ASSIGNMENT 2B

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 20-1

ASSIGNMENT – TRAVELLING THROUGH THE DARK

This Assignment is worth 24 marks. The value of each question is stated in

the left margin. Work slowly and carefully. If you have difficulty, go back and
review the appropriate topic.

Be sure that you review a printed copy that has been carefully proofread.
Include your name, course name, and assignment number in the footer on
each page.

1. A. Explain the decision—and the moral dilemma—faced by the speaker

3 of “Travelling Through the Dark.”

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The moral dilemma that the speaker must face is whether he should open up

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the doe to bring a new fawn into the world. If the speaker were to bring the

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fawn into the world, would she get hit by other cars? Would she make it

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through the night and the days after that? If these are the possibilities, the

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fawn could be better off if he just pushed the doe into the abyss. Not only

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does the speaker have to make a quick decision about the unborn fawn, but
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he also has to base it off of what could happen in the near future.

B. Do you think he made the right decision? Be sure to give your

3 reasons.
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I think the speaker made the right decision. It took a lot of consideration,
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but in the end, he saved the fawn from the pain she would face without
her mother to help her. She would not know how to survive, and with no
one there to teach her, she would not make it more than a few days. The
speaker did not give the fawn a chance at life, but he did save her from
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the painful few days that it would have been.

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3 2. Reread the fourth stanza (or verse) of the poem. What contrast is the
poet making here?
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The fourth stanza differs from the other because it focuses on the
hesitation of the speaker. The speaker feels isolated, and the only things
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that matter are himself, the car, the doe, and the fawn. In previous
stanzas, the speaker included the world around him, but as he gets closer
to making his decision, the world around him shrinks. Not only does the
world shrink, but the car becomes a being and emphasizes the dilemma
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by lighting up the driver. There is a concentration on the time and the

speaker who is about to decide what he is going to do.
3 3. What bigger issue is he writing about over and above the decision to
be made at that moment?

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 The biggest issue William Stafford is writing about is that we do not always
know what is going to happen to us. In the poem, the speaker did not know or
expect that he was going to find a deer in the middle of the road. And when
he walked up to the deer, he didn’t expect that he would have to decide the
unborn fawn. Humanity often gets stressed or freaked out by the idea that we
cannot always control the things that happen or get thrown at us. It is our
nature, and we normally do not choose to think about all that could go wrong
in a day. Something unexpected could happen at any given moment, and
sometimes we have to deal with it and make those difficult decisions.

4. In the second-last line of the poem, the speaker says “I thought hard
3 for us all.” What does he mean by this?

This line means that the speaker has to think about what he is doing or
about to do, and any events that occur after it. He is not just getting rid of
garbage; he is disposing of the dead body and a living being. He also has
to think about the fawn, her fate because she is now without a mother.

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Would the fawn make it a week without someone to guide her, or would

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she be better off if the speaker pushed her over the edge of the river? This

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line shows that he is hesitant when making his next choice; no matter

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what he does, the outcome won’t be ideal. Should he save her from life
altogether, or let her live for a few days without a mother?

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5. This same line describes the speaker’s “only swerving.” What is meant
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4 by the word swerving in this context? In your response, explain why
the poet selected this particular expression.
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This use of the word swerving in this context means that thinking about the
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unborn baby deer makes him hesitate, almost wants to change his original
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plan. The hesitation and wanting to change course makes the speaker feel
that he is “swerving” off his straight path of rolling the doe’s body into the
canyon. I think the poet selected this particular expression because the deer
was killed by a car. I also think the poet picked this expression because of the
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last line in the first stanza, “that road is narrow; to swerve might make more
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dead.” I think that the poet chose this expression because if the speaker
“swerved,” he would run the risk of getting the fawn killed.

6. The poet implies that the incident with the deer can somehow relate to
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life in general.
3 a. Is life in some way like that road he was travelling? Explain your
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response.

Life is like that road the speaker was traveling on. Sometimes you need to
make hard decisions. The hardest decisions in life are the ones that result in
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someone getting hurt. You may want to swerve off of life’s path, but
eventually, you find the road that works best for you. When you “swerve” off
the road, you are most likely hesitating because you do not want to feel
guilty. In the poem, the guilt and hesitation happened because the speaker
realized he had to think about the unborn baby deer. Eventually, the speaker
will move on and forget about this moral dilemma because he will have to

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 face a new one. Life throws all kinds of situations at you; some easy, and
others are difficult. Yes, you may “swerve” but always remember to stay on
the road, even throughout the tough times.

b. Think of the title of the poem. How in life might you sometimes
2 be “travelling through the dark”?

In life, I may “travel through the dark” when I have no help and feel like I
have to make a huge decision all on my own. I almost always have someone
around to help me make the best decisions for my future, whether it be my
family, friends, or teachers, I usually have someone to help guide me. When I
don’t, and I have to make a decision that could impact my life significantly, I
feel like I am “traveling through the dark.” I sense that I am isolated from the
rest of the world. The only things that matters are me and anything affected
by my choice. There is no light at the end of the tunnel and no one to help
me decided, we never know what will happen to us at any given moment

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