To an athlete dying young questions and answers

Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”

1. Why does the speaker claim the road he took “wanted wear”?

2. What is the significance of lines 14-15 and how do they relate to what you believe is the theme of the poem?

3. Do you think the speaker’s “sigh” at the end suggests he is regretful of his decision, pleased with it, or ambivalent? Explain.

4. What conclusion do you think the speaker comes to regarding choices we face in our lives? William Stafford,

“Traveling Through the Dark”

1. What are the literal and figurative meanings of the word “swerving” as used in the poem?

2. How can the narrator’s actions be seen as a metaphor for life and the different perspectives that people can have about similar experiences?

3. Why is it significant that the speaker “hesitated”?

4. Why does the speaker feel that the “wilderness [is listening]” and watching his actions? What immediate and lasting effects does this seem to have on him?

A.E. Housman, “To An Athlete Dying Young”

1. Why does the speaker think the “lad” is “smart” to have died at a young age?

2. From your perspective, what would be the advantages and disadvantages of such an early death?

3. By indicating that the lad is smart, do you think the speaker sounds cynical or sincere?

4. What does it mean when the “name [dies] before the man”?

5. What does the “laurel” signify in the poem and in life?

John Updike, “Ex-Basketball Player”

1. What is different between how Flick perceives his past glory and how the narrator of Housman's poem does?

2. What similarities do you see between Flick Webb and Sammy from “A&P”?

3. What differences distinguish Flick and Sammy?

4. How do you think Flick and Sammy see themselves in their lives?

5. How do you think others see them? How do you see them?

6. Do you think Flick or Sammy is more likely to learn from his unpleasant experiences?

7. Why does the speaker say “but most of us remember anyway”? What is the speaker "remembering"?