Eng 125 - Introduction to Literature

Final Paper Week 5 Assignment

Ashford University

Bradley C. Wilson

ENG 125- Introduction to Literature

Instructor: Joshua Mills

Final Paper

A short story and poem, no matter how structurally different are two literary pieces where a rich story is embedded. Readers are drawn towards these scripts by means of rhythm (poem), characterization, or a fictional setting in their respective narratives. However, the mere writing would not make it entertaining enough. It would depend on the imagination of the readers as they are reading the writings put in front of them. Every reader has their own way of visualizing the descriptions and symbolism used by the author. The three literary pieces, "The Road Not Taken" (poem), and the two short stories "A Worn Path" and "Used to Live Here Once" are all sharing the same theme, which is, every person's journey is greatly governed by their decisions, and no matter how many paths there are, it is still the person who determines the ending of his/her journey.

A short story and poem share many similar aspects. Both forms of writing can successfully send powerful messages or tell complex stories in a very short amount of words. Point of view is a big aspect in controlling short stories and poetry. Works are usually told in the first person point of view or the third person point of view. First Person means the reader is inside the character's skin and experiences everything as though the reader were the character. This mode is easily identified by the use of "I" and "me" when talking about the main character.

Third Person means that the reader is not the character, but experiences the story as an unseen observer. This mode is distinguished by the use of "he", "she" when talking about the main character. Short literary works are confined to the boundaries on length according to their specific genre; they don't have time for lengthy or slow introductions. Writers of the two genres also frequently take advantage of the use of symbolism and metaphor. These literary devices allow the authors to create works that deliver more than one meaning or a message while only stating one thing.

When looking at short stories and poems, the theme unfolded differently in these three literary pieces. First, Robert Frost in his "The Road Not Taken" hinted in his poem that the character would be going through a journey. The author Robert used the first person point of view; it was easier to imagine him as the one who is going through the journey. On the contrary, the short story "A Worn Path" was written in third person, or "she". Based on the author's presentation, I readily imagined an alone woman as the character in the story. I was able to confirm this, because of a certain part in the story where the woman was talking to animals as she was walking like "Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, and beetles". Because of this characterization, I easily felt solitude in the story. The part where the woman was depicted to be walking uphill is a representation of her struggles in her journey. It is literally hard to walk up a hill, and considering the woman's age, it would be even more exhausting for her to reach her destination. This part merely suggests the hard life that the woman has lived. It is inevitable for the reader to really feel pity for the character. "Used to Live Here Once" uses the third person form as well, but either way, it was still able to present solitude in its own distinct way. Some lines that strongly suggest solitude are "She came to the worn steps" and "She was standing by the river". Basically, the differences in the kind of solitude in the literary pieces were greatly affected by the choices that the character made.

A story's setting also affects the kind of engagement that the readers will have with the story. An illustration would be the title of The Road Not Taken. The poem is about a speaker standing in the woods with a decision to make in which road to take. In the title itself, the reader can already sense the conflict in the poem. In fact, the first line of the poem "two roads diverged in yellow wood" made me contemplate as a reader where the two roads could possibly lead me. Moreover, the first person narrative of the poem makes it easier for a reader like me to relate to it, to put myself into the story and character because of the more personal approach. Frost's writing allows the reader to take his perspective on things, for instance his description of a certain path "where it bent in the undergrowth" and "grassy and wanted wear". These descriptions made it clear enough for the readers that there are two distinct paths with both leading to the same destination. Another interpretation for this is a person's attachment to something that is special for him. The speaker in the end chooses one way and says that he will take the other another day, yet it is unlikely that he will have that opportunity down the road. The theme for this poem after reading it and understanding it more might be "seize the day" or "carpe diem" if you would like.

Poetry is definitely filled with symbolisms since it is one of its features. For example, the color yellow could mean an aging or something that is starting to lose its value. Another interpretation could also be a reference to the character of Dorothy of the "Wizard of Oz", because the yellow brick road there signified the beginning of her adventures, and she started clueless. Apparently, the "two roads" in the story could mean a dilemma or two conflicting ideas that a person is dealing with. This could refer to any choice that the person is trying to make. Based on the poem, I can feel that Frost is trying to imply that the person is torn between two opportunities that he is facing. Further, there is another symbolism used to describe the two paths which is "in leaves no step had trodden black". Black here could mean death, because of the context of the sentence where it was used. As the poem progresses, it was revealed that there was a more enticing path for the character which was "grassy and seemingly vibrant", but doesn't guarantee any certainty. Because of this, the other path is considered to be more appealing because it is safe and certain. But, the character in the poem was also bothered by the fact that people who passed by that path never came back. A decision was gradually revealed