NCERT Class 9 English Chapter 7 The Road Not Taken

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Literature Reader Chapter 7 The Road Not Taken

Textbook Questions Solved

Question 1.
Complete the web chart showing choices and decisions you may have to make in the next few years and the factors that affect these choices:
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Literature Chapter 7 The Road Not Taken Q2
Share your choices and decisions with your partner.
Answer:
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Literature Chapter 7 The Road Not Taken Q2.1

Question 2.
Have you made choices that are acceptable and less ‘risky’ or have you followed the beaten track ? Why ?
Answer
Varied answers. The answer to this question is, again, connected with the question no. 2 preceding it. It is again full of probabilities. For example, if a student wishes to opt for a medical profession but has less competence, it will be ‘risky’. All those who put in a lot of labour, do not succeed. Then if they are in without exercising right choices, it may amount to follow a beaten track. They may face failures in the end.

Note. Students may discuss it among themselves with their peers keeping in mind all the choices available for different professions.

Question 3.
List common dilemmas that teenagers face involving the choice of one or more “roads.” Give examples of “roads” that you must travel (e.g. facing peer pressure, choosing friends, observing rules laid down by school and parents, acting on your own values).
Answer
Varied answers.
The common dilemmas could be :

  1. choosing one’s apparels
  2. one’s school/college/university for education/higher education
  3. opting for different professions
  4. food items, subjects, disciplines, books, friends etc.

Question 4.

  1. Listen to a recording of the poem.
  2. What choice did the poet have to make ?
  3. if Did he regret his choice ? Why/why not ?

Answer

  1. Do yourself.
  2. The poet had to make a choice between the two roads. Both looked charming on that morning. He took one road thinking that he would walk on the other some other time. At last he made a choice for the road. It was due to various reasons for the choice. These were like, it was ‘fair’, it was ‘grassy’ and ‘wanted wear’.
  3. The poet did regret his choice because he took the road which had been ‘travelled less’. He kept the first road ‘reserved’ for some other day thinking that one day he would walk on it. But he couldn’t exercise his choice. But he found that, that had made all the difference. His saying so shows his regret.

Question 5.
On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following ques¬tions by ticking the correct choice.
(a) In the poem, a traveller comes to a fork in the road and needs to decide which way to go to continue his journey. Figuratively the choice of the road denotes _____

  1. the tough choices people make (in choosing) the road of life.
  2. the time wasted on deciding what to do.
  3. life is like a forest.
  4. one must travel a lot to realize his dreams.

(b) The poet writes, ‘Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.’ The word diverged means _____

  1. appeared
  2. curved
  3. branched off
  4. continued on

(c) The tone of the speaker in the first stanza is that of ______

  1. excitement
  2. anger
  3. hesitation and thoughtfulness
  4. sorrow

Answer
(a) 1
(b) 3
(c) 3

Question 6.
Answer the following questions :

  1. Describe the two roads that the author comes across.
  2. Which road does the speaker choose ? Why ? [V. Imp.]
  3. Which road would you choose ? Why ?
  4. Does the speaker seem happy about his decision ?
  5. The poet says “I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.” What is ‘the difference’ that the poet mentions ?

Answer
1. The two roads were covered with yellow leaves. One went in the undergrowth as far as the poet could see. The second was ‘fair’, ‘grassy and wanted wear’.
2. The speaker chooses the second road which had been less travelled by. It was ‘fair’, ‘grassy and wanted wear’. Also not many people had walked on it. Impliedly, it meant that the poet wanted to be a poet as not many had opted to be one.

3. I would choose the road i.e., profession, which is being taken up by less number of people, that is, (less travelled by). The reasons for this could be many. These are : its uncommon nature, its being adventurous. Its needing full-blooded involvement. I believe in ‘live dangerously’.

4. The speaker doesn’t seem happy about his choice. It is because he regrets to have taken up the second road. But it is after he has lived his life for some years. At this stage he looks into his past. Seeing that, he says that ‘this (his choice) has made all the difference’. It shows the speaker’s hesitation and ‘sighing’. But life is as such. We can’t derive hundred per cent contentment.

