9/12/19 Jolene Chan Period 2

Aim: How does Cormac McCarthy use style and syntax to create setting and develop meaning? 

Do Now: Read Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost 

Summary

In the poem, the narrator enters into a forest. He is on a journey to get to a house on the village but he stops to admire the scenery and to have a moment in peace with his thoughts. The narrator almost chooses to stay in the forest until his horse shakes the bells on his harness to remind the narrator to continue on his journey. In the end the narrator chooses to leave the forest and continue on his path. 

Analysis/ Symbolism

- The forest is what separates the narrator from going to the house on the village which is actually his own home. The forest which is characterized as “dark and deep” symbolize the narrators inner sadness and hopelessness. Since he’s not close to home (physically and mentally) he doesn’t have a sense of purpose or feeling of belonging. Instead he is filled with hopelessness and sadness. 

- Sleep is also frequently mentioned in the poem. The narrator must finish his journey back home “before [he] sleeps”. Repetition is also used in the last two lines, “And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.” Sleep in the poem equates to death. The narrator has to continue to live and find the passion for life rather than succumbing to sadness by staying in the forest. It shows how he has so much to live for before he dies. 

- The horse is the thing that connects him back to his home and reminds him that he must continue on his journey. The journey is not just a way to get back home but it’s also a means of self discovery. When he reaches his home he would have found his passion and sense of purpose again. 

Connecting The Road to Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

- The horse in the poem is analogous to the boy in The Road. In the poem the horse was the one to remind the narrator to continue his journey and it also reminded him of his home. In The Road the man looks to his son for hope. Numerous times in the novel, the man was contemplating death and whether he would be able to shoot his son. However, whenever he saw his son he also saw the fire in him which gave him hope and allowed him to carry on.

Setting of The Road 

- During our discussion we noticed how Robert Frost has a peaceful tone in his poem and makes death seem like a natural part of life. In The Road, McCarthy makes death seem dark and depressing. This contrast can be because of the different settings the pieces of work are in. 

Student comments (to the quote above):

- Senan defines glaucoma as slow vision loss due to high pressure. He said that the high pressure the man went through in the book was the burden of trying to survive when he felt there was little to live for. This shows how the father saw the world. Life, hope, and will were slowly disappearing from his eyes and he was watching it happen. 

- Justin added how for glaucoma there is no way of reversing the vision loss though you can only slow it down. He connected it to the book and how although the father knew he was dying he prolonged it and gave his son more time with him before he left. 

Structure... and Time

- Mrs. Fusaro noted how in The Road McCarthy ignores typical structural rules. He doesn’t use quotation marks, keeps sentences relatively short and paragraphs in large chunks. The reason McCarthy did this was to emulate how in the setting of the book  time and structure no longer existed. Instead, it was the father that kept on trying to create a structure for his son so he would find purpose in their journey. There is also the loss of time in the book since there were parts in the book where the father forgot the year they are in. 

Reflection: 

For today’s lesson we compared the themes and writing style of a poem by Robert Frost to our summer reading book The Road by Cormac McCarthy. We learned how to analyze the author's style so we could glimpse into the hidden meanings in poems and texts that might not be seen the first time we read them. The lesson showed how even the most simple use of syntax can portray a bigger meaning in texts. This is an essential skill to learn in mythology, especially for legends and religion, since symbolism is commonly used. The lesson also showed how through the various journeys we go through we will also go through a time of self discovery. This is similar to the quote, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey”. Instead of just focusing on the end destination, we should also remember the lessons we gained along the way. Todays discussion also taught me that in life people tend to rely on a specific structure however it isn’t always necessary to follow it (similar to Ms. Fusaro's example about not wanting kids and breaking from her traditional family). These discussions, and the ones following this week, will be used for our projects about what led to the disaster in The Road and why the characters made the choices they did.