Life and death
Q: What does the speaker feel physically after peeling and picking apples?
A: What is tiredness or exhaustion?
Q: What are the traveler’s two options in the poem?
A: What are two roads or paths?
Q: What do the two neighbors in the poem are mending?
A: What is a stone wall?
Q: What recurring image symbolizes the fruit-picking in the poem?
A: What is apples?
Q: What does the speaker choose to take?
A: What is the less traveled or less worn road?
Q: What does the wall symbolize in the poem?
A: What is boundaries, separation, or tradition?
Q: How does the speaker feel about the work of apple-picking?
A: What is it tiring but satisfying?
Q: What does the road symbolize in the poem?
A: What is life choices or decisions?
Q: Why does the speaker question the purpose of the wall?
A: What is because it seems unnecessary since the land between them is open and shared?
Q: How does the speaker feel about his choice later in life?
A: What is he confident/fond of the choice or possibly nostalgic/regretful?
Q: What does the line “Good fences make good neighbors” reveal about the speaker’s attitude?
A: What is that he values boundaries or traditions, possibly more than practical necessity?
Q: What is the overall mood or tone of "After Apple-Picking"? How is this created through language?
A: What is reflective and tired, created through imagery of exhaustion and the dream-like, blurry quality of the writing?
Q: What is the overall message or theme of the poem? How does the tone influence this message?
A: What is that life is about choices and their impact, and the tone’s ambiguity suggests both satisfaction and uncertainty about whether the decision was truly “the better one”?
Q: How does the poem explore themes of tradition versus change? Use specific language or ideas from the poem.
A: What is that the speaker questions blindly following tradition, while the other neighbor insists on maintaining boundaries, symbolizing resistance to change?