If you are first to arrive here for this assignment, post a question or make a comment (A or B) related to a recent lesson. If a comment has already been posted by a groupmate, you will need to respond to the comment and add additional reflection.
I agree with Jack. I don't understand what the man means when he says "Good fences make good neighbors." In the poem, Mending Wall, it is hard to catch the message that Frost is talking about. In the poem Two Tramps in Mud Time, the tramps come to take the mans job. A tramp is a person who travels on foot from place to place and will do odd jobs for money. In the poem, this man does not want to give his job to the tramps because he realizes that he needs his job and he enjoys what he does. Frost writes about life, love, and death which makes his poems deep and interesting to read.
1. In "Mending Wall" is Robert Frost talking about how neighbors are happy to do an activity together, but after it is completed, they return to their individual lives?
2. Does the line "good fences make good neighbors" represent the strength of a friendship if it is built over a short period of time and the weakening of it over a longer period time? For example, summer camp: You make friends in a few weeks, then don't see the people until the following summer. You have grown apart, but quickly rebuild your friendship in an activity you do together once a year.
3. What does Robert Frost mean when he refers to "Elves" in the poem "Mending Wall"?
I also don't understand what Frost means when he says "Good fences make good neighbors" in the poem, Mending Wall. But my favorite poem was "Two Tramps in Mud Time". I feel that Frost is trying to get across the ideas about love and work. You should do what you love. The tramps needed the money so the narrator tries to convince himself to give up the job since he only chops wood for fun. Just because he isn't doing the work for money, doesn't mean he should stop chopping the wood all together. Frost also makes many points about nature in this poem, and the narrator appreciates every little thing while he chops wood, while the tramps only chop wood, but I think the narrator hopes that eventually the tramps will come to appreciate the job and the nature around it as much as he did. Frost uses the line, "My avocation and my vocation" this means his hobby and his job, so what he loves to do and what he has to do to make a living, and if everyone loved what they did and could make a living doing what they loved, then the world would be a happier place, and the job would be done better than if someone just had to do it to survive, and there was no passion put behind the act.
I completly agree with Morgan Garrett's comment about how the world would be a happier place if everyone loved their jobs and had a passion for it. But I am beginning to develop the idea that Frost not only meant have a love for our jobs but also for life, our families, and nature. Imagine what the world could be if everyone truly had a passion for life and lived each day to the fullest. If people even had a deep love for mother earth, perhaps we could make her healthier. But what I believe would produce the most results is if everyone had a love and respect for everyone around them (not just the people they liked.) Also I really enjoyed the stanza in "Two Tramps in Mud Time" where Frost talked about the weather. I like the way he addressed the superstition "As if so much you dare to speak" as if the weather would turn around because someone mentioned how lovely it was! Which makes me wonder if Frost always tries to in force this idea of deeper meaning to us? Or if he also liked adding some comic relief to his poems?
1. In all of Robert Frost's poems that we have read so far, he seems to mention nature, whether it plays a large or small part. In the poem, "Out, Out" he mentions the five mountain ranges in Vermont. In the poem, "The Tuft of Flowers," the key element that connects the"mower" and the "person who picks up the grass" is a tuft of flowers. There are many more examples, but why is nature such a major theme in his poems? What emotional attachment does Robert Frost have to nature? Why is nature a common topic in his poems?
2. At the end of the poem, "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" what promise does the person have to keep?
3. In many of Frost's poems, he uses the words, "I", or "my". Does this mean that he has experienced some of the situations in the poems?
hey its marshall i forgot my old email accounts password so i made a new one here are my notes
Honors English notes for August 23, 2010 by: Marshall Mann
Out out is an illusion from Macbeth when Lady Macbeth dies from meaningless life. When the saw leaps out of the hand it is personification. The saw snarls and rattles and is sinister. When Frost makes the sound of breeze and wheeze, he is making the sound of wind. Frost says something will happen because he said nothing has happened so far. He also said he wished they had let the boy have a break from sawing so he wouldn't have died. Frost is implying that God has a hand in death. The boy is too young to be using a chain saw but farm work is hard and everyone has to pitch in. No one believed that the boy would die and they didn't believe that a good God would allow that to happen. Little-Less-Nothing imitates the boy's heartbeat decreasing. Frost is saying you have to move on and there's nothing you can do. A cord of wood is 4x4x8. The wood against a tree represents a poem. Life holds ideas like the tree holds the cord of wood. Like the human ties and stacks the wood against the tree, so does the poet when creating poetry. When he uses experiences and ideas based in life and organizes it into a poem, he is doing work relative to a logger.
