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; 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, 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. 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.

The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is a poem that is often to simply interpreted by readers. The poem speaks of a common scenario in life. A traveler has come to a crossroads and is forced to make a choice on which "road", or path of life, he wants to choose. Both paths are inspected equally, and the

traveler makes a choice and continues down the road. The common interpretation is that the author is happy with his choice. He decides to choose the road less traveled, and for that reason he is able to say "with a sigh" in his old age that he has chose the correct road, and that it has changed his life for the better. The decision he has made has paid off, he is not just a regular joe, he has lived an adventure by choosing the less traveled road. Upon closer reading, it appears the author doesn't know what the best road is, and is merely trying to convince others that the

road he chose is best. This first stanza is generally interpreted as a person coming to an important event in their life, some life changing moment that requires deep thought. From the line "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" it springs to mind an event of some magnitude. However, the author does not point out that this event is of any great significance. Everyday we are faced with a simple diverging of roads in our lives and we make a choice, whether it is which road to take to work or what to wear. Most of us make the best choice we can and

move on. In this poem, the traveler is seemingly unable to make these simple choices and becomes stuck looking at every decision with fear: "And sorry I could not travel both/And be one traveler, long I stood". Things that most people would decide with ease he obsesses over. Unable to make a decision, he stands frozen at the split in the road. The second stanza reinforces the ideas brought forth in the first stanza. The traveler decides to take one of the roads "because it was grassy and wanted wear". The common interpretation is that this

means he chose the road less traveled. After careful inspection into his life changing event, he has come to the conclusion that he wants his life to be different, and so has chosen the road not many have traveled down. If this were the only line in the stanza, it would be easily interpreted this way. The problem with this interpretation are the very next lines: "Those as for that the passing there/Had worn them really about the same". The traveler realizes that upon a second look, the two paths were really not all that different. He was just tricking himself into believing they were different, but

apart from minor differences, they were about the same. The reason he is having trouble making the decision is not because it is life changing, it is that he just cannot seem to believe in his choices. In the third stanza we see that he continues to have doubt in his decision and says "Oh! I kept the first for another day". The irony Frost intended for the reader to see was that he has no way to go back. He has already taken on the road, and "...knowing how way leads on to way,/[he] doubted if [he] should ever come back". He knows that the first

path will lead to another path, that will lead to yet another path, and that he has no way to find his way back to that first split in the road. Still, he can't help but think 'what if?'. Not only was he frozen at the beginning of the road, now he is on the road of his choice and he is still preoccupied with "the road not taken". Once again, in the first line of the third stanza, he has admitted again that "... both that morning equally lay", but the situation still doesn't seem quite in his realm of understanding. The common interpretation of the fourth stanza is that the man in the

story is looking into the future and looking back on how happy he is that he took the road less traveled. The first clue to the true meaning of the stanza is the "sigh". Some view this as a sigh of relief, or a sigh of happiness. Frost wants the reader to know that the upcoming lines, the bit about the road less traveled, will be nothing more then an inflated story used by himself as an old man. Just as many others do, he will look back and tell others that he took the road less traveled, and his life is that much better for it. But this will be nothing more then a bogus story,

because both roads were almost the same.

Parts of a letter

The following are the parts of a business letter listed in the proper sequential order. Letterhead - Stationary printed at the top of the page including the company name, logo, full address, and other elements such as trademark symbols, phone & fax numbers, and an e-mail. Dateline - The date is the month (spelled out), day, and year. If

you are using Microsoft Word, click - Insert, then Time and Date. Press Enterfour times after the date. Letter Address - The complete address of the recipient of the letter. The letter address usually includes the personal title (Mr., Mrs. etc.), first and last name followed by the company name, street address, city, province, and postal code. Press Enter twice after letter address. Salutation - The word Dear followed by the personal title and last name of

the recipient (Dear Mr. Smith). Press Enter twice after the salutation. Body - The text that makes up the message of the letter. Singlespace the paragraphs and doublespace between the paragraphs. PressEnter twice after the last paragraph. Complimentary closing - A phrase used to end a letter. Capitalize only the first letter. If there is a colon after the salutation, there must be a comma after the complimentary close. Press Enter four times (or more) after the complimentary

close to allow for a written signature. Name and title of writer - Type the first and last name of the sender. The sender's personal title (Mr., Ms., Dr., etc) should be included. Use a comma to separate the job title if it's on the same line as the name. Do not use a comma if the job title is on a separate line. Press Enter twice after the name or title.
Example:

John Smith, Coordinator

OR John Smith Coordinator

Summarized

Date Line. - The month, day, and year the letter is typed. Inside Address. - The name and address of the person to whom the letter is being sent. Salutation. - An opening greeting such as Dear Ms. Jones. Body. - The text of the letter. Complimentary Closing. - A closing to the letter such as Sincerely or Yours truly. Signature. - The writer's signature. Writer's Identification. - The writer's typed name and address.

Sample Friendly Letter 506 Country Lane North Baysville, CA 53286 July 16, 2007 Dear Susan, It feels like such a long time since the last time I saw you. I know it's only been several weeks since I saw you. So far my summer has been great! I spend my all my weekends at the beach. I am getting a nice tan and you can no longer say I am paler than you. I have been playing lots of volleyball, surfing and building a nice collection of sea shells. Just this past weekend I took second place in a sandcastle building contest! On the weekdays I work. I drive an ice cream truck around and sell ice cream to the kids. It is so cool. It is a combination of the two things I love most, ice cream and kids. The pay isn't too great but I love the job so much. I hope the summer's been going well for you too. There's only a month and a half left in summer vacation and after that it's back to school. Would you like to meet up some time before school starts? Your friend, Signature P.S. John Austin says hi.

How to Write a Friendly Letter

Sample LettersBeginning the LetterDrafting the BodyClosing the Letter
Edited by Heartz700, Sondra C, Maluniu, Towering Inferno and 32 others

Texting and instant messaging are common ways of communicating with friends these days, but writing a letter is a traditional, effective way of bringing a smile to someone's face. Whether you write a letter using email or mail it

the old fashioned way, the form is the same: a friendly letter should include a salutation, inquiries about your friend, news about your life and an appropriate closing.

Example of excuse letterName

Title Organization Address City, State, Zip Code Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name: Please accept this letter as formal notification that I was unable to attend work on September 1, 2008 due to illness. Please let me know if I can provide any further information. Sincerely, Your Signature Your Typed Name