The Road Not Taken – ROBERT FROST - NOTES

The Road Not Taken – ROBERT FROST

Introduction

The speaker stands in the woods, considering a fork in the road. Both ways are equally worn and equally overlaid with un-trodden leaves. The speaker chooses one, telling himself that he will take the other another day. Yet he knows it is unlikely that he will have the opportunity to do so. And he admits that someday in the future he will recreate the scene with a slight twist: He will claim that he took the less-traveled road.

Form

“The Road Not Taken” consists of four stanzas of five lines. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB; the rhymes are strict and masculine, with the notable exception of the last line (we do not usually stress the -ence of difference). There are four stressed syllables per line, varying on an iambic tetrameter base.

Commentary

This has got to be among the best-known, most-often-misunderstood poems on the planet. Several generations of careless readers have turned it into a piece of Hallmark happy-graduation-son, seize-the-future puffery. Cursed with a perfect marriage of form and content, arresting phrase wrought from simple words, and resonant metaphor, it seems as if “The Road Not Taken” gets memorized without really being read. For this it has died the cliché’s un-death of trivial immortality.
But you yourself can resurrect it from zombie-hood by reading it—not with imagination, even, but simply with accuracy. Of the two roads the speaker says “the passing there / Had worn them really about the same.” In fact, both roads “that morning lay / In leaves no step had trodden black.” Meaning: Neither of the roads is less traveled by. These are the facts; we cannot justifiably ignore the reverberations they send through the easy aphorisms of the last two stanzas.
One of the attractions of the poem is its archetypal dilemma, one that we instantly recognize because each of us encounters it innumerable times, both literally and figuratively. Paths in the woods and forks in roads are ancient and deep-seated metaphors for the lifeline, its crises and decisions. Identical forks, in particular, symbolize for us the nexus of free will and fate: We are free to choose, but we do not really know beforehand what we are choosing between. Our route is, thus, determined by an accretion of choice and chance, and it is impossible to separate the two.
This poem does not advise. It does not say, “When you come to a fork in the road, study the footprints and take the road less traveled by” (or even, as Yogi Berra enigmatically quipped, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”). Frost’s focus is more complicated. First, there is no less-traveled road in this poem; it isn’t even an option. Next, the poem seems more concerned with the question of how the concrete present (yellow woods, grassy roads covered in fallen leaves) will look from a future vantage point.
The ironic tone is inescapable: “I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence.” The speaker anticipates his own future insincerity—his need, later on in life, to rearrange the facts and inject a dose of Lone Ranger into the account. He knows that he will be inaccurate, at best, or hypocritical, at worst, when he holds his life up as an example. In fact, he predicts that his future self will betray this moment of decision as if the betrayal were inevitable. This realization is ironic and poignantly pathetic. But the “sigh” is critical. The speaker will not, in his old age, merely gather the youth about him and say, “Do what I did, kiddies. I stuck to my guns, took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Rather, he may say this, but he will sigh first; for he won’t believe it himself. Somewhere in the back of his mind will remain the image of yellow woods and two equally leafy paths.
Ironic as it is, this is also a poem infused with the anticipation of remorse. Its title is not “The Road Less Traveled” but “The Road Not Taken.” Even as he makes a choice (a choice he is forced to make if does not want to stand forever in the woods, one for which he has no real guide or definitive basis for decision-making), the speaker knows that he will second-guess himself somewhere down the line—or at the very least he will wonder at what is irrevocably lost: the impossible, unknowable Other Path. But the nature of the decision is such that there is no Right Path—just the chosen path and the other path. What are sighed for ages and ages hence are not so much the wrong decisions as the moments of decision themselves—moments that, one atop the other, mark the passing of a life. This is the more primal strain of remorse.
Thus, to add a further level of irony, the theme of the poem may, after all, be “seize the day.” But a more nuanced carpe diem, if you please.

PRANAV BHAT – ENGLISH – GOVERNMENT COLLEGE, KASARAGOD

THANK YOU - NOTES

THANK YOU

The lesson ‘Thank you’ describes about the importance of politeness and good manners. In this chapter the anonymous author highlights the domineering nature of a manager in Shelford. The author talks about the discourteous and inconsiderate attitude of the manager towards his subordinates, and the adroitness of the chief clerk named Hollis who tried to teach his manager about politeness

The manager was hard working, punctual, clean and well dressed but his impoliteness and authoritative nature to his co workers cast shadow on his good qualities. In his professional life he never used ‘thank you,’ please’ like courteous words. His reluctance to acknowledge the fine performances of his subordinates and his rudeness made the staff to leave the office swiftly.

Manager was too ignorant of his staff’s grievances, moreover the manager was unapproachable, and no one in the company could explain the manager about the reason for their resignation and he was not ready to understand the changes in the office staff and never tried to alter his attitude.

The staff always wanted to escape from the stifling and egotistic leadership of the manager, so they approached the chief clerk named Hollis to be a spokesperson for them. Being a veteran in the company who was looking for a congenial occasion to inform the manager about his authoritative nature. One Friday evening Hollis got an opportunity to teach the manger about the importance of being polite in professional and personal life.

One day Hollis got a laborious task to finish before Friday evening. Hollis worked hard and completed his assignment with great satisfaction and he expected words of praise from the manager. But the manager did not give compliment to Hollis’s splendid performance. As the manager seemed indifferent, Hollis sadly stepped back. In order to teach the manager about the value of the word ‘Thank you’ he deliberately stood on the door of the office.