1. In "Out, Out" how was the death of the young boy influenced by Frost's son that he lost? 2. Many of Frost's poems are individualized, yet they have a universal meaning. How might this portray how Frost was raised and taught as a child? Did he grow up being taught that he should try to influence the world or to stay on a more personal level? 3. What influenced Frost to become a poet? Was it an experience or did he just start writing?
I agree with Shep on the poem, "Out, Out." Frost thinks God has let the boy die. Frost didn't have a stable relationship with God and he wavered back and forth on whether to believe or trust in him. Obviously during the writing of this poem Frost wasn't at ease with god and it's understandable after losing a loved one. He states that the saw snarls and rattles. He also states that nothing has happened yet. This is implying that something is about to happen involving the saw and the boy. After the event takes place and the boy has lost his hand he's led to his room for a doctor to tend to him. During his time with the doctor he begins to lose his heartbeat. Little-less-nothing! Frost using this to show the death of the boy, but as well the life leaving the boy. I think Frost uses a boy as death's victim because it symbolizes youth and being young. Frost knew when his wife died it was too early and she was stilly fairly young. At the end Frost tells us that soon after the boy's death everyone returns to their previous task. This symbolizes people having to move along in life even after the death of a loved one.
I agree with Matt because in the poem"Out, Out" frost personifies the saw as living thing therefor controlled by god. He believes that god took away the child, so the family must move on and dwell on his death.
In the poem "The Oven Bird", I believe Frost is referring to how everything must eventually come to an end, but the end can be a new beginning as well. For example, Frost says the leaves are old, and comes the fall. At the beginning, the sonnet appears to be all about nature and beauty, but by the end something bad has happened, and know one is exactly sure how to react. In this poem, it almost seems as if he is grieving about something. The analogy "mid-summer is to spring as one to ten" seems to say that spring is better because everyone is excited for summer, but in mid-summer, people are just sad that it is halfway over and it may not have gone the way he planned. The last line "what to make of a diminished thing" also refers to grieving and one of Frost's common themes, death. It's kind of like "where do we go from here" or "what's next"?
Are most of Frost's poems about death because of his son's death.. or is there another reason?
What does Frost mean in the poem, "The Silken Tent", when he says, "She is as in a field a silken tent"
I really like the poem, "Mending Wall", Frost talks about natural boundaries that separate people, but why do we put them there if we don't know why? Just because there have always been walls? We keep building them, even though Frost implies nature is the greater power and will eventually ruin the walls. And if we keep having to repair the "gaps" in the wall, why should we even have them there?
To answer Morgan's first question, "Are most of Frost's poems about death because of his son's death.. or is there another reason?" I think it isn't just about his son, but death is something all people can relate to. When you write a poem about something that only applies to certain people then maybe only certain people will enjoy it. When you right a poem about something that applies to everyone, it gives everyone the chance to learn from it and enjoy it's meaning.
I agree with Madison when she mentions that death seems to be a common theme in Robert Frost's poems. In class, while we discussed the poem, "Never Again Would Bird's Song be the Same," we mentioned that the gift of man is death. And in a way, this is a good thing and a bad thing. Knowing that someday we won't be here allows us to appreciate life more I think. Knowing that we've got to make this life all that it can be, because someday we won't be here, gives us a whole new perception on things. Also, with death, we got love. Now because we know that thing or person won't be here brings people closer together. This is a good thing, because sometimes those people or things influence our lives so much, and sometimes make our lives more meaningful. On the other hand, when we said in class the gift of man is death, it also really isn't a gift at all. Yes, it does allows us to appreciate things more, and to love things; but if we didn't have death then we wouldn't have the burden of it. We would never have to worry about that person being gone. But on the brighter side, we can also that bird's are also a main theme in Robert Frost's poems. They show imagination taking off. I know that I have a harder time breaking down the poems and finding the deep thoughts that were going through Robert Frost's head when I first read Robert Frost;s work. But when he writes his poems, and after we break them down in class, I can see his imagination really taking flight when he thinks of all these analogies in his poems. For example, the quart of wood representing thoughts of a poet, being held up by poet, and the tree of life also being supportive of the quart.