5. ‘The difference’ to me seems that the poet chose to be a poet. But he may have regretted it. Actually, one can’t retrace one’s steps taken up in life. One can’t start everything again. Instead, one prefers to go ahead and ahead rather than coming back on the starting point. Thus the choice one exercises in life makes all the ‘difference’ in one’s life.

Question 7.
Fill in the blanks to complete the following paragraph that gives the theme of the poem. Use the words given in the box below:
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Literature Chapter 7 The Road Not Taken Q10
The poem “ The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is about the 1. that one makes in life. It tells about a man who comes to a 2. in the road he is travelling upon. He feels 3. that he cannot travel 4. paths as he must choose one. Frost uses this fork in the road to represent a point in the man’s life where he has to choose the 5. he wishes to take in life. As he thinks about his 6. he looks down one path as far as he can see trying to 7. what life will be like if he walks that path. He then gazes at the other and decides the outcome of going down that path would be just as 8. At this point he concludes that the 9. that has been less travelled on would be more 10. when he reaches the end of it. The man then decides that he will save the other path for another day, even though he knows that one path leads to another and that he won’t get a 11. to go back. The man then says that he will be telling this story with a sigh someday in the future suggesting that he will 12. what life would have been like if he had chosen the more walked path even though the path he chose has made all the difference.
Answer:
1. choices
2. fork
3. sorry
4. both
5. direction
6. decision
7. foresee
8. pleasant
9. trail
10. rewarding
11. chance
12. wonder

Question 8.
Roads are fascinating as metaphors for life, change, journeys, partings, adventure, etc., or simply as roads. This is probably why they, and all their attendant images, have permeated art, literature and song. In the poem Frost uses the fork in the road as a metaphor for the choices we make in life. Thus the roads are, in fact, two alternative ways of life. What other nouns could be used to represent life ?

  • River
  • ______

Answers

  • modes of transport
  • life partners
  • schools
  • professions
  • jobs
  • places for residence
  • friends
  • vehicles etc.

Question 9.
‘The Road Not Taken’ is a biographical poem. Therefore, some persohal bio-graphical information is relevant to the deeper understanding of the poem we have read. Complete the following worksheet about Robert Frost.

  1. What “momentous decision” was made by Frost in 1912 ?
  2. How old was he when took this decision ?
  3. Why was it so difficult to make this decision ? Think and give more than one reason.
  4. Was the “road” Frost had taken easy “to travel” ?
  5. Do you think he wrote “The Road Not Taken” before sailing from the USA to England or after ? Can you quote a line or two from the poem that can support your answer ?
  6. Do you think Frost finally became popular in America as a poet ?

Answer

  1. Robert Frost was almost 40 in 1912 and had only a few poems published. So he sold his farm and used an annuity from his grandfather to go to England. There he concentrated on writing poetry. This was his ‘momentous decision’.
  2. He was 38 at that time when he had to make this decision.
  3. It was difficult to make this decision because he had passed the major portion of his life. Then the profession of a poet could not be called ‘rewarding’. Thirdly, whatever he had had then, he had to sell it. So in a way, he was without any solid ground to take this decision.
  4. Personally I think the ‘road’ Frost had taken was not easy ‘to travel’. It is due to many factors that determine the success of this profession.
  5. I think Frost wrote ‘The Road Not Taken’ after sailing from the USA to England. The lines are : ‘I shall be telling this with a sigh
    ……… and I
    I took the one less travelled by,
    And that has made all the difference’.
  6. Yes, Frost became a public figure. In 1950 the U.S. Senate felicitated him on his seventy-fifth birthday. It was in recognition of his being a popular poet.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1:
‘The Road Not Taken’ is a poem of all times. Comment on it.                      (Board Term 1,2015 BR7GWHM)
Answer:
Value Points:
The poem is relevant for all times as everyone faces dilemmas at every step in life and they have to take decisions.                     (CBSE Marking Scheme, 2015)
Detailed Answer: The poem is relevant for all times as everyone faces dilemmas at every step in life.We have to face the difficulty of making a choice in life.One should move on without looking back or thinking whether it was a right choice or not.

