TP-CASTT Poetry Analysis: “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost

Use the poem “Mending Wall” to complete the chart below.

Title: Before reading the poem, make a prediction about what the poem is about based on the title.

The title is ambiguous in that this poem could be about a wall that needs to be mended that has for

some reason been destroyed or damaged in some way. It could also be about a wall that mends in some

sort of way.

Paraphrase: Translate the poem line by line into your own words. Look for complete thoughts and look

up unfamiliar words.

There is something in nature that doesn’t love a wall, so it sends groundswells beneath it that force the

rocks on the top of the wall to fall off, making gaps large enough to fit two people, thus eliminating the

purpose of the wall. The hunters are another story: I have had to come after them and repair their mess

as they break up the wall to search for and bring rabbits out of hiding to please their hunting dogs. The

gaps though: no one has ever seen them or heard them made, but at springtime we see them there. I let

my neighbor beyond the hill know and we arrange a day to meet at and mend the wall from each side.

We keep the wall between us as we go. Each replaces the boulders that have fallen on his side. Some are

shaped like loaves of bread and others have crumbled into balls. We have to use magic to make them

stay, like saying, “Stay there until I turn around!” Our fingers are rough and calloused from handling the

stones. It’s just like another outdoor game with each player on his own side. Here’s the deal: We really

do not need the wall. He has pine trees and I have an apple orchard. I tell him, “My apple trees will never

cross over and eat your pinecones,” but he says “Good fences make good neighbors.” Spring makes me

creative so I think of challenging his ideas by saying, “Why do they make good neighbors? Don’t you only

put walls up where there are cows? We don’t have any cows. Before I put a wall up I would like to know

what I am walling in or out and who it would offend. There is something that doesn’t love a wall, that

wants it down.” I could tell him it is elves but it is not really elves and I’d rather he come up with it on his

own. I see him there, grabbing a stone in each hand like an old savage. He seems to be in darkness, not

just of woods and the shade of the trees. He will not deviate from his father’s saying and he stubbornly

repeats “Good fences make good neighbors.”

Connotation: What words or phrases stick out to you? Look for patterns and figurative language,

imagery, and sound elements.

“Something there is that doesn’t love wall”: Personification of an idea--the natural world or even human

nature are given intention and will by this statement--they are actively challenging the concept of

barriers

Repetition of “good fences make good neighbors”: The father’s saying creates a literal and figurative wall

between the two neighbors, which encourages isolation and prevents connection and community

Metaphors/imagery in describing the boulders as “loaves” and “balls”: This adds to the imagery of the

poem, which makes it more visceral.

“whom I was likely to give offense”: This is a pun; the speaker is questioning who he is going “to offend”

if there is no wall, as they rebuild “a fence.” Also, neither character is “on the fence” about the issues, as

they represent opposite points of view in this poem.

Grade 11: Our Town

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Use the poem “Mending Wall” to complete the chart below.

T

Title : Before reading the poem, make a prediction about what the poem is about based on the title.

The title is ambiguous in that this poem could be about a wall that needs to be mended that has for some reason been destroyed or damaged in some way. It could also be about a wall that mends in some sort of way.

P

Paraphrase : Translate the poem line by line into your own words. Look for complete thoughts and look