The poem I had a question about was, " Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening." When Frost says, " Whose woods these are I think I know," he's implying God owns the forest because no one else could own a forest. However, he also states, " He will not see me stopping here." The sole reason why God owns the forest is because he is all mighty and he has created the earth. Although, Frost then contradicts this by saying, " He will not see me stopping here." My question is whether or not Frost is implying he thinks God might not be all knowing? Also I had a question about the last stanza in the poem. When he says, " But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." Is Frost implying that he has much more to do and a long way to go before he dies?
To go with what Matt said, I think when Frost says "and miles to go before I sleep" he is talking about death like Madison said death seems to be reoccurring in his poems. I think Frost is saying when he says "I have promises to keep" he could be talking about living his life including his responsibilities as probably a husband and a dad and his job and so on. But back on the "miles to go before I sleep" I think you could see it as he has a lot he wants to do before he dies.
I agree with what Molly said about the "and miles to go before I sleep" and "I have promises to keep". Just as Matt had a question about the part of the poem where Frost stated that "He will not see me stopping here" I'm a lil confused on that to, because he implies that God owns the forest, so how will he not see him stopping by? God is known to be a higher power that see everything we do and yet Frost says he will not see him stopping in the forest.
For me it is hard to break Robert Frost's poems down but once I finally get an idea of what i think it is suppose to mean, I absulutely love his poems. They have so much thought put into them and you can tell how smart and talented Robert Frost was from reading his poems. Such as the poem "The Oven Bird" he talks about a bird who is singing and how this bird stands out from the others but it is no longer spring and this bird is flying off with all the other bird and becoming like them once again. But I feel it is about a person who in their youth, had a loud voice and loved to share their opinion but this person is growing up and no longer has the youthfulness they once had so they are not as outspoken as they use to be but there is still hope in them that their voice will be heard. I'm not sure if that is what the poem really means but that is what I got from it.
1. Frost is so full of knowledge and it shows through his poetry. But I wonder where he acquired this knowledge? Did he have a favorite poet? Or did he observe and write down his own thoughts about the world around him?
2. Frost makes many allusions to the Bible and God in some of the poems we've read. If he was sketchy on the God subject, then how did he know all these Bible stories? Was he raised in a Christian home? Or did he research them?
3. Did Frost really like birds? Or did he just like them because of the deeper meaning behind them? How did living and working on a farm effect his opinion about birds?
Referring to what Jack said, I agree that Frost writes about things that everyone can relate to. Death is one of those common understandings among humans. We all experience it and are forced to live with it. No one can escape death, no matter how smart, rich, friendly, talented, or virtuous you are. In a way, Death is the gift that man was given in order to escape the fear and hardships of life. However, most of the time, we see death as a curse instead of a blessing. We say that it steals us away from our loved ones and our lives. So, is death a blessing or a curse? I believe the answer is in the eye of the beholder.
1. Why does Frost always include himself in his poems? He uses his name in a hidden way, almost as if he doesn't want people to notice that he is talking about himself.
2. Why does Frost write about Adam and Eve in some of his poems? He is trying to symbolize life?
3.Does he choose to use them because Adam and Eve basically created life and mistakes and sins?
I believe Adam and Eve took for granted life when they ate the forbidden fruit, they then lost their immortality per say so they could be taught love, an understanding for life and an appreciation for life.
What does the man in "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost mean each time he says "Good fences make good neighbors?"
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jack. I don't understand what the man means when he says "Good fences make good neighbors." In the poem, Mending Wall, it is hard to catch the message that Frost is talking about. In the poem Two Tramps in Mud Time, the tramps come to take the mans job. A tramp is a person who travels on foot from place to place and will do odd jobs for money. In the poem, this man does not want to give his job to the tramps because he realizes that he needs his job and he enjoys what he does. Frost writes about life, love, and death which makes his poems deep and interesting to read.