He turned around and said’ I beg your pardon’. Hearing this unexpected statement the manager replied “ I did not speak” .For Hollis that was an opportunity to make the manager to realize  the importance of being grateful .Hollis said he thought the manager said thank you to him. This deliberate and sarcastic comment was intended to teach the manager about the need to be polite to his co workers.

Spoken English and Broken English - NOTES

Spoken English and Broken English            

    Bernard Shaw

                Bernard Shaw in his Spoken English and Broken English, an audio speech given to foreign speakers of English discusses the challenges of speaking English like a native speaker. He gives some examples to expose the oddity of English language.

                  According to Shaw a non – native speaker of English is likely to be perplexed by the varieties of Dialects, accents, and intonations, spellings, slang, lexical and grammatical difficulties of English. According to him a non native speaker should not try to impress a native speaker, for him imitating a native speaker is ridiculous.

                   According to the author there is no correct and perfect English, there is presentable and intelligible English. He says that no two British people speak exactly alike. He advises foreign speakers to pronounce English language in their own genuine way.

Bernard Shaw gives some examples to show the varieties of dialects and pronunciation of English. He argues that even the eduacated committee who was assigned to assess the voice quality of actors do not utter the two simplest and commonest words in English such as ‘yes’ and ‘No’.

                  According to Shaw we all have company manners and home manners. He argues that even the educated people speak differently in various contexts. He says that people adopt different speaking styles in formal, informal and familiar situations, in formal situations we will be more conscious of our language, in that context we all prefer sophisticated language.

        According to Shaw we should be aware of the language we use in informal context, he warns foreigners not to be too polished and pedantic in unofficial circumstances. He instructs foreigners to speak presentable English, he instructs them to speak comprehensible English.

                     According to Shaw majority in London speak English differently, so he counsels foreigners to use simple English. He advocates foreigners to learn English from broken English, without bothering too much about grammar rules. He also suggests that using English in private conversation with cultivated native speakers should not be ostentatious. Bernard Shaw in his writing career expressed his concerns about the peculiarity of English; being a well known satirist he never missed the opportunity to criticize the idiosyncrasies’ of the English language.

New Directions - NOTES

New Directions
Maya Angelou

ANALYSIS
Maya Angelou wrote the story about Mrs. Annie Johnson, a woman who chooses to take her own ways. In the beginning of the story we get to know that she lives in an unhappy marriage with two sons. One day, she tells her husband how she feels and they both agree to get a divorce. Her husband moves to Oklahoma to studying religion and he brought with him the most of the money they had. Therefore Annie had to make the money by herself.
She would not work at home, so she decided to go her own way and let someone else take care of her children. It was impossible to get a job at one of the two local factories, the cotton gin and the lumber mill. She wanted them to work for her, and she managed it brilliantly! She would make food for them. It did not matter that she was not that good on fancy food, she would satisfy them anyway. Annie followed her plan through. She cooked the food and carried all the heavy food first three miles to the cotton gin and after that, five miles to the lumber mill. She switched on which factory she went to first and last, on that way it was fair for which of them who got the freshest meal. The income wasn’t that good the first time, but Annie was determined. The years went and Annie never disappointed her costumers, and in the end, it became a shop out of it which was located between the cotton gin and the lumber mill.

The Message
The message in this story is that everybody has the right to go the way they want. And that we, from the ways we already have chosen, will be able to learn if they were right or wrong.

Why this is relevant for the education programme
This story is relevant for education because we learn about the american values. Annie was tired of her unhappy marriage; therefore she wanted to start all over again. She started from the beginning and went her own ways in hope for a better life. This is linked with mobility. On the same way, Annie took care of herself and do not depend on any others, this is a sign on individualism.

MY FINANCIAL CAREER - NOTES

My Financial Career

STEPHEN LEACOCK

MUHAMMAD SHAHEER – ENGLISH – GOVERNMENT COLLEGE, KASARAGOD

Stephen Leacock’s humorous essay’ My Financial Career’ illustrates a Youngman’s nervousness and fear regarding opening a bank account. In this lesson the author satirizes the attitude of banking system that tries to embarrass the common man who visits banks for monetary transactions.

When the narrator visits a bank to open an account everything in the bank rattles him. When he enters the bank the sight of clerks and wickets creates terror in him .excess of anxiety in him makes him a butt of ridicule in front of the staffs in the bank.

His inexperience and mysterious manner prompt the manger to consider him as a detective agent from Pinkerton’s group, the manager mistakes him as millionaire, but man’s fifty six dollar makes the manager uninterested and he informs the accountant to help him to open an account. In his nervousness he enters in to an iron safe mistaking it for the door. The manager orders him to come out, this mistake aggregates his tension. With difficulty he deposits his fifty six dollars but at once he decides to withdraw six dollars for present use but his tension forces him to write fifty six instead of six. This strange act surprises the accountant .

In order to conceal his foolish mistake he pretends that somebody has insulted his anxiety on banking; so he decides to withdraw all his money he has deposited. He gets back the money and rushes out  of the bank. Everyone in the bank laughs at him

In this short humorous narrative Stephen Leacock wants tells about the inhospitable attitude of bureaucracy towards common people who visit bank like offices to get things done. Leacock’s deft portrayal of the characteristics of officers in the bank is an attack on the power structures which terrifies laymen unnecessarily. Sentences which Leacock used to denote the mocking countenance of both the manager and the accountant towards the narrator’s helplessness and lack of knowledge on banking affairs is a  can be deemed it as a sharp criticism against the haughtiness and arrogance of official systems.

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