The Road Not Taken

1. The hiker contradicts himself within the poem. He first says that both paths looked the same, but later, as he contemplates how he will someday look back on his decision, he states that he took the path “less travelled.” What main idea about decision-making do you think the poet is communicating through this shift in the speaker’s descriptions of the paths?

2. The poem’s title focuses on the road not taken by the speaker, yet the final, oft-quoted lines of the poem center on the path he did take. What does this tension accomplish? Remember that the speaker and the poet are two separate people. What different viewpoints and opinions might they have? Use evidence from the poem to support your ideas.

3. The poem’s setting is a “yellow wood” (Line 1). Why might the speaker or poet describe the forest in such a way? What emotions or images does the color yellow conjure? What might the poet be suggesting about the woods based on the color? How does the symbolic nature of the color yellow fit with the poem’s main idea?