Question 2:
In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, where is the poet and what does he see in front of him?
(Board Term 12015,6SOOKQ5)
Answer:
Value Points:
The poet was in a forest and he saw a road dividing into two in front of him leading into the forest
(CBSE Marking Scheme, 2015)
Detailed Answer: Robert Frost came across a path which diverged into two roads. One road is less trodden and full of challenges, while the other is a beaten track without any difficulty.

Question 3:
Which road does Robert Frost choose and why?
(Board Term 12014, NCT-R; 2013, AGRO-91; 2012, Set 34)
Answer:
Robert Frost comes across a path which diverges into two roads. One road is less trodden and full of challenges while the other is a beaten track without any difficulties. He chooses the road which is less travelled by the people, because, it is more inviting and the poet is adventurous by nature and loves to take challenges.

Question 4:
How is a road a metaphor? Use examples from the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ to support your answer.
(Board Term 12014, MZPD310)
Or
Bring out the symbolism in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’.                           (Board Term 12012, Set 72)
Answer:
The poem is concerned with a choice made between the two roads. The poet tells himself that he will explore one and then come back and explore the other, but he knows that he will probably be unable to do so. The poem is about something more than the choice of paths in a wood, for that choice might be relatively unimportant. We interpret his choice of a road as a symbol for any choice in life between alternatives that appear almost equally attractive. Through the years, however, we come to find that the choices we make and the paths we choose, will make a difference in our lives.

Question 5:
The final stanza in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ starts ‘with a sigh’. Why?
(Board Term 12013, NVZJUD2)
Answer:
The final stanza in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ starts ‘with a sigh’. It is a sigh of relief and satisfaction. The poet is satisfied with all that has happened in his life and the position that he is in. It is a sigh of relief that on that day he had taken the ‘road less travelled by’ and ‘that has made all the difference.’

Question 6:
The title ‘The Road Not Taken’ is an appropriate title for the poem. Comment.
(Board Term 12013, PNZTXU9)
Or
Justify the title, The Road Not Taken.                                  (Board Term 12012, Set 54)
Answer:
The title brings out the theme of the poem in which every person at some stage of his life comes across situation where he has to make a choice. The decision taken to do things differently makes one stand out of the crowd.The title is figurative as the roads symbolize the dilemmas of life. The title “The Road Not Taken’ is fully justified.

Question 7:
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” What do the two roads indicate here? What was the poet’s dilemma?
(Board Term 12012, Set 34)
Answer:
The two roads indicate the choices one makes in life. The poet has presented the dilemma that one goes through while taking a decision regarding one’s future. Man faces such dilemma as he is afraid of making the wrong choice which could have far reaching consequences. Man, therefore, takes a less risky and acceptable decision.

Question 8:
What is the theme of the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’?                        (Board Term 12012, Set 40)
Answer:
The theme of the poem is that one should accept the challenges in his life. Man should dare to walk on the untrodden path and take risk. Tough challenges have far reaching consequences. They can change a person’s life.

Question 9:
Why did the poet leave the first road?                                                      (Board Term 12012, Set 46)
Answer:
The poet leaves the first road that is well trodden and chooses the one that is less travelled by’. It is the second road that is full of challenges. It is this road that would make him standout and that has ‘made all the difference’.

Question 10:
The poet says, ‘I took the one less travelled by and that has made all the difference’. What is the difference that the poet mentions?                   (Board Term 12012, Set 56)
Answer:
The poet says that it was his choice of that particular road which has shaped his life.The poet adopts the less travelled path and faces problems. But later, he achieved both success and fame as a famous poet in America as well as in his own country, England.He stands out in the crowd today as a result of his tough decision.

