Answer Key Grade 5 The Road Not Taken Birches
1. Part A What does the word diverged in Lines 1 and 18 of The Road Not Taken mean? A Incorrect. Ended means stopped. This is not what diverged means. B Correct. The word diverged tells readers that there is a fork in the road ahead. C Incorrect. Ran means continued. This is not what diverged means. D Incorrect. Zigzagged is a special pattern. This is not what diverged means. How does the meaning of the word diverged contribute to the theme of the poem? A Incorrect. Diverged does not help to describe how the roads are different. B Incorrect. Diverged does not explain why the narrator was in the woods. C Correct. Because the roads diverged, the speaker in the poem must decide which way to go. D Incorrect. Diverged does not help to understand the person who is narrating the poem. 2. Part A Which two lines in the first stanza of The Road Not Taken help create the setting? A Correct. This describes the natural setting of the poem. B Incorrect. This is about the speaker s C Incorrect. This tells what the speaker was doing. It does not tell about the setting. D Incorrect. This detail does not tell about the setting. E Correct. This describes the natural setting of the poem. 2. Which two lines in the third stanza of The Road Not Taken help create the setting? A Correct. This tells the natural setting of the poem. B Correct. This describes the roads, which are part of the setting in the poem. C Incorrect. This is about the speaker s D Incorrect. This is about the speaker s E Incorrect. This is about the speaker s 3. How does the phrase yellow wood contribute to the setting? A Correct. Leaves turn yellow in the fall. B Incorrect. Think about when trees look yellow. C Incorrect. Think about when trees look yellow. D Incorrect. Think about when trees look yellow. 4. Part A Which sentence summarizes the narrator s thoughts in The Road Not Taken? A Incorrect. The mood of the poem does not support this answer. B Incorrect. The mood of the poem does not support this answer. The narrator seems thoughtful, not proud. C Incorrect. Though the narrator may not like having to choose which road to take, the text does not support that he does not like walking in the woods. D Correct. Lines in the poem support this answer. 1 of 5
4. Which two lines from the poem show evidence of the correct answer to Part A? A Incorrect. This line describes the setting but does not support the summary of the narrator s thoughts. B Correct. This line supports the summary of the narrator s thoughts. C Incorrect. This line describes the condition of the roads, but does not support the summary of the narrator s thoughts. D Correct. This line supports the summary of the narrator s thoughts. E Incorrect. This line explains what the narrator did, but does not support the summary of the narrator s thoughts. 5. Part A Which statement is the best summary of the last stanza (lines 16 20)? A Incorrect. The verb in line 16 is future tense. B Correct. This is the best summary of the last stanza. C Incorrect. There is no evidence that one road is longer than the other in the poem. D Incorrect. This idea is in the second stanza. Which detail from the poem supports the correct answer to Part A? A Correct. The narrator takes a long time to decide which way to go, which suggests this is an important choice. B Incorrect. This does not support the summary of the last stanza. C Incorrect. This does not support the summary of the last stanza. D Incorrect. The text does not support this interpretation of line 13. 6. Part A Based on the text, the speaker in Birches is a. A Incorrect. Though the poem includes references to a boy swinging on birch trees, the speaker is not a young boy. Look for clues about the speaker in the text. B Incorrect. Though the poem includes references to girls, the speaker is not a young girl. Look for clues about the speaker in the text. C Correct. The text supports this answer. D Incorrect. The text does not support this answer. Look for clues about the speaker in the text. Which line from the poem shows evidence of the correct answer to Part A? A Incorrect. This line does not describe the speaker. B Incorrect. This line does not describe the speaker. C Correct. The speaker tells of boys swinging on birch trees and this line confirms that the speaker, once a young boy, is now a grown man. D Incorrect. This line does not describe the speaker. 7. Part A What is the logical relationship between lines 21 22 and lines 23 24? A Incorrect. This is not a cause and effect relationship. Think about the relationship between truth and poetic. What is the speaker trying to say here? B Incorrect. These lines do not show a sequence of events. Think about the relationship between truth and poetic. What is the speaker trying to say here? 2 of 5
C Incorrect. These lines do not include one main idea with supporting details. Think about the relationship between truth and poetic. What is the speaker trying to say here? D Correct. The speaker is contrasting the truth (an ice storm bent the trees) with a wish that it was a boy swinging on birches that bent down the trees. 7. How does the correct answer to Part A support a theme in Birches? A Incorrect. This does not support logical relationship between the lines. B Correct. The relationship between reality and imagination is a theme in the poem. C Incorrect. This does not support logical relationship between the lines. D Incorrect. This does not support logical relationship between the lines. 8. How does line 42 shift the mood of the poem? A Incorrect. This line sounds like a confession. How does this affect readers experience of the poem? B Correct. This line sounds like a confession. This makes the poem seem more personal. C Incorrect. This line sounds like a confession. How does this affect readers experience of the poem? D Incorrect. This line is like a confession. How does this affect readers experience of the poem? 9. Part A Based on Birches and The Road Not Taken, which is most likely true about Robert Frost? A Incorrect. Though both poems include some language that may seem formal and oldfashioned now, the text does not support this answer. B Incorrect. Though the poems include observations of nature, neither poem includes details that would suggest the speaker is an expert on trees. C Correct. Both poems include descriptions of natural settings, which suggests the author was inspired by personal experience of the countryside. D Incorrect. Although the speaker of the poem may have regrets about the road not taken, this does not support the inference that the author is the speaker and has similar regrets. What is it about both poems that supports the correct answer to Part A? A Incorrect. Though the tone is thoughtful and perhaps a bit sad, this does not support the correct answer to Part A. How does this affect readers experience of the poem? B Incorrect. Though both poems do refer to trees, this does not support the correct answer to Part A. C Incorrect. Though both poems include some language which may seem formal and oldfashioned now, this does not support the correct answer to Part A. D Correct. Both poems include descriptions of natural settings, which suggests the author was inspired by personal experience of the countryside. 3 of 5
10. Poets often use figurative language, stanzas, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and other conventions when writing poems. Write a paragraph that compares and contrasts the conventions of poetry Frost uses in The Road Not Taken and Birches. Use examples from both poems to support your ideas. Scoring Rubric 4 The response strongly shows the ability to identify and interpret figurative language and common text structures in poems to compare and contrast these in the two poems. Exemplar: The Road Not Taken has stanzas with rhyming words in a pattern. Each stanza has five lines. The first, third, and fourth lines rhyme, as do the second and fifth. Birches is not separated into stanzas and does not have rhyming words. Birches uses more figurative language than The Road Not Taken. There are many examples of alliteration, such as cracks and crazes and the line, Soon the sun s warmth makes them shed crystal shells. Birches also uses similes to compare bent over trees to girls on hands and knees. 3 The response provides uneven use of examples and of the ability to identify and interpret figurative language and common text structures in poems. Some flaws are present. 2 The response gives partial evidence of the ability to identify and interpret figurative language and common text structures in poems. 1 The response gives limited evidence of the ability to identify and interpret figurative language and common text structures in poems. The response may include an analysis of only one poem instead of comparing and contrasting the figurative language and common text structures in both poems. 0 A response gets no credit if it is blank or provides no evidence of the ability to identify figurative language and common text structures in either poem. 4 of 5
1. Part A 2. Part A E E 3. 4. Part A E 5. Part A 6. Part A 7. Part A 8. 9. Part A 10. Constructed Response 5 of 5