First Read: The Road Not Taken

Which of the following inferences about the speaker is best supported by the first stanza?

• A. The speaker prefers country life over city life.

• B. The speaker thinks long and hard about his life’s choices before he makes them.

• C. The speaker doesn’t like woods.

• D. The speaker is lonely for someone else.

Why most likely does the speaker choose “the path that is grassy and wanted wear”?

• A. The speaker likes grass instead of dirt under his feet.

• B. The speaker doesn’t like grass that has been trampled on.

• C. The speaker wants to take the path that looks like it has been traveled less.

• D. The speaker wants to go to a place where the cost of living is cheaper.

Which of these inferences about the speaker is best supported by stanzas 3 and 4?

• A. He wishes there were a third path to choose from.

• B. He knows that there’s no going back once certain choices are made.

• C. He has no desire to get off the path he’s on.

• D. He feels he may be making a mistake about the path he is taking.

Which selection from the poem most strongly supports the answer to Question 3?

• A. “And both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black.”

• B. “Oh, I kept the first for another day!”

• C. “I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence:”

• D. “Yet, knowing how way leads on to way / I doubted if I should ever come back.”

What evidence from the poem shows you that the speaker is uncertain about which road to choose?

• A. “Oh, I kept the first for another day!”

• B. “In leaves no step had trodden black”

• C. “And sorry I could not travel both”

• D. I doubted if I should ever come back”

What do lines 16–20 tell you about how the speaker imagines his future?

• A. He believes he will regret not taking the other road.

• B. He thinks he will look back with a sense of satisfaction that his choice made a difference.

• C. He expects he’ll barely remember this decision in the future.

• D. He predicts that both paths would have led him to the same place.

How does the speaker feel about the road he didn’t take?

• A. He feels relieved he didn’t take it.

• B. He feels regretful that he missed an opportunity.

• C. He feels it made no difference in his life.

• D. He is curious about how his life might have turned out differently.

Why does the speaker say the road he chose was “less traveled by”?

• A. The speaker noticed that fewer people had taken that road.

• B. He wanted to feel unique in his decision.

• C. He believes the road was covered in grass, indicating less use.

• D. He imagined the road he chose would lead him to a different, better place.

What does the phrase “I doubted if I should ever come back” reveal about the speaker’s perspective on life decisions?

• A. The speaker thinks that every choice in life is reversible.

• B. He understands that life decisions often lead to new paths, making it unlikely to revisit old choices.

• C. He believes that he can always return and take the other road someday.

• D. He is certain that he will return to this place to explore the other road.

What does the speaker mean when he says, “I shall be telling this with a sigh”?

• A. He regrets his choice and wishes he could go back.

• B. He is nostalgic about his decision, recognizing its impact on his life.

• C. He feels uncertain and confused about his choice.

• D. He believes that the other road would have made no difference.