This is a science fiction story set in the year 2157 that shows us how schools might be in future with computers playing major role in education. The story talks about children who will study through mechanical teachers and compares it with old traditional schools.

The story is set in future when books and schools as we know them might not exist anymore. Children will study through different means:

Learning through computers – Students will use computer-based learning systems instead of traditional methods
Virtual classroom – Not real classroom but learning happens through computer software or Internet
Robotic teacher – Mechanical teachers that can adjust to each student’s level
Moving e-text – Text that moves on screen instead of staying still on paper

Virtual reality means a reality created by computer software. Children today may already know about robots and can imagine what robotic teachers would be like.

The Story

Introduction – Finding the Old Book

On 17 May 2157, Margie wrote in her diary about an important discovery – Tommy had found a real book! This book was very old. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy, his grandfather told him there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.

The children looked at the book with curiosity:

The pages were yellow and crinkly
The words stood still on the page instead of moving like they were supposed to on screen
When they turned back to previous page, it had same words as before

Tommy found the book quite wasteful. He said when you finish with book, you just throw it away. But their television screen had million books on it and was good for plenty more. He wouldn’t throw away his screen.

Margie was eleven years old and hadn’t seen as many telebooks as Tommy, who was thirteen. She asked him where he found it. Tommy said he found it in his house, in the attic, without looking up because he was busy reading.

When Margie asked what the book was about, Tommy answered “School.”

Margie’s Hatred for School

Margie was scornful when she heard it was about school. She asked “School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school.”

Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever because:

The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography
She had been doing worse and worse in the tests
Her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for County Inspector

The County Inspector was a round little man with red face and whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at Margie, gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart.

Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right. After an hour or so, there it was again – large and black and ugly, with big screen showing all lessons and asking questions.

The Mechanical Teacher

The part Margie hated most about her mechanical teacher was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them in punch code they made her learn when she was six years old. The mechanical teacher calculated marks in no time.

After finishing inspection, the Inspector smiled and patted Margie’s head. He told her mother:

It’s not little girl’s fault
Geography sector was geared little too quick
These things happen sometimes
He has slowed it up to average ten-year level
Overall pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory

Margie was disappointed because she had been hoping they would take teacher away altogether. They had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for nearly a month because history sector had blanked out completely.

Discussion About Old Schools

Margie asked Tommy why anyone would write about school. Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes and explained it’s not their kind of school. This is old kind of school they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago – centuries ago, he added loftily.

Margie was hurt and said she doesn’t know what kind of school they had all that time ago. She read book over his shoulder for a while and said “Anyway, they had a teacher.”

Key differences about old schools:

Aspect	Old Schools	Future Schools (Margie’s time)
Teacher	Human being (a man)	Mechanical teacher
Location	Special building where all kids went	Right next to bedroom at home
Classmates	All kids from neighborhood together	Each child studied alone
Lessons	Same for all kids of same age	Adjusted for each child’s level
Homework	Given by human teacher	Put in slot for mechanical teacher

Tommy explained that in old schools:

The teacher was a man who told boys and girls things
Gave them homework and asked questions
Teachers didn’t live in the house
They had special building and all kids went there
All kids learned same thing if they were same age

Margie’s mother had told her that teacher has to be adjusted to fit mind of each boy and girl it teaches and each kid has to be taught differently. But Tommy said they didn’t do it that way in old times.

Margie’s School Routine

Margie’s mother called “Margie! School!” but Margie looked up and said “Not yet, Mamma.” Her mother insisted “Now!” and said it’s probably time for Tommy too.

Margie asked Tommy if she could read book some more with him after school. He said “May be” nonchalantly and walked away whistling, with dusty old book tucked beneath his arm.

Margie went into the schoolroom which was right next to her bedroom. The mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at same time every day except Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.

The screen was lit up with today’s lesson:
“Today’s arithmetic lesson is on addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday’s homework in proper slot.”

Missing the Old Days

Margie did her work with a sigh. She was thinking about old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy:

All kids from whole neighborhood came together
Laughing and shouting in schoolyard
Sitting together in schoolroom
Going home together at end of day
They learned same things, so they could help one another with homework and talk about it
The teachers were people

The mechanical teacher was flashing on screen: “When we add fractions ½ and ¼…”

But Margie was thinking about how kids must have loved it in old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.

