Poetry Explication Paper with Notes
Sophie Garcia
Deana Nall
English Comp II
14 April 2021
Below is my Poetry Explication draft, this paper needed small but important changes. My professor gave notes that would allow my paper to flow better, she adjusted my citations, and she helped me correct my MLA format.
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
and its Meaning.
In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening” Frost uses many examples of literary devices. This poem has been
interpreted in many ways. In this paper, I will be going over the literary
devices used and the way I personally interpreted this poem. Frost wrote
this poem in 1922, early in the morning after staying up all night writing the
exceptionally long poem “New Hampshire.” He had gone to view the sunrise when
he suddenly got the idea to write “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and
then finally published in 1923.
This is good background info on this poem. It just needs to be cited on the Works Cited page and with an in-text citation here.
When researching about Robert Frost and his poems, I found that he used a lot of personification. This first example of personification used is when Frost said, “My little horse must think it queer.” He is saying that the horse must be confused about why they are stopped in the middle of the woods while it is snowing. In the next example, he is also saying that the horse is asking if there is a mistake with them stopping there. He says, “He gives his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake.” He gives the horse a sort of human thought and concern for the character (Moore). The man seems to be enjoying the peace and quiet of this journey, but the horse seems to show some concern and is not experiencing this same feeling. The horse feels a sense of panic because he is not sure why they are there. This is my evidence supporting the use of personification.
Moore, Richard. "Frost's Stopping by Woods on A
Snowy Evening and Out, Out--, and Swift's Gulliver's Travels." The
Explicator, vol. 58, no. 2, 2000, pp. 95-97. ProQuest,
https://search-proquest-com.uaptc.idm.oclc.org/scholarly-journals/frosts-stopping-woods-onsnowy-evening-out-swifts/docview/216775869/se-2?accountid=39906.
End paragraph at "there"
You don't need this citation here--only the in-text citation (that you already have in the paragraph). Full citations go only on the Works Cited page.
The second literary
device that I found was symbolism. Frost used this poem to symbolize a
journey through life, he also used nature as a symbol. For
example, when he said, “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.”
The woods describe a place of shelter and peacefulness for the man. Usually,
woods seem to represent something negative. However, in this poem, the man
seems to long for it and takes it as a time to disconnect from reality (Qiu). Some
people some might even say he used the horse as a symbol too. When
Frost said, “My little horse must think it queer.” He may be saying that the
horse is symbolizing a “common sense” reaction or representing the characters
conscience. He also said, “And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go
before I sleep.” This may be symbolizing that the man is exhausted from his
day-to-day tasks and he needs somewhere to rest (Qiu). I believe Frost used so
much symbolism in this poem because he had such a deeper meaning to everything
he wrote. Many of his poems have some symbolic meaning and it may be hard for
some to understand what he is saying if they do not dig deeper.
Symbol,
Qiu, Baohua. "He is "of Two Minds about
it"-A Brief Comment on Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Journal
of Language Teaching and Research, vol. 1, no. 2, 2010, pp. 145-147.ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.uaptc.idm.oclc.org/scholarly-journals/he-is-two-minds-about-brief-comment-on-stopping/docview/741383230/se-2?accountid=39906.
The
third and final literary device I found in this poem was imagery. This poem
relies heavily on imagery, mostly so readers can fully understand how the
character is feeling and what he is seeing (Daily Times). The
first piece of evidence I found using imagery was when Frost said, “He gives
his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake. The only other
sounds the sweep of easy wind and downy flake.” When reading this, you can
picture the horse shaking his harness bells and you can see the snow falling.
Frost also used imagery when he said, “Between the woods and frozen lake the
darkest evening of the year.” Frost uses this scene to represent how dark the
night was and to show what the man was seeing. When reading this poem, it was quite
easy to spot out the use of imagery, mostly because Frost made sure to engage
the readers senses in every way he could.
Use the title of the article here instead.
“Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening' is a
Wonderful Work of Literature." Daily Times, Jan 03, 2020. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.uaptc.idm.oclc.org/newspapers/stopping-woods-on-snowy-evening-is-wonderful-work/docview/2333783708/se-2?accountid=39906.
“Stopping
by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is a lyric poem that discusses everyday battles
that people may struggle with. Robert Frost makes excellent use of
personification, symbolism, and imagery. He has been called one of the best
American poets because he was very skilled in making sure all readers could
understand his writing and could relate to what he was saying. This poem does
exactly that, we have all needed to disconnect from reality at points and we
have all had moments where we just sit in silence with our thoughts.
that since we (this will avoid a comma splice)
that since we (this will avoid a comma splice)
that since we (this will avoid a comma splice)
Nice ending!
Nice ending!
Works
cited.
Moore,
Richard. "Frost's Stopping by Woods on A Snowy Evening and Out, Out--, and
Swift's Gulliver's Travels." The Explicator, vol. 58, no. 2, 2000, pp.
95-97. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.uaptc.idm.oclc.org/scholarly-journals/frosts-stopping-woods-onsnowy-evening-out-swifts/docview/216775869/se-2?accountid=39906
Qiu, Baohua. "He is "of Two Minds about
it"-A Brief Comment on Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Journal
of Language Teaching and Research, vol. 1, no. 2, 2010, pp. 145-147.ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.uaptc.idm.oclc.org/scholarly-journals/he-is-two-minds-about-brief-comment-on-stopping/docview/741383230/se-2?accountid=39906.
“Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening' is a Wonderful Work of Literature." Daily Times, Jan 03, 2020. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.uaptc.idm.oclc.org/newspapers/stopping-woods-on-snowy-evening-is-wonderful-work/docview/2333783708/se-2?accountid=39906
Comments
Post a Comment