“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is a metaphor for life and making hard choices. Frost writes about being in the woods and having to choose which path at the fork in the road. He then looks back on that moment and thinks about his decision. The speaker doesn’t actually take the road less traveled by like he says at the end of the poem because textual evidence earlier in the poem states that the roads are the same.

In the last stanza of the poem the speaker says, “I shall be telling this with a sigh… I took the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference.” He almost seems to regret his decision. He says he took the road less traveled by and he is almost ashamed of his decision because of evidence earlier in the poem states both paths were the same yet, he says the one he choose to go down was less traveled by. The speaker says in the second stanza, “Had worn them really about the same.” Both paths had been traveled the same amount of times and the same amount of people. This means that one can’t be more or less traveled by. In the third stanza the speaker thinks, “And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black.” This means that the leaves on the path weren’t step on which means no one has walked on either path. If no one has walked on either path then one path can’t be or less traveled because no one has traveled either.

The speaker is embarrassed with his choice and decides to tell people the other option. This connects to be personally because I have made decisions and I have been embarrassed with my choice so I decide to tell people I different story. When the speaker says, “ Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” (in the 1^st stanza) I can relate this felling of, what should I do should I do this or this? What is going to happen? Frost probably fells the same way. 

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.         20

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

The book that I have recently finished is The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.  In the book, Callie is a young girl who is exploring and learning about science from her grandfather.  Calpurnia really wants to become a scientist but doesn’t know if women can become one.  Then she learns all about Marie Curie and many other women scientists. 

Calpurnia and her grandfather discover a new form of Hairy Vetch and Calpurnia learns about what it takes to become a naturalist.  Calpurnia learns about finding specimens and writing down location and observations and the name of what you believe it is.  Calpurnia learns about the scientific method of observation, and she also learns about many things that she isn’t taught in school.  In school Calpurnia is taught about posture and how to hold your handkerchief.  Her grandfather teaches her about gravity, how the earth moves around the sun, the planets, how the earth is round and much much more.  These things today are taught in school but back then they weren’t even taught to boys unless the boys showed a specific interest in the subject.  This shows that Calpurnia could be a scientist because she knows more about science than most boys and because she wants to.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a girl’s journey to finding herself, science, or just life in the early 1900s. 

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

The book that I am currently reading is The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.  So far in the book Calpurnia Tate, or Callie Vee, has become a naturalist for the summer. A naturalist is someone who studies nature and does scientific evaluations of it.  Calpurnia is a girl and girls are not usually welcome in the scientific community, but her grandfather who was also a naturalist helps her develop her skills instead, of turning her away to do housework.  Girls in the 1900s were not allowed to do much more than housework and tasks like sewing and cooking. 

Girls during this time weren’t allowed to have real jobs.  They were expected to raise the family, take care of their husbands, and entertain guests.  Women were supposed to go to the right church and be friends with the right groups of people.  Overall, women and girls were forced to smother their true potential.  Callie Vee decides to confront the status quo by helping her grandfather discover a whole new plant species.  Calpurnia takes observations down in her notebook and looks into a microscope for the first time.  She is even allowed in the library, which is her grandfather’s space, and he doesn’t even allow her brothers in there.  This shows that Callie Vee is becoming truly respected by her grandfather because he is teaching and helping her become a better naturalist.

As you can see, life for a girl in the 1900s was hard because women and girls were not allowed in the same community as men.  Girls are much more respected and welcomed today.  We have many famous women that have helped make America and the world what it is today.