ReplyDelete1. Was the poem “Out, Out-” inspired by a death in Robert Frost’s family, or was it just a poem that he wrote?
ReplyDelete2. What type of life did Robert Frost have, such as did he grow up with a hard life or did he grow up in a privileged home?
3. Does every Robert Frost poem start out personal and end universal?
1. In Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, When He says "and miles to go before I sleep is he taking about more than sleep like death?
ReplyDelete2. What caused Robert Frost to become a poet and not just a poet how did he become one of the greatest poets?
3. In Robert Frost's poems possibly like Out, Out do they relate to personal things Robert Frost has encountered?
1. In "Mending Wall" is Robert Frost talking about how neighbors are happy to do an activity together, but after it is completed, they return to their individual lives?
ReplyDelete2. Does the line "good fences make good neighbors" represent the strength of a friendship if it is built over a short period of time and the weakening of it over a longer period time? For example, summer camp: You make friends in a few weeks, then don't see the people until the following summer. You have grown apart, but quickly rebuild your friendship in an activity you do together once a year.
3. What does Robert Frost mean when he refers to "Elves" in the poem "Mending Wall"?
I also don't understand what Frost means when he says "Good fences make good neighbors" in the poem, Mending Wall. But my favorite poem was "Two Tramps in Mud Time". I feel that Frost is trying to get across the ideas about love and work. You should do what you love. The tramps needed the money so the narrator tries to convince himself to give up the job since he only chops wood for fun. Just because he isn't doing the work for money, doesn't mean he should stop chopping the wood all together. Frost also makes many points about nature in this poem, and the narrator appreciates every little thing while he chops wood, while the tramps only chop wood, but I think the narrator hopes that eventually the tramps will come to appreciate the job and the nature around it as much as he did. Frost uses the line, "My avocation and my vocation" this means his hobby and his job, so what he loves to do and what he has to do to make a living, and if everyone loved what they did and could make a living doing what they loved, then the world would be a happier place, and the job would be done better than if someone just had to do it to survive, and there was no passion put behind the act.
ReplyDeleteI completly agree with Morgan Garrett's comment about how the world would be a happier place if everyone loved their jobs and had a passion for it. But I am beginning to develop the idea that Frost not only meant have a love for our jobs but also for life, our families, and nature. Imagine what the world could be if everyone truly had a passion for life and lived each day to the fullest. If people even had a deep love for mother earth, perhaps we could make her healthier. But what I believe would produce the most results is if everyone had a love and respect for everyone around them (not just the people they liked.) Also I really enjoyed the stanza in "Two Tramps in Mud Time" where Frost talked about the weather. I like the way he addressed the superstition "As if so much you dare to speak" as if the weather would turn around because someone mentioned how lovely it was! Which makes me wonder if Frost always tries to in force this idea of deeper meaning to us? Or if he also liked adding some comic relief to his poems?
ReplyDelete1. In all of Robert Frost's poems that we have read so far, he seems to mention nature, whether it plays a large or small part. In the poem, "Out, Out" he mentions the five mountain ranges in Vermont. In the poem, "The Tuft of Flowers," the key element that connects the"mower" and the "person who picks up the grass" is a tuft of flowers. There are many more examples, but why is nature such a major theme in his poems? What emotional attachment does Robert Frost have to nature? Why is nature a common topic in his poems?
ReplyDelete2. At the end of the poem, "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" what promise does the person have to keep?
3. In many of Frost's poems, he uses the words, "I", or "my". Does this mean that he has experienced some of the situations in the poems?
hey its marshall i forgot my old email accounts password so i made a new one here are my notes
ReplyDeleteHonors English notes for August 23, 2010
by: Marshall Mann
Out out is an illusion from Macbeth when Lady Macbeth dies from meaningless life.
When the saw leaps out of the hand it is personification. The saw snarls and rattles and is sinister.
When Frost makes the sound of breeze and wheeze, he is making the sound of wind.
Frost says something will happen because he said nothing has happened so far.