Question 11:
What conflict does the poet face in “The Road Not Taken”?                           (Board Term 12012, Set 60)
Or
What dilemma did the speaker face in the poem “The Road Not Taken”?    (Board Term 12010, Set B2)
Answer:
The conflict that the poet faces is to choose one of the two, roads and whether his decision would be the right one.
One road is less trodden, adventurous and full of challenges, while the other road is more trodden upon.It is a beaten track which is easy and without any difficulties.

Question 12:
In the poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’, why did the poet feel like travelling both the roads?
(Board Term 12012, Set 62)
Answer:
Once, the poet came across a junction when his path diverged into two. One road was well trodden upon while the other road was grassy as less people had travelled on it. He felt like travelling both the roads because he was not sure of the outcome of his choice. He wanted to have an experience of both the situations.

Question 13:
What do the two roads symbolize in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’?      (Board Term 12012, Set 63)
Or
What does the road symbolize in the poem? How much important is it to take the right ‘road’ in life?
(Board Term 12010, Set B1)
Answer:
The two roads symbolize the choices that one has to make in life. It is very important to make the right choice because we can never retrace our path and go back. One road would lead on to another and there is no coming back.

Question 14:
The poet kept the other road for another day. Was he able to travel back on that road? Explain.
(Board Term 12012, Set 70)
Answer:
The author had kept the other road for some other time. He could never come back as the road he took led to other roads. Each road taken would have something new for him to explore.There was no coming back to that road again.

Question 15:
“Robert Frost did not feel dejected and disappointed on choosing the second road.” Justify the statement with suitable examples from the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’.                   (Board Term 12010, Set A1)
Answer:
The poet leaves a sigh of relief on having made this choice.Repetition of ‘I’ shows his sense of pride in exercising his individualism and his saying that it has made all the difference.

Question 16:
What makes the narrator’s choice difficult in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’.  (Board Term 12010, Set B1)
Answer:
One road is frequently travelled by people. It is a known, beaten track which seems to be safe. The second road appears to be a less travelled one and full of challenges. That is why it is a difficult choice.

Question 17:
What message does Robert Frost give to his readers through his poem ‘The Road Not Taken’.
(Board Term 12010, Set C1)
Answer:
It shows us that one should be Willing to exercise one’s individualism.One should not follow the crowd but be different from others.We should accept challenges and be ready to take risks in order to succeed in life.

Question 18:
What does the choice made by the poet indicate about his personality in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’?
(Board Term 12010, Set A1)
Answer:
The poet chose the road less travelled by. This indicates that he believes in charting his own path in life rather than doing what others expect him to do. He is adventurous and loves to take risks in life. He wants to stand out in the crowd.

Question 19:
Why did the poet doubt his coming back on the same intersection in life?      (Board Term 12010, Set C1)
Answer:
The poet is pragmatic enough to know that one way leads to another, meaning that life moves on, retracing one’s steps is not in the nature of things. The choices made today will mark his life later through the years.

Question 20:
According to the poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’, what Robert Frost would tell after a period of time?Why?
(Board Term 12010, Set A1)
Answer:
According to the poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’, the poet would be telling with a ‘sense of sigh’, that he took the road ‘less travelled by’ and that has made all the difference. It is only by taking challenges that one can become successful in life. Following the crowd will not make you stand out.

Question 21:
What message does the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ give us?
Answer:
The poet conveys a very important message in this poem.He tells us that man comes across many situations when he has to take a decision which sometimes can be crucial.
We must make the right choice by keeping in mind that ‘opportunity knocks only once’.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1:
What would you like to become in life? Would you follow the crowd or choose a destination which would be exemplary for others.Give reasons for your answer taking hints from the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’. (Board Term 12013, PNZTXU9)
Answer:
I would like to make my individualistic choice that would help me to choose a destination which would be exemplary for others.It is true that every person faces a dilemma in life. He comes across the problem of making choices in life. The important thing is how the decisions are taken. The road is symbolic of the opportunities that come in our life and compel us to take the right decision. The divergence of the-road is symbolic of the dilemma we face in life when one is caught in a problem. The choices have to be made thoughtfully and wisely.Adventurous people take the less travelled path. All these choices decide their future. Their life is affected by these choices as the step once taken cannot be retraced.