Thinking about the Text

Short Answer Questions

How old are Margie and Tommy?

Margie was eleven years old
Tommy was thirteen years old

What did Margie write in her diary?

On page headed 17 May 2157, she wrote “Today Tommy found a real book!”

Had Margie ever seen a book before?

No, Margie had never seen a real printed book before
She had only seen telebooks on television screen

What things about the book did she find strange?

The pages were yellow and crinkly
Words stood still instead of moving like on screen
When they turned back to previous page, it had same words as before
It seemed wasteful because you throw it away when finished

What do you think a telebook is?

A telebook is a book that appears on television or computer screen
It has moving text instead of still printed words
One screen can have million books stored on it
It doesn’t need to be thrown away after reading

Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?

Margie’s school was right next to her bedroom in her own house
No, she did not have any classmates
She studied alone with her mechanical teacher

What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?

Margie learned geography and arithmetic
Tommy learned history
They studied through their mechanical teachers

Reference to Context Questions

“I wouldn’t throw it away.”

Tommy says these words
‘It’ refers to television screen that has telebooks
It is being compared with old printed book that gets thrown away after reading

“Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”

‘They’ refers to children who went to old schools hundreds of years ago
‘Regular’ means normal or usual – here it means mechanical teacher like Margie and Tommy have
It is contrasted with human teacher who was a man

Short Paragraph Questions

What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. These were large, black and ugly machines with big screens. The screen showed all lessons and asked questions. Students had to put homework and test papers in a slot. The mechanical teacher calculated marks immediately in no time. Each mechanical teacher was adjusted to fit mind of each student at their individual level.

Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Margie’s mother sent for County Inspector because Margie was doing badly in geography. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse. Her mother was worried and wanted Inspector to check if something was wrong with the mechanical teacher.

What did he do?
The County Inspector smiled at Margie and gave her an apple. Then he took the mechanical teacher apart with his box of tools with dials and wires. After examining it for about an hour, he put it back together. He found that geography sector was geared little too quick and slowed it down to average ten-year level. He patted Margie’s head and told her mother that overall pattern of her progress was quite satisfactory.

Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Margie was doing badly in geography because the geography sector of her mechanical teacher was geared little too quick for her level. The lessons were going faster than what a ten-year-old could handle. The County Inspector helped her by slowing down the geography sector to average ten-year level that was appropriate for her age and understanding.

What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Tommy’s teacher had once been taken away for nearly a month. This happened because the history sector had blanked out completely. The mechanical teacher had stopped working properly and needed to be repaired. During this time, Tommy did not have to study history.

Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
Yes, Margie had regular days and hours for school. Her mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her at same time every day except Saturday and Sunday. Her mother insisted on this regular schedule because she believed that little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours. This helped maintain discipline and routine in studies.

How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Tommy describes old kind of school as a special building where all the kids from neighborhood went together. The children would come laughing and shouting in schoolyard, sit together in schoolroom, and go home together at end of day. All kids of same age learned same things, so they could help one another with homework and talk about it. It was completely different from studying alone at home with mechanical teacher.

How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Tommy describes old kind of teachers as men (human beings) instead of machines. These teachers would tell boys and girls things, give them homework and ask them questions. They did not live in students’ houses but worked in special school building. All students learned same thing from these human teachers if they were of same age, unlike mechanical teachers that were adjusted differently for each student.

Long Answer Questions

What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?

The mechanical teachers and schoolrooms in the story have several distinct features:

About Mechanical Teachers:

They are large, black and ugly machines with big screens
The screens display all lessons and ask questions
They have slots where students insert homework and test papers
Students write in punch code which they learn from age six
The mechanical teacher calculates marks immediately
Each teacher is adjusted to fit the mind of individual student
They can be taken apart and repaired by County Inspector
Different sectors (like geography, history) can be adjusted separately
The speed of teaching can be slowed down or increased based on student’s level

About Schoolrooms:

Each student has a schoolroom right next to their bedroom at home
Students study alone without any classmates
The mechanical teacher is always on at same time every day
School days are all days except Saturday and Sunday
Regular hours are maintained because it is believed students learn better with routine
No interaction with other students or human teachers
Everything is individual and isolated

Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?

