Stylistics - Coursework Example

Stylistics Introduction Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken is an intensely American portrait of an individual at the time of choice. Published in 1915, the poem’s elements of individual freedom and choice owe much to the nation’s foundational thought that can be traced from Thomas Jefferson to the very core of Ralph Waldo Emerson. While in his own life Frost made the choice of pursuing the romantic road of a poet and teacher, the poem also offers its own particular wisdom on this decision making process. Today, Frost’s poem represents us all, whenever we face the diverging paths in our own lives. Because of the poem’s timeless nature and influential position in the literary canon, its stylistics elements have been recognized as seminal. This essay examines the stylistics elements of figurative language and modality and attitude in The Road Not Taken as they are utilized in masterfully establishing the need to make your own choices and decisions. The juxtaposition of the examination of these stylistic elements functions to develop interpretations of the poem that are sometimes conflicting, yet aid in revealing the intentions and deep meaning of the Frost’s poetic intentions. Figurative Language The essential figurative language behind The Road Not Taken is the metaphor of a decision being made. Frost advances this metaphor by comparing the decision making process to, “Two roads diverg(ing) in a yellow wood” (Frost, 1) It’s notable that Frost uses the ‘roads’ for his symbolic task over the perhaps more clichéd choice of ‘paths’, as it gives the poem an eternal quality that would have been lessened by a cheaper metaphor. It also lodges a certain mystery of life into the poem, as the metaphor is a somewhat cryptic reference to times of confusion. Frost then goes on to state, “I stood/ And looked down one as far as I could/ To where it bent in the undergrowth” (Frost, 3-5). Here, “bent in the undergrowth” symbolizes the limits on which the decision maker can clearly distinguish the outcome of taking one choice over another. In the third stanza, Frost writes, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way/ I doubted if I should ever come back” (Frost, 14-15). This line is a metaphor for how one’s decisions determine their outcome in life and how once they are made it’s difficult to “ever come back.” Frost makes great use of figurative language through nature imagery to illustrate the necessity of making individual choices. Speaking of the moment he decides to take the path less traveled the speaker states, “Then took the other, as just as fair/ And having perhaps the better claim/ Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (Frost, 6-8). Through the nature imagery of the condition of the road, Frost is stating that while both life paths are equally legitimate, or “just as fair” he chose his path based on his personal belief that it was the right choice. It’s significant that the speaker makes his choice not based on the physical conditions of the roads, as a first-reading of the poem might suggest, but based on personal values and choice, “Because it was grassy and wanted wear.” The poem later states, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way/ I doubted if I should ever come back;” (Frost, 14-15) in effect, positively affirming the speaker’s resolve and personal choice. Other instances of imagery demonstrate Frost’s love of nature through his acute poetic attention; Frost refers to a ‘yellow wood’ and ‘undergrowth’, and ‘leaves no step had trodden back on.’ While on a cursory examination these details don’t stand out to the reader, but a deeper inspection of the poem demonstrates these observations show an undeniable love of nature and a romantic appreciation for its finer points. Modality and Attitude Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (2007) argues that, “attitude isn’t a tone; it is whatever makes an attitude clear to us: the choice of certain words instead of others, the picking out of certain details.” Even as the modality is conveyed through the direct recollections of the speaker, it’s Frost’s syntax throughout the poem that ultimately establishes the attitude. Written in a deceptively simple meter, the speaker’s attitude throughout the poem is that of satisfaction with his decision. The final stanza begins, “I shall be telling this with a sigh/ Somewhere ages and ages hence:” Notably, while the common interpretation of the “sigh” is one of satisfied contentment, some critics have interpreted it as an ironic gesture, ultimately diluting the claim of the speaker as self-satisfied (Pritchard, William). In either instance, the overriding public interpretation of the line places the speaker years after the decision has been made, and its attitude one of positive reflection. The poem continues, “Two roads diverged in a wood…” The lines that follow are perhaps the most famous lines in the American canon of poetry and it’s the humble opinion of this writer that the tone refers to and stands for the necessity of individual choice and personal decision making in a world that too often frowns on non-conformity. Satisfied, the speaker concludes, “I took the road less traveled by/ And that has made all the difference.” Even as some critics claim the final line is ironic, the common understanding of it as indicating the positive aspects of the choice, show Frost’s romantic temper. This line characterizes the road less traveled the and subsequent life it engendered as a romantic virtue, wherein by taking pure and transcendent road the speaker has experienced a truer and more right existence. Farichah (2002, pg. 1) argues that, “The study of style is one of the definitions attached to the term ‘stylistics’. In stylistics, the preference in using certain words or particular structure, i.e. stylistic features, which distinguishes one literary work from others can be explained.” Farichah is advancing the notion that close linguistic analysis of literary texts through modal analysis can reveal insight that might not otherwise be gained through more traditional analytic