He also said he wished they had let the boy have a break from sawing so he wouldn't have died.
Frost is implying that God has a hand in death.
The boy is too young to be using a chain saw but farm work is hard and everyone has to pitch in.
No one believed that the boy would die and they didn't believe that a good God would allow that to happen.
Little-Less-Nothing imitates the boy's heartbeat decreasing. Frost is saying you have to move on and there's nothing you can do.
A cord of wood is 4x4x8.
The wood against a tree represents a poem. Life holds ideas like the tree holds the cord of wood.
Like the human ties and stacks the wood against the tree, so does the poet when creating poetry. When he uses experiences and ideas based in life and organizes it into a poem, he is doing work relative to a logger.
1. In "Out, Out" how was the death of the young boy influenced by Frost's son that he lost?
ReplyDelete2. Many of Frost's poems are individualized, yet they have a universal meaning. How might this portray how Frost was raised and taught as a child? Did he grow up being taught that he should try to influence the world or to stay on a more personal level?
3. What influenced Frost to become a poet? Was it an experience or did he just start writing?
I agree with Shep on the poem, "Out, Out." Frost thinks God has let the boy die. Frost didn't have a stable relationship with God and he wavered back and forth on whether to believe or trust in him. Obviously during the writing of this poem Frost wasn't at ease with god and it's understandable after losing a loved one. He states that the saw snarls and rattles. He also states that nothing has happened yet. This is implying that something is about to happen involving the saw and the boy. After the event takes place and the boy has lost his hand he's led to his room for a doctor to tend to him. During his time with the doctor he begins to lose his heartbeat. Little-less-nothing! Frost using this to show the death of the boy, but as well the life leaving the boy. I think Frost uses a boy as death's victim because it symbolizes youth and being young. Frost knew when his wife died it was too early and she was stilly fairly young. At the end Frost tells us that soon after the boy's death everyone returns to their previous task. This symbolizes people having to move along in life even after the death of a loved one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matt because in the poem"Out, Out" frost personifies the saw as living thing therefor controlled by god. He believes that god took away the child, so the family must move on and dwell on his death.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem "The Oven Bird", I believe Frost is referring to how everything must eventually come to an end, but the end can be a new beginning as well. For example, Frost says the leaves are old, and comes the fall. At the beginning, the sonnet appears to be all about nature and beauty, but by the end something bad has happened, and know one is exactly sure how to react. In this poem, it almost seems as if he is grieving about something. The analogy "mid-summer is to spring as one to ten" seems to say that spring is better because everyone is excited for summer, but in mid-summer, people are just sad that it is halfway over and it may not have gone the way he planned. The last line "what to make of a diminished thing" also refers to grieving and one of Frost's common themes, death. It's kind of like "where do we go from here" or "what's next"?
ReplyDeleteAre most of Frost's poems about death because of his son's death.. or is there another reason?
ReplyDeleteWhat does Frost mean in the poem, "The Silken Tent", when he says, "She is as in a field a silken tent"
I really like the poem, "Mending Wall", Frost talks about natural boundaries that separate people, but why do we put them there if we don't know why? Just because there have always been walls? We keep building them, even though Frost implies nature is the greater power and will eventually ruin the walls. And if we keep having to repair the "gaps" in the wall, why should we even have them there?
To answer Morgan's first question, "Are most of Frost's poems about death because of his son's death.. or is there another reason?" I think it isn't just about his son, but death is something all people can relate to. When you write a poem about something that only applies to certain people then maybe only certain people will enjoy it. When you right a poem about something that applies to everyone, it gives everyone the chance to learn from it and enjoy it's meaning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Madison when she mentions that death seems to be a common theme in Robert Frost's poems. In class, while we discussed the poem, "Never Again Would Bird's Song be the Same," we mentioned that the gift of man is death. And in a way, this is a good thing and a bad thing. Knowing that someday we won't be here allows us to appreciate life more I think. Knowing that we've got to make this life all that it can be, because someday we won't be here, gives us a whole new perception on things. Also, with death, we got love. Now because we know that thing or person won't be here brings people closer together. This is a good thing, because sometimes those people or things influence our lives so much, and sometimes make our lives more meaningful. On the other hand, when we said in class the gift of man is death, it also really isn't a gift at all. Yes, it does allows us to appreciate things more, and to love things; but if we didn't have death then we wouldn't have the burden of it. We would never have to worry about that person being gone. But on the brighter side, we can also that bird's are also a main theme in Robert Frost's poems. They show imagination taking off. I know that I have a harder time breaking down the poems and finding the deep thoughts that were going through Robert Frost's head when I first read Robert Frost;s work. But when he writes his poems, and after we break them down in class, I can see his imagination really taking flight when he thinks of all these analogies in his poems. For example, the quart of wood representing thoughts of a poet, being held up by poet, and the tree of life also being supportive of the quart.
