. Have student pairs re-read the poem and then discuss what they think the poem means. As you travel among the groups listening, once they are winding down hand them a slip with the following questions for further exploration. Write down their answers for sharing later.

  • What are the differences between the two roads?
  • Is the author happy with his choices?
  • Do you think it was a difficult choice?
  • What does the poem mean?

7. Have student pairs share with one another the list of choices they made earlier with each other.

a. Have them expand on their list brainstorming other ideas on choices they've made in their lives that have had an impact on their life. (Examples: becoming a vegetarian, quit piano (music) lessons, join a sports team, wear roller blades to school.)

b. From this list have them each choose one example to turn into their own poem. Be sure to make note of the "inciting" incident. (An inciting incident is something that happened that forced them to make this decision.) For example: In The Road Not Taken the speaker had to make a choice. He had to choose what road he wanted to continue using for his journey.

c. Next ask them to create a list of consequences that accompany their choice. (In The Road Not Taken the speaker tells the reader that the "choice made all the difference" but he doesn't explain what he meant by the "difference".) Tell them that in their poem they must explain the difference in their choice.

For example:

Choice: Becoming a vegetarian

Inciting Incident: choosing between meatloaf and a salad at lunch

Consequences: my family thought I was weird, my friends laughed at me, people tried to trick me into eating something with meat in it, I became healthier

8. Write a draft of your poem. You can use a similar rhyming pattern similar to the one we've just studied or write free verse, author's choice of rhyming scheme.

9. Read your poem to your partner. Does the poem make sense? Does the poem include enough about your choice> If not, revise it so others can enjoy it.

10. Revise your poem, add a title, and publish the final draft.

Assessment:

Final draft of the poem is turned in at the conclusion of the lesson.

Resources: See resources on another sheet

Name: ______Class Period: ______

Stanza / Location / Time / Emotion / Occupation/daily activity / What inferences can you make from this stanza?
Stanza 1 / A yellow wood
Two roads diverged / Sorry / Traveler / It is fall because the leaves are yellow
Stanza 2
Stanza 3
Stanza 4
Meyer, Bruce. "Critical Essay on 'Mending Wall'."Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999.Literature Resource Center.
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Dworkin, Craig. "Critical Essay on 'Mending Wall'."Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999.Literature Resource Center.
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Lentricchia, Frank. "Experience as Meaning: Robert Frosts's 'Mending Wall,'."The CEA Critic34.4 (May 1972): 9-11. Rpt. inPoetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999.Literature Resource Center.
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Davis, Robbie, and Ed Williams. "Fences and between fences: cultural, historical, and Smithsonian perspectives."Journal of the Southwest50.3 (2008): 243+.Literature Resource Center.
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Klein, Amelia. "The counterlove of Robert Frost."Twentieth Century Literature54.3 (2008): 362+.Literature Resource Center.
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"Mending Wall."Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1995.Literature Resource Center.
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"Overview: 'Mending Wall'."Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999.Literature Resource Center.
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"The Road Not Taken."Poetry Criticism. Ed. Michelle Lee. Vol. 71. Detroit: Gale, 2006.Literature Resource Center.
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Ogilvie, John T. "From Woods to Stars: A Pattern of Imagery in Robert Frost's Poetry."South Atlantic Quarterly58.1 (Winter 1959): 64-76. Rpt. inContemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jean C. Stine and Bridget Broderick. Vol. 26. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983.Literature Resource Center.
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Winters, Yvor. "Robert Frost: Or, the Spiritual Drifter as Poet."The Function of Criticism: Problems and Exercises, Alan Swallow(1957). Rpt. inContemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. DedriaBryfonski. Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale Research, 1979.Literature Resource Center.
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"Robert Faggen."Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2011.Literature Resource Center.
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"Robert Frost."Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2009.Literature Resource Center.
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Hart, Linda. "The English years of Robert Frost."Contemporary Review290.1689 (2008): 200+.Literature Resource Center.
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Dickey, James. "Robert Frost, man and myth: November 1966."The AtlanticDec. 2006: 54+.Literature Resource Center.
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Chiasson, Dan. "Bet The Farm."The New Yorker10 Feb. 2014: 72.Literature Resource Center.
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"Interview: Peter Stanlis talks about poet Robert Frost."All Things Considered23 Jan. 2002.Literature Resource Center.
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"Robert Frost Notebooks Published for First Time."Weekend All Things Considered28 Jan. 2007.Literature Resource Center.
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Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken."The AtlanticAug. 1990: 16.Literature Resource Center.
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Fleming, Bruce. "A student's guide to the classics."The Antioch ReviewSummer 2003: 477+.Literature Resource Center.
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"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and Robert Frost took the fork to stardom."PRI's The World26 Nov. 2013.Literature Resource Center. .
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"Robert Frost."Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2014.Literature Resource Center.
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Logan, William. "Early Frost."The New York Times Book Review22 June 2014: 14(L).Literature Resource Center.
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O'Keeffe, Dennis. "The road not taken."QuadrantJan.-Feb. 2009: 118+.Literature Resource Center..
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Desmond, John F. "Robert Frost: philosopher-poet."Modern Age50.3 (2008): 262+.Literature Resource Center.
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"The Road Not Taken."Poetry Criticism. Ed. Michelle Lee. Vol. 71. Detroit: Gale, 2006.Literature Resource Center.
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"Mending Wall."Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1995.Literature Resource Center.
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"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1995.Literature Resource Center.
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"Road Not Taken, The."Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1995.Literature Resource Center.
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