Reasons Margie hated school:

The mechanical teacher kept giving her test after test in geography
She was doing worse and worse in these tests
She found the mechanical teacher large, black and ugly
She hated the slot where she had to put homework
She had to write everything in punch code
She had to study alone without any friends
The teacher calculated marks immediately showing her poor performance
There was no escape from regular hours
She felt disappointed when Inspector repaired the teacher instead of taking it away
The whole experience was lonely and mechanical

Why she thought old schools must have been fun:

All kids from neighborhood came together to one building
Children would be laughing and shouting in schoolyard
They sat together in schoolroom with friends
They went home together at end of day
All children of same age learned same things
They could help each other with homework
They could talk about what they learned
The teachers were real people, not machines
There was human interaction and friendship
Learning was social experience, not isolated one
It seemed more enjoyable and less mechanical

Margie imagined how much kids must have loved it in old days. While her mechanical teacher flashed arithmetic problems on screen, she kept thinking about the fun they had in old schools with human teachers and friends to learn with.

Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer?

Yes, schools today are definitely more fun than the mechanical schools in the story for several reasons:

Social Interaction:

Today we study with friends and classmates
We can discuss, share ideas and help each other
There are group activities and team projects
We make lifelong friendships
The story shows isolated learning which would be very lonely

Human Teachers:

Our teachers are real people who understand emotions
They can explain things in different ways if we don’t understand
They motivate and inspire us
They care about our overall development
Mechanical teachers in story are just machines without feelings

Variety in Learning:

We have different subjects, activities, sports and arts
We go on field trips and excursions
We have cultural programs and celebrations
The story shows only mechanical learning on screen

School Environment:

Our schools have playgrounds, libraries, laboratories
We participate in sports and games
We have lunch breaks to relax with friends
Story shows only a room next to bedroom

Balanced Development:

Today’s schools focus on physical, mental and emotional growth
We learn social skills and values
We develop personality through various activities
Story’s mechanical teaching focuses only on academic performance

However, mechanical teachers have one advantage – they can adjust to individual student’s pace. But this single benefit cannot outweigh the joy of learning together with friends and real teachers who care about us.

Thinking about Language

Adverbs

An adverb describes action. We can form adverbs by adding -ly to adjectives.

Spelling Note: When adjective ends in -y, the y changes to i when we add -ly.
Example: angry → angrily

Making Adverbs from Adjectives:

Adjective	Adverb
angry	angrily
happy	happily
merry	merrily
sleepy	sleepily
easy	easily
noisy	noisily
tidy	tidily
gloomy	gloomily

Sentences from the story with adverbs:

The pages were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words
Her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully
History sector had blanked out completely
He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago”
We all behave differently when we are tired or hungry
Tommy screamed with laughter nonchalantly

If Not and Unless

Unless means if not. Sentences with unless or if not are negative conditional sentences.

Structure:

Condition part: uses present tense (with if not or unless)
Result part: uses future tense (what will happen)

Examples:

You’ll feel awful if you don’t finish your history lesson
You’ll feel awful unless you finish your history lesson

More Examples:

Future Tense	Condition (Present Tense)
There won’t be any books left	unless we preserve them
You won’t learn your lessons	unless you study regularly
Tommy will have an accident	unless he drives more slowly

Completing Conditional Sentences:

If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, she will be upset
If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, we won’t get dinner
Unless you promise to write back, I won’t write to you
If she doesn’t play any games, she won’t be healthy
Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat will catch it

The Road Not Taken (Poem)

This poem by Robert Frost is about making choices and how choices shape our lives. The poet writes simply about common experiences.

The Poem

Stanza 1:
The traveller stands in yellow wood (forest in autumn) where two roads diverge (separate). He is sorry he cannot travel both roads. He stands there long time looking down one road as far as he could see to where it bent in undergrowth (dense growth of plants).

Stanza 2:
Then he took the other road, which was just as fair (equally good). It had perhaps better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear (had not been used much). Though actually the passing there had worn them really about same.

Stanza 3:
Both roads that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black (no one had walked on fallen leaves). He kept first road for another day! But knowing how way leads on to way (one path leads to another), he doubted if he should ever come back.