ReplyDeleteThe poem I had a question about was, " Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening." When Frost says, " Whose woods these are I think I know," he's implying God owns the forest because no one else could own a forest. However, he also states, " He will not see me stopping here." The sole reason why God owns the forest is because he is all mighty and he has created the earth. Although, Frost then contradicts this by saying, " He will not see me stopping here." My question is whether or not Frost is implying he thinks God might not be all knowing? Also I had a question about the last stanza in the poem. When he says, " But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." Is Frost implying that he has much more to do and a long way to go before he dies?
ReplyDeleteTo go with what Matt said, I think when Frost says "and miles to go before I sleep" he is talking about death like Madison said death seems to be reoccurring in his poems. I think Frost is saying when he says "I have promises to keep" he could be talking about living his life including his responsibilities as probably a husband and a dad and his job and so on. But back on the "miles to go before I sleep" I think you could see it as he has a lot he wants to do before he dies.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Molly said about the "and miles to go before I sleep" and "I have promises to keep". Just as Matt had a question about the part of the poem where Frost stated that "He will not see me stopping here" I'm a lil confused on that to, because he implies that God owns the forest, so how will he not see him stopping by? God is known to be a higher power that see everything we do and yet Frost says he will not see him stopping in the forest.
ReplyDeleteFor me it is hard to break Robert Frost's poems down but once I finally get an idea of what i think it is suppose to mean, I absulutely love his poems. They have so much thought put into them and you can tell how smart and talented Robert Frost was from reading his poems. Such as the poem "The Oven Bird" he talks about a bird who is singing and how this bird stands out from the others but it is no longer spring and this bird is flying off with all the other bird and becoming like them once again. But I feel it is about a person who in their youth, had a loud voice and loved to share their opinion but this person is growing up and no longer has the youthfulness they once had so they are not as outspoken as they use to be but there is still hope in them that their voice will be heard. I'm not sure if that is what the poem really means but that is what I got from it.
1. Frost is so full of knowledge and it shows through his poetry. But I wonder where he acquired this knowledge? Did he have a favorite poet? Or did he observe and write down his own thoughts about the world around him?
ReplyDelete2. Frost makes many allusions to the Bible and God in some of the poems we've read. If he was sketchy on the God subject, then how did he know all these Bible stories? Was he raised in a Christian home? Or did he research them?
3. Did Frost really like birds? Or did he just like them because of the deeper meaning behind them? How did living and working on a farm effect his opinion about birds?
Referring to what Jack said, I agree that Frost writes about things that everyone can relate to. Death is one of those common understandings among humans. We all experience it and are forced to live with it. No one can escape death, no matter how smart, rich, friendly, talented, or virtuous you are. In a way, Death is the gift that man was given in order to escape the fear and hardships of life. However, most of the time, we see death as a curse instead of a blessing. We say that it steals us away from our loved ones and our lives. So, is death a blessing or a curse? I believe the answer is in the eye of the beholder.
ReplyDelete1. Why does Frost always include himself in his poems? He uses his name in a hidden way, almost as if he doesn't want people to notice that he is talking about himself.
ReplyDelete2. Why does Frost write about Adam and Eve in some of his poems? He is trying to symbolize life?
3.Does he choose to use them because Adam and Eve basically created life and mistakes and sins?
I believe Adam and Eve took for granted life when they ate the forbidden fruit, they then lost their immortality per say so they could be taught love, an understanding for life and an appreciation for life.
ReplyDelete