poetry review

Paper instructions:
answer questions on jack frost poem

INSTRUCTIONS
Read “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost and answer the questions below.
Please put quotation marks (” “) around the poem title when mentioning it in your
answers (“Mending Wall”), and be sure to use “the speaker” and “the poet” in the
correct manner.
After you have read the poem a couple of times, answer the questions below.
All questions must be answered for you to receive a grade of “B” or greater.
DO NOT combine answers. Your answers will follow the numbering format set forth in
the assignment.
DO NOT include the questions, just the answers.
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INSTRUCTOR’S OVERVIEW OF THE POEM: This is the first of two poems written by
Robert Frost that you will be reading for the Poetry segment of this course. The one
aspect of Frost’s poems that you should be made aware of is that he likes to explore
“sides”…inside versus outside, one side versus another, etc. In the case of “Mending
Wall” Frost explores the two sides of a stone barrier that separates the Speaker’s
property from his neighbor’s, and by default, the opinions of the Speaker and the
Neighbor as they work to repair this barrier after the first snow melt during Springtime. It
is important to note several critical aspects of this poem before reading: First, the
Speaker in the poem is young and his Neighbor is a generation older. Second, at issue
here is the reason why this stone barrier is needed; the Speaker doesn’t see much of a
need for this barrier because its original purpose of keeping cows penned into the
neighbor’s property is no longer relevant (the cows have long since been sold and only
trees now grow on both properties); the Neighbor, however, continues to insist that even
though the stone barrier has outlived its original intended use, it continues to serve an
important purpose (“Good fences make good neighbors”). Third, and most importantly,
on a Figurative level, this stone barrier is a symbol for Tradition and this poem explores
why older generations tend to cling to traditions and why younger generations tend to
reject them. Since the Speaker sees this stone barrier as a “wall,” he sees all traditions
as walls; and since the Neighbor sees this stone barrier as a “fence,” he sees all
traditions as inviting and important. Fourth, “ignorance” is a key motif and theme in this
poem, as both the Speaker and the Neighbor think the other is ignorant.
STUDY QUESTIONS For “Mending Wall”
QUESTION 1: (75 words minimum) What did you think of the poem? DO NOT
summarize the poem in your answer.
QUESTION 2: (75 words minimum) The poem looks at the specific attitudes of these
two men. The Speaker sees the stone barrier as a wall, and the Neighbor sees it as a
fence. Before we begin to explore this poem, we need to be able to tell the difference
between the two. So, what are the LITERAL differences between fences and walls, both
in their physical appearance and function? How can one (fence) be considered useful
and the other (wall) not?
QUESTION 3: (150 words minimum) Now, let’s examine why, in a FIGURATIVE/
METAPHORICAL sense, the Speaker considers the barrier a “wall.” As discussed in the
overview to this poem, the Speaker is speaking from the perspective of youth, and
younger generations tend to view the traditions of older generations as no longer useful.
In fact, some young people have great disdain for the traditions of thier parents’
generation. Why would a young person view the traditions of older generations as “walllike?”
What are traditions barriers to from the perspective of youth?
QUESTION 4: (150 words minimum) As a companion to question 3, let’s look at
traditions from the perspective of older generations. Why do older generations view
traditions as important? What functions do traditions have? Think of the traditions we
have at the family level, at the community level, and at the national level when framing
your response to this question (because traditions ARE important at these levels…but
why?).
QUESTION 5: (150 words minimum): The Speaker makes a specific reference in the
poem to two distinct types of trees: apple trees and pine trees. He says: “He (the
Neighbor) is all pine and I (the Speaker) am apple orchard.” This is a poofy, poetic way
of saying “Pine trees grow on his property and apple trees on mine.” But the Speaker is
saying something else here in a figurative sense. He’s using pine trees as a symbol for
COMMUNITY and apple trees as symbols for INDIVIDUALITY. Pine trees grow in
forests, and that means that the trees grow close together and support themselves, like
members of a community do. Apple trees grow in specific individual spots and march
along in regemented rows, which we call “orchards.” In a sense, the Speaker is saying
that the Neighbor is community-minded and he himself is more of an individual. Since
the Speaker is young, and clearly all about being an individual, what is he saying here
about the importance of community from a young person’s perspective?
QUESTION 6: (150 words minimum): As stated earlier in the overview, “ignorance” is an
important motif and theme in this poem. The Speaker says the Neighbor “moves in
darkness.” In Literature, both in stories and poems, “darkness” can represent several
things: evil, blindness, moral corruption, and ignorance. In this case, the Speaker is
saying that his Neighbor is ignorant of the fact that the stone barrier no longer serves a
useful purpose. He reinforces this belief by calling the Neighbor an “Old Stone savage,”
which, when interpreted Figuratively, means that the Speaker is calling the Neighbor a
cave man…a dumb, unenlightened, and outdated form of human being that should have
been extinct a looooong time ago. But here is the ironic part: the Neighbor isn’t the
ignorant one. The Speaker is. The Speaker doesn’t understand why the Neighbor keeps
saying “Good fences make good neighbors.” So here is the question: The Neighbor
clearly sees that the stone barrier they are fixing continues to have a specific function in
a way that the Speaker doesn’t. In other words, even though the stone barrier no longer
helps to keep cows penned in, it has a new and different function that the Speaker is
overlooking. What is that function and what is the Neighbor doing to get the Speaker to
see the importance of that function?
QUESTION 7: (75 words minimum): What is YOUR view of tradition? Do you think
traditions are important or outdated? Are you community-minded or more individuallyminded?
Explain.