Stanza 4:
He says he shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence (in future). Two roads diverged in wood, and he took the one less travelled by. And that has made all the difference.

Thinking about the Poem

Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?

The traveller finds himself at a point where two roads diverge in yellow wood (forest)
His problem is that he cannot travel both roads at once
He must choose one path and leave the other
This represents difficult choices we face in life

What these phrases mean:

Phrase	Meaning
a yellow wood	Forest in autumn with yellow leaves falling
it was grassy and wanted wear	Road was grassy because not many people had walked on it
the passing there	People passing or walking on that road
leaves no step had trodden black	Fallen leaves that nobody had stepped on and made black
how way leads on to way	How one path leads to another, making it hard to return

Is there any difference between the two roads?

In stanzas two and three, poet says both roads were really about same, equally worn
In last two lines, he says he took the one less travelled by
This suggests he now sees them differently in memory than they actually were
Memory and time have changed his perception

What do the last two lines mean?

The poet accepts his choice rather than regrets it
He believes the road he chose (even if not really less travelled) has shaped his life
The choice has made all the difference in who he became
It shows how we justify our choices and give them meaning later
The sigh could be of satisfaction or slight regret, but he accepts what happened

Questions for Reflection:

Have you ever had to make difficult choice?
This asks students to think about their own experiences with choices – like which school to attend, which subjects to study, which friends to spend time with, how to spend free time. The reasons for choices vary – sometimes based on interest, sometimes on practical considerations, sometimes on advice from elders.

After making choice, do you think about what might have been?
Some people keep thinking about the road not taken – what if they had chosen differently? Others accept reality and move forward. Both approaches are natural. The poem suggests that while we may wonder, we should accept our choices because they have shaped who we are.

This chapter teaches us about comparing different ways of learning, understanding technological changes, and making choices in life. The story makes us appreciate the value of human interaction in education while the poem reminds us that our choices define our journey.

The Fun They Had – Complete Notes

Before You Read

The story is set in future when books and schools as we know them might not exist anymore. Children will study through different means:

Learning through computers – Students will use computer-based learning systems instead of traditional methods
Virtual classroom – Not real classroom but learning happens through computer software or Internet
Robotic teacher – Mechanical teachers that can adjust to each student’s level
Moving e-text – Text that moves on screen instead of staying still on paper

Virtual reality means a reality created by computer software. Children today may already know about robots and can imagine what robotic teachers would be like.

The Story

Introduction – Finding the Old Book

The children looked at the book with curiosity:

The pages were yellow and crinkly
The words stood still on the page instead of moving like they were supposed to on screen
When they turned back to previous page, it had same words as before

When Margie asked what the book was about, Tommy answered “School.”

Margie’s Hatred for School

Margie was scornful when she heard it was about school. She asked “School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school.”

Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever because:

The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography
She had been doing worse and worse in the tests
Her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for County Inspector

The County Inspector was a round little man with red face and whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at Margie, gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart.

The Mechanical Teacher

After finishing inspection, the Inspector smiled and patted Margie’s head. He told her mother:

It’s not little girl’s fault
Geography sector was geared little too quick
These things happen sometimes
He has slowed it up to average ten-year level
Overall pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory

Discussion About Old Schools

Margie was hurt and said she doesn’t know what kind of school they had all that time ago. She read book over his shoulder for a while and said “Anyway, they had a teacher.”

Key differences about old schools:

Aspect	Old Schools	Future Schools (Margie’s time)
Teacher	Human being (a man)	Mechanical teacher
Location	Special building where all kids went	Right next to bedroom at home
Classmates	All kids from neighborhood together	Each child studied alone
Lessons	Same for all kids of same age	Adjusted for each child’s level
Homework	Given by human teacher	Put in slot for mechanical teacher

Tommy explained that in old schools:

The teacher was a man who told boys and girls things
Gave them homework and asked questions
Teachers didn’t live in the house
They had special building and all kids went there
All kids learned same thing if they were same age

Margie’s School Routine

Margie’s mother called “Margie! School!” but Margie looked up and said “Not yet, Mamma.” Her mother insisted “Now!” and said it’s probably time for Tommy too.