up unfamiliar words. There is something in nature that doesn’t love a wall, so it sends groundswells beneath it that force the rocks on the top of the wall to fall off, making gaps large enough to fit two people, thus eliminating the purpose of the wall. The hunters are another story: I have had to come after them and repair their mess as they break up the wall to search for and bring rabbits out of hiding to please their hunting dogs. The gaps though: no one has ever seen them or heard them made, but at springtime we see them there. I let my neighbor beyond the hill know and we arrange a day to meet at and mend the wall from each side. We keep the wall between us as we go. Each replaces the boulders that have fallen on his side. Some are shaped like loaves of bread and others have crumbled into balls. We have to use magic to make them stay, like saying, “Stay there until I turn around!” Our fingers are rough and calloused from handling the stones. It’s just like another outdoor game with each player on his own side. Here’s the deal: We really do not need the wall. He has pine trees and I have an apple orchard. I tell him, “My apple trees will never cross over and eat your pinecones,” but he says “Good fences make good neighbors.” Spring makes me creative so I think of challenging his ideas by saying, “Why do they make good neighbors? Don’t you only put walls up where there are cows? We don’t have any cows. Before I put a wall up I would like to know what I am walling in or out and who it would offend. There is something that doesn’t love a wall, that wants it down.” I could tell him it is elves but it is not really elves and I’d rather he come up with it on his own. I see him there, grabbing a stone in each hand like an old savage. He seems to be in darkness, not just of woods and the shade of the trees. He will not deviate from his father’s saying and he stubbornly repeats “Good fences make good neighbors.”

C

Connotation : What words or phrases stick out to you? Look for patterns and figurative language, imagery, and sound elements. “Something there is that doesn’t love wall”: Personification of an idea--the natural world or even human nature are given intention and will by this statement--they are actively challenging the concept of barriers Repetition of “good fences make good neighbors”: The father’s saying creates a literal and figurative wall between the two neighbors, which encourages isolation and prevents connection and community Metaphors/imagery in describing the boulders as “loaves” and “balls”: This adds to the imagery of the poem, which makes it more visceral. “whom I was likely to give offense”: This is a pun; the speaker is questioning who he is going “to offend” if there is no wall, as they rebuild “a fence.” Also, neither character is “on the fence” about the issues, as they represent opposite points of view in this poem.

Grade 11: Our Town

A

Attitude/Tone : Notice the speaker’s attitude toward the subject of the poem. This is the author’s tone.

The speaker in uncertain and questioning throughout the poem. Even though he seeks out his neighbor to walk the wall and repair it, he questions why it needs to be done. When the neighbor responds with an old adage, he still questions why a wall that keeps nothing in or out needs to be repaired.

S

Shifts : As you look for patterns, also look for contrasts or shifts/changes in poem. Look for changes in

language, attitude, setting/imagery, mood, punctuation, other literary devices. There are no noticeable shifts in the poem. The speaker changes topic throughout to provide different examples of how walls seem useless and how “something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” but those changes are not significant to the meaning.

T

Title : Examine the title again. What does it mean now that you’ve read the poem? Did the meaning of

the title change? The poem is about mending a wall that has been damaged, but it is also about repairing a boundary that does not seem to keep in or out any physical beings.

T

Theme : State what the poem is about (subject) and what the poet is trying to say about subject (theme).

Tradition and custom: The speaker and his neighbor continue to build the fence year after year, despite the fact that it does not seem necessary given they do not raise animals or have crops that would need to be separated by a physical boundary. At the end of the poem, the speaker reveals that the neighbor draws upon his father’s saying that “Good fences make good neighbors” and refuses to discount this advice or custom. This signals to readers that often we continue to act in ways that others or society may expect of us, even when this goes against what makes sense or what our intuition might otherwise tell us to do. We have seen this idea in various texts, including Our Town with the ways in which George, Emily, and other characters were defined and expected to act by their community. (Students should be able to provide evidence from Our Town and “Mending Wall” to support these connections.)

Isolation and missed opportunities for communication and connection: The speaker and his neighbor are separated by a physical wall and they also appear to have different ideas and understanding of one another’s perspective. While the wall physically separates them, it also continues to create an emotional divide between them. Despite standing next to one another to repair the wall each year, they do not actually communicate in ways that build understanding or a relationship between them. We’ve seen this idea in Bowling Alone in the way that individuals in our society appear to be “walling themselves off” of their communities due to demands of everyday life, work, etc. (Students should be able to provide evidence from Bowling Alone and “Mending Wall” to support these connections.)

TP-CASTT Poetry Analysis: “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost, Study notes of Poetry

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