“The Road Not Taken” vs. “The Utterly Perfect Murder” September 17, 2013

Warm-up  Write about a time when you had to make a tough decision. Why was it so hard? Did you have any regrets? What was the outcome? (5-9 sentences)

Cornell Notes/Discussion  What did you find?  Who is the speaker? How do you know?  What is the setting?  Did you find any metaphors?  What do you think the theme of this poem is?  What images does the author create?

Comparison - Notes  A comparison presents two or more objects and describes and analyzes their similarities and differences.

Comparing two things.  When you write a comparison you are trying to point out similarities and differences between two pieces that someone may have never thought of before.  When you compare two pieces of literature you want the comparisons to be significant. You want to compare things like:  Plot  Character backgrounds  Character actions/thoughts  Character qualities  Theme  Etc.

Hunger games: Plot: a girl named Katniss is forced to compete in games for her life. She defies the capital by both her partner and herself winning. Theme: Never give up, Sacrifice can be necessary for the greater good, you can always find a silver lining even in terrible situations, Character Actions Character Qualities: Integrity, determination, skill, bravery, courage, Character Backgrounds:comes from poverty, had to raise herself and her sister, can hunt and fight Harry Potter Plot: a boy finds out he is a wizard and also the only one who can save the entire wizarding world. Theme: Never give up, follow your dreams, trust in those around you, sacrifice can be necessary for the greater good, Character Actions Character Qualities: leader, brave, determined, integrity, Character Backgrounds: grew up with no parents and leaves for Hogwartz very poor

“ The Utterly Perfect Murder” “Then swiftly, fleeing ahead of the dawn…back toward Now and Today for the rest of my life” “The Road Not Taken” “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” How they Relate In both texts the narrator/speaker chooses a clear path. Choosing that path made a big difference to both speakers. In “The Utterly Perfect Murder” the speaker gets to go home and live out the rest of his years and in the poem the speaker feels relief at finally choosing a direction to go in life.

Student Example “ The Utterly Perfect Murder” “I got my suitcase and walked down into the cricket night and darkness of the ravine and across the bridge and up the stairs, going away.” “The Road Not Taken” “I doubted if I should ever come back.” How they Relate In both texts the narrator and speaker are thinking that they will never return to the place they were. In “The Utterly Perfect Murder” the narrator leaves Ralph Underhill’s house and is going to live his years happy and not return to his past. In the poem the speaker has to take one of the two roads and whichever he takes he will never return to the diverging road (other choice) again

Student Example “ The Utterly Perfect Murder” “What else makes you want to murder ralph so late in life?” “The Road Not Taken” “Long I stood and looked down one as far as I could.” How they Relate In both texts the speakers look for outcomes or reasoning of a choice they are making. In “The Utterly Perfect Murder,” the speaker was trying to find reasoning for his desire to kill Ralph. In the poem the speaker was looking for good reasoning or what the outcome would be for the path he was looking down.”

Student Example “ The Utterly Perfect Murder” “The train moved, my wife was gone. I rode off into the past.” “The Road Not Taken “And sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler long as I stood” How they Relate In both of the texts the narrators are on their own traveling through life to make a big decision. In “The Road Not Taken,” the speaker has to choose between two roads (choices) and he chooses the right path (one less traveled.” In “the Utterly Perfect Murder,” The narrator has to choose between killing a man or not and he chooses not to kill him

Student Example “ The Utterly Perfect Murder” “They Say you can’t go home again” “The Road Not Taken” I doubted if I should ever come back” How they Relate In both stories the speaker and narrator know that once a person makes a decision there are no redoes, no going back.

Example “ The Utterly Perfect Murder” “Then swiftly, fleeing ahead of the dawn…back toward Now and Today for the rest of my life” “The Road Not Taken” “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” How they Relate In both texts the narrator/speaker chooses a clear path. Choosing that path made a big difference to both speakers. In “The Utterly Perfect Murder” the speaker gets to go home and live out the rest of his years and in the poem the speaker feels relief at finally choosing a direction to go in life.

Student Example “ The Utterly Perfect Murder” “Every tree was hung with gold doubloons” “The Road Not Taken” “Two Roads diverged in a yellow wood.” How they Relate Both stories are set around the fall time