Margie asked Tommy if she could read book some more with him after school. He said “May be” nonchalantly and walked away whistling, with dusty old book tucked beneath his arm.

The screen was lit up with today’s lesson:
“Today’s arithmetic lesson is on addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday’s homework in proper slot.”

Missing the Old Days

Margie did her work with a sigh. She was thinking about old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy:

All kids from whole neighborhood came together
Laughing and shouting in schoolyard
Sitting together in schoolroom
Going home together at end of day
They learned same things, so they could help one another with homework and talk about it
The teachers were people

The mechanical teacher was flashing on screen: “When we add fractions ½ and ¼…”

But Margie was thinking about how kids must have loved it in old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.

Thinking about the Text

Short Answer Questions

How old are Margie and Tommy?

Margie was eleven years old
Tommy was thirteen years old

What did Margie write in her diary?

On page headed 17 May 2157, she wrote “Today Tommy found a real book!”

Had Margie ever seen a book before?

No, Margie had never seen a real printed book before
She had only seen telebooks on television screen

What things about the book did she find strange?

The pages were yellow and crinkly
Words stood still instead of moving like on screen
When they turned back to previous page, it had same words as before
It seemed wasteful because you throw it away when finished

What do you think a telebook is?

A telebook is a book that appears on television or computer screen
It has moving text instead of still printed words
One screen can have million books stored on it
It doesn’t need to be thrown away after reading

Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?

Margie’s school was right next to her bedroom in her own house
No, she did not have any classmates
She studied alone with her mechanical teacher

What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?

Margie learned geography and arithmetic
Tommy learned history
They studied through their mechanical teachers

Reference to Context Questions

“I wouldn’t throw it away.”

Tommy says these words
‘It’ refers to television screen that has telebooks
It is being compared with old printed book that gets thrown away after reading

“Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.”

‘They’ refers to children who went to old schools hundreds of years ago
‘Regular’ means normal or usual – here it means mechanical teacher like Margie and Tommy have
It is contrasted with human teacher who was a man

Short Paragraph Questions

Long Answer Questions

What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?

The mechanical teachers and schoolrooms in the story have several distinct features:

About Mechanical Teachers:

They are large, black and ugly machines with big screens
The screens display all lessons and ask questions
They have slots where students insert homework and test papers
Students write in punch code which they learn from age six
The mechanical teacher calculates marks immediately
Each teacher is adjusted to fit the mind of individual student
They can be taken apart and repaired by County Inspector
Different sectors (like geography, history) can be adjusted separately
The speed of teaching can be slowed down or increased based on student’s level

About Schoolrooms:

Each student has a schoolroom right next to their bedroom at home
Students study alone without any classmates
The mechanical teacher is always on at same time every day
School days are all days except Saturday and Sunday
Regular hours are maintained because it is believed students learn better with routine
No interaction with other students or human teachers
Everything is individual and isolated

Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?

Reasons Margie hated school:

The mechanical teacher kept giving her test after test in geography
She was doing worse and worse in these tests
She found the mechanical teacher large, black and ugly
She hated the slot where she had to put homework
She had to write everything in punch code
She had to study alone without any friends
The teacher calculated marks immediately showing her poor performance
There was no escape from regular hours
She felt disappointed when Inspector repaired the teacher instead of taking it away
The whole experience was lonely and mechanical

Why she thought old schools must have been fun:

All kids from neighborhood came together to one building
Children would be laughing and shouting in schoolyard
They sat together in schoolroom with friends
They went home together at end of day
All children of same age learned same things
They could help each other with homework
They could talk about what they learned
The teachers were real people, not machines
There was human interaction and friendship
Learning was social experience, not isolated one
It seemed more enjoyable and less mechanical

Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than the school in the story? Give reasons for your answer?

