Theme
In “Famous,” true importance comes from this.
What is connection / belonging / relationship?
In Mending Wall, “boulders” most nearly means this.
What are large stones?
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”
What is Mending Wall?
The tone of “Famous” is best described as this.
What is reflective / gentle / contemplative?
Giving human qualities to rivers, buttons, and walls is called this.
What is personification?
Mending Wall explores the tension between tradition and this opposing idea.
What is change / questioning / individuality?
In “Famous,” the word “tremble” most nearly suggests this feeling or movement.
What is shaking / quivering / emotional intensity?
I have come after them and made repair
Who is the speaker?
The tone of Mending Wall toward the neighbor is mostly this.
What is skeptical / questioning / mildly ironic?
Giving human qualities to rivers, buttons, and walls is called this.
What is personification?
Both poems suggest that relationships can either connect people or create this.
What is separation / division / boundaries?
The phrase “old-stone savage armed” suggests the neighbor is this type of person.
What is primitive / stubborn / stuck in the past?
“Famous to the river as the river is famous to the fish.”
What is Famous?
When Frost repeats “Good fences make good neighbors,” the tone suggests this attitude.
What is irony?
In Mending Wall, “loaves” refers to stones shaped like this.
What are pieces of bread?
In “Famous,” the poem challenges the traditional definition of fame by redefining it as this.
What is quiet significance or personal meaning rather than public recognition?
In “Famous,” the phrase “the tears of things” suggests this abstract idea.
What is sorrow / emotional depth / shared suffering?
“He will not go behind his father’s saying.”
What is Mending Wall?
The tone of “Famous” toward ordinary objects suggests this attitude about everyday life.
What is appreciation / reverence / quiet admiration?
In Mending Wall, “mischief” most closely means this.
What is playful troublemaking?
In Mending Wall, the wall symbolizes more than property lines; it represents this larger human behavior.
What is emotional barriers / unnecessary boundaries / resistance to change?
In Mending Wall, the word “spell” most closely means this in context.
What is magical charm / mysterious force?
‘Good fences make good neighbors.’
Whos is the neighbor?
By the end of Mending Wall, the speaker’s tone suggests he feels this about the tradition.
What is doubtful / unconvinced / critical?
The speaker questions the need for a wall because he grows this type of tree.
What are apple trees?