¶ … Corresponding Works There is a lot of similarity in the works of Robert in his poem "The Road Not Taken" and the short story by Welty "A Worn Path." Frost composed the poem in 1916, whereas Welty wrote the short story in 1941. Both of these written works are for the readers to think outside the box and find the true meanings. These writings have a hidden meaning to them and it is up to the reader to think what message the authors are trying to put across. Both writers use stylistic devices to capture the attention of the readers and enable them to form a mental picture of the theme discussed in the writing. In these two writings, one main theme stands out from the rest. The writings point to us to that we might find ourselves in a solitary journey in life whereby we feel that we are alone in the world. The writings, however, tell us that it is up to us to determine how the journey will end. We are the makers of our future. It is up to us to shape our future in accordance to our dreams.

Brief summary

"The road not taken" is a poem composed by Robert Frost. Publication of the poem took place in 1916 whereby it featured in the Mountain Interval collection (Frost 1985). The poem is one of the best works that people remember Robert Frost. The poem has been influential, as it has become part of the school curricula in many schools. The poem composes of four different stanzas where Robert Frost addresses different topics in each stanza (Frost 1985). Robert uses rhyme as a stylistic device to make the poem appealing to the reader. This creates enthusiasm as the reader gets to read and recite the poem. One critic of the poem states that the poem talks about the human tendency to make decisions in life and assume that his decision-making was logical and beneficial. Another critic says that the poem's speaker is a person who wastes energy in by regretting the choices he or she made in life.

A worn out path is a short story by Eudora Welty. Eudora Welty composes a fictional story whereby he sets a deceptive tone. In the short story, Welty's work passes beyond regionalism because it has various elements of myth and legend. In the story, we meet an old woman who walks from her place of residence and heads to Natchez city to purchase some medicines for her grandson (Welty 1998). The old woman struggles to walk since she is not strong. Her poor eyesight also makes it hard for her to walk. The walk drains her strength, and she begins to reality in a different way. She thinks a scarecrow is a ghost. Welty uses certain stylistic devices to capture the attention of the writer and make him analyze the situation presented to come up with a deeper meaning.

Comparison

The two writings when deeply analyzed, we can see that there are many similarities in them. In addition, a number of things set the two works apart. These aspects are what make the two writings different. The poem and the fictional story both uses terms that make us think hard about what the authors mean (Frost 2010). The text has a hidden meaning. It is up to the reader to find out what the author means. Both works by Welty and Frost use texts that have deep meanings. These deep meanings might be hard to grasp so the reader must think critically and reason to get what the writer is saying.

Both writers use many stylistic devices in both works. These devices enable us to see that both works by both writers are similar. Through their works, the two authors manage to capture the attention of readers. They do this with characterization and rhythm. They also use a fairytale setting in the two works. Both writings are narratives, therefore, have the same setting. The difference here would be that one is a poem while the other is a fictional story. The two writings manage to capture the imagination of readers. This enables readers to form a mental picture that enables them to get a good overview of what the two authors are writing. Robert Frost and Eudora Welty intended for each reader to perceive visually their work for the sole reason of understanding the writings. They both do this using symbolism and descriptive writings.

The two authors...

This is the greatest similarity in the two works. Both writings share the same deep meaning. The message passed by reading the two writings is the same. The theme here would be that no matter what sole journey that everyone finds himself in, he or she is the only person that can determine how the journey ends. The true meaning to this is that we are the shapers of our own destiny. We are the ones who have the power to decide which path we are going to take. We chose our own paths in life, and we cannot blame anyone for the wrong choices that we make in life. In the poem 'The road not taken', we get to see that the speaker faces a hard choice in his life. The speaker has two roads in which he has to decide to choose one.
These two roads represent the decisions we make in life. The speaker has to decide on which road to travel, as he cannot walk on two roads at the same time (Welty 1998). The speaker has one road that seems attractive while another that seems the opposite. The speaker finally has to choose one road to travel, and he cannot go back and change his decision. At the end of the poem, the speaker states that his decision to travel through the road that he chose made all the difference (Welty 1998). This suggests that we have to make crucial decisions that are going to change our lives. In the fictional story by Eudora West, the same concept appears as we see phoenix faces with a big decision. Phoenix has to steal from a white hunter whom she meets on the road to Natchez. She keeps calm, and her courage enables her not to run when the white hunter points a gun at her. Later she continuous with her journey to Natchez.

In his poem, Robert Frost italicizes the letter 'I', which enables us to understand and picture him being alone. Through this, we are able to picture him in front of two roads trying to decide on which path to travel (Frost 2010). This is also a comparable case in the fictional story by Eudora Welty whereby Phoenix is all alone in a road traveling to the city. Welty uses the term 'she' a lot and, therefore, this proves of her lone state. In the story, we see that Phoenix imagines herself surrounded by foxes and owls (Benfey 2010). She tells the imaginary characters to move out for her to walk.

Another similarity in both works by the two authors is that life is hard. In the fictional story by Welty gives us the description of Phoenix walking an uphill path. Considering that she was feeling tired, we can only imagine the pain she was going through for walking uphill (Welty 1998). The fact that Phoenix was old, we can only imagine the suffering she was going through, the pain and anguish she faced. This is a symbolic comparison to a hard life. Phoenix suffering by having to travel uphill is a description of the hard life that people have to go through every day. In the poem by Robert Frost, the concept of hard life also presents itself as we see that an individual has to make life-changing decisions (Frost 1985). These decisions are hard to make and form the true basis of if one is going to succeed or fail in life. The individual in the poem has to chose one path and forfeit the other. This is a hard task as one faces doubts that he or she has made a right decision or not.

Contrast

The two writings also have a contrast that differentiates them. One such difference is that, in the poem, by Robert Frost, he uses a stylistic device of writing that Eudora Welty does not use. This stylistic device is rhyme. In the poem, we see the author using different rhymes in each stanza (Frost 2010). This is evident as we can see that Robert Frost uses rhyme to make the poem appealing to readers. This sets the mood for the reader to enjoy the poem while at the same time grasping what message he is putting across. In the fictional story, there is no evidence of rhyme. The author, Eudora Welty does not apply any rhyme in the story. Another contrast in the two writings is that one writing is a short story while the other is a poem.

In the short…