Yes, schools today are definitely more fun than the mechanical schools in the story for several reasons:

Social Interaction:

Today we study with friends and classmates
We can discuss, share ideas and help each other
There are group activities and team projects
We make lifelong friendships
The story shows isolated learning which would be very lonely

Human Teachers:

Our teachers are real people who understand emotions
They can explain things in different ways if we don’t understand
They motivate and inspire us
They care about our overall development
Mechanical teachers in story are just machines without feelings

Variety in Learning:

We have different subjects, activities, sports and arts
We go on field trips and excursions
We have cultural programs and celebrations
The story shows only mechanical learning on screen

School Environment:

Our schools have playgrounds, libraries, laboratories
We participate in sports and games
We have lunch breaks to relax with friends
Story shows only a room next to bedroom

Balanced Development:

Today’s schools focus on physical, mental and emotional growth
We learn social skills and values
We develop personality through various activities
Story’s mechanical teaching focuses only on academic performance

Thinking about Language

Adverbs

An adverb describes action. We can form adverbs by adding -ly to adjectives.

Spelling Note: When adjective ends in -y, the y changes to i when we add -ly.
Example: angry → angrily

Making Adverbs from Adjectives:

Adjective	Adverb
angry	angrily
happy	happily
merry	merrily
sleepy	sleepily
easy	easily
noisy	noisily
tidy	tidily
gloomy	gloomily

Sentences from the story with adverbs:

The pages were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words
Her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully
History sector had blanked out completely
He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago”
We all behave differently when we are tired or hungry
Tommy screamed with laughter nonchalantly

If Not and Unless

Unless means if not. Sentences with unless or if not are negative conditional sentences.

Structure:

Condition part: uses present tense (with if not or unless)
Result part: uses future tense (what will happen)

Examples:

You’ll feel awful if you don’t finish your history lesson
You’ll feel awful unless you finish your history lesson

More Examples:

Future Tense	Condition (Present Tense)
There won’t be any books left	unless we preserve them
You won’t learn your lessons	unless you study regularly
Tommy will have an accident	unless he drives more slowly

Completing Conditional Sentences:

If I don’t go to Anu’s party tonight, she will be upset
If you don’t telephone the hotel to order food, we won’t get dinner
Unless you promise to write back, I won’t write to you
If she doesn’t play any games, she won’t be healthy
Unless that little bird flies away quickly, the cat will catch it

The Road Not Taken (Poem)

This poem by Robert Frost is about making choices and how choices shape our lives. The poet writes simply about common experiences.

The Poem

Thinking about the Poem

Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?

The traveller finds himself at a point where two roads diverge in yellow wood (forest)
His problem is that he cannot travel both roads at once
He must choose one path and leave the other
This represents difficult choices we face in life

What these phrases mean:

Phrase	Meaning
a yellow wood	Forest in autumn with yellow leaves falling
it was grassy and wanted wear	Road was grassy because not many people had walked on it
the passing there	People passing or walking on that road
leaves no step had trodden black	Fallen leaves that nobody had stepped on and made black
how way leads on to way	How one path leads to another, making it hard to return

Is there any difference between the two roads?

In stanzas two and three, poet says both roads were really about same, equally worn
In last two lines, he says he took the one less travelled by
This suggests he now sees them differently in memory than they actually were
Memory and time have changed his perception

What do the last two lines mean?

The poet accepts his choice rather than regrets it
He believes the road he chose (even if not really less travelled) has shaped his life
The choice has made all the difference in who he became
It shows how we justify our choices and give them meaning later
The sigh could be of satisfaction or slight regret, but he accepts what happened

The Fun They Had NCERT Class 9 English Free Notes and Mind Map (Free PDF Download)

The Story

Introduction – Finding the Old Book

Margie’s Hatred for School

The Mechanical Teacher

Discussion About Old Schools

Margie’s School Routine

Missing the Old Days

Thinking about the Text

Short Answer Questions

Reference to Context Questions

Short Paragraph Questions

Long Answer Questions

Thinking about Language

Adverbs

If Not and Unless

The Road Not Taken (Poem)

The Poem

Thinking about the Poem

The Fun They Had – Complete Notes

Before You Read

The Story

Introduction – Finding the Old Book

Margie’s Hatred for School

The Mechanical Teacher

Discussion About Old Schools

Margie’s School Routine

Missing the Old Days

Thinking about the Text

Short Answer Questions

Reference to Context Questions

Short Paragraph Questions

Long Answer Questions

Thinking about Language

Adverbs

If Not and Unless

The Road Not Taken (Poem)

The Poem

Thinking about the Poem

Download Free Mind Map from the link below