A Roadside Stand by Robert Frost SDC NOTES

YOUTUBE CHANNEL: SHIPRA MISHRA
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A Roadside Stand
by Robert Frost
About the Author: Robert Frost is perhaps the best-known American poet
of all time. He was born in California and worked as a journalist. His poems
generally deal with American rural life and depict people, landscapes and
ordinary everyday lives through his poems. He largely based his poems on
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New England, a region in Northeastern US. Though it was based on rural
lives, his poems showed versatility in showcasing the complex lives led by
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the people. In Frost’s poems, we can see powerfully and eloquently written
human conditions with strong emotional bonds. The Road Not Taken,
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Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, Mending Wall etc. are his
most popular and widely discussed poems. In the poem, A Roadside
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Stand, Frost writes about inequality and poverty faced by the rural people
and the pitless and apathetic reaction of the rich towards the plight of the
former.
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TITLE JUSTIFICATION
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The poem is written from the perspective of a farmer who sells fruits,
berries and squash from a roadside stand. The poem is centred around a
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roadside stand and hence, the title. There are various descriptions of
activities near the roadside stand and the poet conveys his thoughts on
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poverty and the rural-urban divide by taking a frame of reference from the
roadside stand.
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THEME
Similar to Frost’s other poems, The Roadside Stand also deals with the
everyday lives and struggles based in rural America. Instead of taking the
usual romanticized version of rural life depiction, Frost chose to showcase
the isolation and loneliness faced by the people in the country. It is written
from a time when rapid urbanisation is taking place and rural areas and
people are neglected by the authorities as well as the city dwellers. The
poet laments how the poor farmers and small business owners are often
ignored and disregarded by the rich urban elites. Their presence and
homes in the otherwise beautiful countryside are seen as aesthetically
undesirable. Through this poem, Robert Frost calls out the apathy of the
rich and the plight of the poor in rural areas. He makes a strong case for
equal development and sympathy for the poor.
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NCERT PARAGRAPH 1
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The little old house was out with a little new shed
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In front at the edge of the road where the traffic sped,
A roadside stand that too pathetically pled,
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It would not be fair to say for a dole of bread,
But for some of the money, the cash, whose flow supports
The flower of cities from sinking and withering faint.
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The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead
EXPLANATION
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The poem begins with the description of a new shed that is an extension of
an old house. It is built towards the edge of the road where there is traffic. It
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is pathetically built, probably because the shop owner does not have
enough capital to set up a proper shop. It is written from the perspective of
the shopkeeper and he sells small goods in the hope of money as he
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doesn’t want charity. But the cars of the rich city dwellers just went past
without stopping. He hopes to live a better life by doing this small business.
WORD MEANINGS
Dole: benefit paid by the government to the unemployed/charity

Withering: fading, weakening
Pled: make a request
POETIC DEVICES
Personification: “ A roadside stand that too pathetically pled”

Transferred epithet: “polished traffic”
Alliteration: “Pathetically pled” (P is repeating)
QUESTIONS
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● What do you understand about the owner of the road stand's
condition?
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Ans. He is a poor rural guy who doesn’t want anyone’s charity. He wishes
to improve his life by selling fruits and berries. He hopes someone will stop
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by and buy his things.
NCERT PARAGRAPH 2 IS
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Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts
At having the landscape marred with the artless paint
Of signs that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong
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Offered for sale wild berries in wooden quarts,

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Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts

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EXPLANATION
He wants the people who pass through the road to put aside their thoughts
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on their city life for a while and focus on the countryside they are passing
through. But they do not do that. Moreover, even if they do pay attention to
what’s happening in the countryside, it is to criticise the ‘artless’ aspect of it.
For instance, they don’t like the wrong sign boards where N or S is turned
wrong or the roadside stand with berries and squash for sale, which take
away the beauty of the landscape.
WORD MEANINGS
Marred: spoiled
Quarts: a Container
Warts: A small, hard benign growth on the outer surface (here on the fruits
that are put for sale)
POETIC DEVICES
Repetition: “N turned wrong and S turned wrong”
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Alliteration: “wild berries in wooden quarts”, “squash with silver warts”
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QUESTIONS
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● What are the criticisms the passer-by people have about the
countryside?
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Ans. They find the landscape to be spoiled by the presence of roadside
stands that sell fruits and vegetables. They also do not like the wrong sign
boards.
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NCERT PARAGRAPH 3
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Or beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene,