Question 2:
Imagine Robert Frost writes a letter to his friend Tom Hawkins about the factors that helped him to decide on what to do next in life and why he chose to be adventurous and different from others.Write the letter in about 150 words.
(Board Term 12012, Set 57)
Answer:
Robert house
Washington 23th September, 1957
Dear Tom,
Hope you are in the best of spirits.
A time comes in the life of every man when he has to make a difficult and an important choice. The decision taken can prove to be wrong, but the decision has to be made as the choice made affects one’s future prospects.I too came across such a junction in my life when I had to choose between poetry and teaching in school.I gave a serious thought to each road. I was well aware of the fact that my life was affected by the choice I would make because the step once taken cannot be retraced. Finally, I chose the less travelled path as I am adventurous by nature and also because I want to be different horn others.I took the risk of shifting my family to England to promote my professional interest.I am grateful to God that my choice was right. I employed traditional patterns to write poems. Today, I stand out in the crowd.I am among one of tire country’s best loved poets. I am a well known and an acknowledged poet today.
With lots of love,
Robert Frost –

Question 3:
Does the speaker seem happy about his decision?                                          (Board Term 12012, Set 28)
Answer:
The poet is in an indecisive state. He is assailed by doubts concerning his choice.He is well aware of the fact that if his choice turns out to be misplaced, there will be no going back. He also has a feeling that his choice might be crowned with success. ,
The unknown is not always a risky business. It might open the door to success too, as it happened in the case of the poet himself. Being adventurous by nature, he decides to plunge into the unknown.He seems happy about the decision as taking risk is a part of his nature.

Question 4:
At every stage of life, man has to make crucial decisions.Keeping in mind Robert Frost’s poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’, describe a peculiar situation where you took a decision that changed the course of your life.
(Board Term 12012, Set 67)
Answer:
Everyone comes across a problem in life in which he has to take a decision which can change his life.The decision can prove to be wrong as its impact on our future is unpredictable. Consequences of wrong choices will have to be faced by the person himself. Nonetheless, the decision has to be taken.It is not always a risky business.The choice may be crowned with success too as it happened in the case of the poet himself.
The poet, once, came across a junction when his path diverged into two.He wanted to experience both the situations, but the decision had to be made. It was ultimately his choice of that particular road which changed his life.The poet adopted the less travelled path, faced problems but later achieved both success and fame not only in England, but in America too.
One cannot get everything in life.He has to take a decision and stick to it.Tough decisions make him stand out in the crowd. We should accept challenges and be ready to take risks in order to succeed in life.

Question 5:
Based on your understanding of the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’, write a diary entry of the speaker in the poem about the day he had to make a choice.                                                          (Board Term 12010, Set A2)
Answer:
Monday, 25th April, 2015
10.30 p.m.
Dear Diary
In every person’s life there comes a point of time when he has to make a choice. Such a time came in my life too.I was in a dilemma as to what I should do. People generally take the much travelled path as it is tried and tested. However, there was another path that I could take on which hone had travelled. There would be difficulties and problems and risks. Maybe it would not be the right choice, but it appealed to me more, as if it was waiting to be tried.I decided to keep the first one for another day, knowing well that I might not ever come back. I have made a decision, how it will turn out, nobody knows.In the evening of my life, I will be telling this story to someone. It is difficult to forecast whether I will be happy or full of regret at the choice I have made. Well, only time will decide.
Good night.

Question 6:
The poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ revolves around a serious conflict of life. What is this conflict? How is it resolved?
(Value Based Question)
Answer:
The serious conflict in this poem is the choice that one often comes across in his lifetime.Man gets many opportunities in life. He gets an opportunity to choose between them.The decision that he has to take is important as it can change his whole life. He can’t retrace his steps once he starts moving on the path he has taken.So, one must make a choice after weighing the pros and cons of the opportunities that life shows in one’s path.It is none the less important to stick to the decision once taken. Risks involved will help him stand out in the crowd.

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