9/12/19 Kyle Chan PD 1

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

Today, we read "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost.  We read it as a class and began to analyze what the poem could mean.  We related the term "sleep"  to death and the term "house" to the narrator's family.  We also made a connection from the horse mentioned in the poem to being the narrator's bridge to reality.  We also connected the poem to The Road and related the characters from The Man to the narrator of the poem and The Boy to the horse.

We then compared the simplistic language the poem contained to the more detailed language that The Road has.  Through this discussion, we came to the conclusion that the simplistic language added a sense of mystery.  We also related the poem to have simple language because the world became very simple.

After this, we looked at an excerpt of The Road and analyzed it to depict the setting.  With the dictionary being used, we decided that there was a feeling of hopelessness and that it was becoming harder and harder for The Man to live.  We also concluded that the abandonment of structural rules meant an abandonment of time.  To fulfill his life, The Man gave himself a purpose: to keep The Boy safe, to get The Boy to a safer place before he died, to travel South, and to carry the fire.

We can use what we learned to remember that The Road is about a post apocalyptic world where The Man is losing hope in survival but he continues to travel and try to make sure that The Boy stays safe.