Questions about the poem - Out, Out by Robert Frost —
(1916)
All students: Check the inspiration for the title. Hint, coming
from a play by a famous English author, dead 400 years ago.
All students: According to the poem, who is to blame for the
boy's death?
The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other 5
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
Student 1 - Part 1 Lines 1-6 - Questions: What is the major two literary devices
repeated in these lines? What effect, imagery do they create? How do you interpret ,
or explain, "those that lifted their eyes" in your own words? What contrast is
established here between those (people) and these (people) - not mentioned but
implied? Where is VErmont? What's the connection with Frost?
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said 10
To please the boy by giving him the half hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from work.
His sister stood beside him in her apron
To tell them ‘Supper.’ At the word, the saw,
Student 2 - Part 2 Lines 7-14 (until 'Supper') Questions - How would you explain the
words "And nothing happened"? Is it true? WHy would the narrator say that at this
moment (think 'eye of the storm'). In line 10, who is "they"? Where else do "they"
appear in the poem? What is the undertone of the comment "they might have said"
What if they had called it a day? Why would a boy count so much on this free half
hour ?(see line 24 for similar idea)
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant, 15
Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap—
He must have given the hand. However it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
Student 3- Part 3 - Lines 14-18 From At the word - Questions - What literary device is
accentuated here, giving the saw ominous intent? In line 15 what has the boy
become for the saw? What would you compare the saw to with the verb "leaped out
at"? Why do you think, the narrator adds "or seemed to leap"? What effect does it
have on the reader? What does the sentence "however it was" indicate about the
narrator's opinion about the accident? What seems to indicate the follwing words
"Neither refused the meeting." How would describe the sentence "But the hand!"
The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand 20
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all—
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart—
He saw all spoiled. ‘Don’t let him cut my hand off— 25
The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!’
Student 4- Part 4 - Lines 19-26 From Questions - Why did the boy laugh first? "The
life from spilling" is what literary device?What did the boy see in line 22? What was
the boy old enough to know? What is "all" repeated in line 25? Why would it be
"spoiled"? How is the scene dramatised?
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then—the watcher at his pulse took fright. 30
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
35
Student 5 - Part 5 - Lines 27-35 - Questions - What is the effect of the word "So" and
the punctuation (caesura)? How would you describe the diction in the last part of the
poem, compared to previous parts? What can be said about the medical treatment
given to the boy? What is the effect of the succession of words "Little - less -
nothing"? What meaning do you give to the sentence "No more to build there."? (in
relation to the more sophisticated diction previously) Who are "they"? How would
you explain, or justify, their reaction, see line 35. What could this make allusion to?
(poem written in 1916)