literary devices. In Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken close modality analysis reveals levels of meaning that aren’t gained on a cursory examination. Throughout Frost’s poem the past tense is used. The past tense in this context is utilized as it is central to the poem’s attitude as an aspect of reminiscence. Frost states, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/ And sorry I could not travel both” (Frost, 1-2). In this regard Frost is initially starting the action of the poem in the past tense. This has complicated impact on the reader. One purpose for utilizing this device is that it begins the poem when the narrator already has the foresight of life experience and already situates the language of the poem in a context of reflection. In this regard the past tense functions to give credence to the poem’s language and meaning; as the reader approaches The Road Not Taken the poem combines the attitude of reminiscence with past tense modals in the creation of this effect. Farichah (2002, pg. 4) advances the discussion on stylistic analysis through modalities stating, “The selection of modality automatically creates a consistent pattern. This consistent pattern, thus, is an established tendency or a consistent background.” Through Frost’s attitude and tone as demonstrated in his usage of consciously selected modal elements The Road Not Taken creates a particular stylistic atmosphere and meaning. As noted earlier, one can argue that the title of the poem in a sense indicates Frost’s attitude towards the work; rather than choosing the term paths, Frost’s utilization of the term ‘road’ demonstrates his conscious effort to remove to the poem from clichéd and more easily disposable language and instead to place it in a timeless context. That is, the ‘timeless’ nature of the poem is actually a stylistic device that Frost consciously worked into the poem. In this interpretation one must consider that the exact message of the poem is fairly simple – having taken one choice over another choice – yet Frost has consciously styled the poem in a way that purposely opens it up for a broad array of personal meanings, and the timeless stylistic modality and attitude Frost has worked into the poem has greatly contributed to its seminal place in the literary canon. In a sense, whenever the reader approaches the poem they are forever and always looking back on its poetic contents. One can argue that the almost mythological nature the poem has taken on within the United States literary canon is an element of these stylistic elements. As the poem progresses further, Frost writes, “Then took the other, as just as fair,/And having perhaps the better claim,/ Because it was grassy and wanted wear;” (Frost, 6-8). While these lines have been examined for their figurative elements they also warrant analysis along modal and attitude lines. In these lines Frost is combining the past tense form of the poem with a rhyme on the words fair and wear. In these lines ‘wear’ becomes an element through rhyme and warrants further analysis. In this sense the term represents a number of poetic intentions, as the rustic and ‘timeless’ nature of the poem is embodied in the use of this term as it refers to both the road or path as well as the nature of Frost’s intention in the poem and his use of poetic language to develop the attitude of experience and wisdom. Towards the poem’s conclusion Frost writes, “I shall be telling this with a sigh/ Somewhere ages and ages hence:” (Frost, 16-17). In this instance, Frost’s shift in the linguistic structure of the poem functions to draw attention to the past tense nature of the poem and also to change the pace of the poetic structure. It also shows that Frost’s attitude towards the poem is of a man looking back on his life after he has gained the wisdom of existence. Whether intentional or not, it functions to advance the poetic attitude that further establishes the poem as ‘timeless’ and mythological, as it is spoken by a man who has the benefit of age and perspective. Conclusion In conclusion, while Frost’s use of figurative language and modality and attitude establish The Road Not Taken as a statement for the necessity of making your own choices and decisions, it’s important to not just understand this statement, but to actually apply it to your own life. In my own life reading this poem throughout the years has brought to my attention the importance of not always following the established path. It’s important to not always fight upstream and that the ability to collaborate and follow reliable leadership is important, it’s clear to me that making individual choices regarding your life and ideas is absolutely necessary. While the poem is rightly a cornerstone of American literature, its examination through the stylistic elements of modality and attitude reveal that the poem was constructed in a conscious way to give it a timeless tone. As the essay demonstrates, Frost utilizes naturalistic imagery to expertly interweave the metaphor of two roads diverging with the decision making process. This ultimately demonstrates how the speaker took the road less traveled and is satisfied with his choice. References Farichah, Ana (2002). The Selection of Modality in Wordsworth’s Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower and Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress: A Comparative Stylistic Analysis. Vol. 2, 1 Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken and Other Poems. London: Dover Publications, 1993. Gioai, Dana. & Kennedy, X.J. Eds. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, New York: Pearson, 2007 Pritchard, William H.. "On "The Road Not Taken"". University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of English. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/road.htm. Appendix 1. The Road Not Taken     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;         5   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,         10   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.         15   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. Read More