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You have the money, but if you want to be mean,

Why keep your money (this crossly) and go along.
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The hurt to the scenery wouldn’t be my complaint

So much as the trusting sorrow of what is unsaid:
Here far from the city we make our roadside stand
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And ask for some city money to feel in hand

To try if it will not make our being expand,
And give us the life of the moving-pictures’ promise
That the party in power is said to be keeping from us.
EXPLANATION
In this stanza, we see a monologue of the farmer about the rich. He asks
why they keep being so mean with all the money they have. They have an
abundance of money and yet they are not willing to spend it on the poor
roadside stand owners. It hurts them though they don’t complain. He then
uses the word ‘trusting sorrow’ to describe their effort in setting up the small
shop in the hope that the rich city dwellers would buy from them. Their
livelihood (which is the shop) is far away from the city and they hope to
have money like the city people and have a better life. On behalf of the
fictional farmer here, the poet asks where the movie-like life these people
were promised by the politicians. They aspire to live their life in the modern
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way it is shown in the media, but they are unable to.
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WORD MEANINGS
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Moving pictures - movies
Expand - become rich (in the context of the poem)
POETIC DEVICES IS
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Alliteration: ‘Party in power
QUESTION
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● Do you think the media gives improbable life expectations? Explain

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in the context of the poem

Ans. Yes, As said in the poem the poor people from the rural side are
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exposed to better lifestyles and luxury through media. They are only about
its existence and not the reality behind it. Hence, they end up creating
aspirations that are impractical to work out due to the negligence of the
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people in power. Also, those with money are apathetic and not willing to
help out the poor at all, leaving them to run small businesses or petty jobs
that don’t pay much.
NCERT PARAGRAPH 4
It is in the news that all these pitiful kin

Are to be bought out and mercifully gathered in
To live in villages, next to the theatre and the store,
Where they won’t have to think for themselves anymore,

While greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey,
Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits
That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits,
And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day,
Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way.
EXPLANATION
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There is a talk in the news that the pitiful poor villagers will soon be
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relocated near the stores and theatres where they have a much better life.
However, the poet says that those people who appear as good-doers and
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beneficent are actually greedy and they have their own personal interests
in moving them out of their current place. They appear to be helpful,
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promising them a relaxing life (the poet uses the phrase ‘teaching them
how to sleep), but they turn a blind eye towards their plight by being
unaware of the poor people’s problems (sleep all day). The poor villagers
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have to sleep at night as well to earn money.
WORD MEANINGS
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Kin: one’s family and relations

Soothe: ease/bring comfort
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Swarm: congest/crowd
POETIC DEVICES
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Oxymoron: greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts

Alliteration: greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts
QUESTION
● What are the phrases used by the poet to call out the hypocrisy of the
rich and powerful in their attitude toward poor villagers?
Ans. The poet uses phrases such as greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts
of prey and “swarm over their lives enforcing benefits”.
NCERT PARAGRAPH 5
Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear

The thought of so much childish longing in vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer
For the squeal of brakes, the sound of a stopping car,
Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass,
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Just one to inquire what a farmer’s prices are.
And one did stop, but only to plow up grass
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In using the yard to back and turn around;
And another to ask the way to where it was bound;
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EXPLANATION
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In this stanza, the poet shifts the narration from the perspective of the
roadside stand owner to himself. He says that he could not tolerate the
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thought of the poor villagers going through so much pain. The longing for a
customer is like that of a child’s wish, it goes unfulfilled. The sadness that
comes out as a result of inadequate businesses spreads everywhere. They
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pray for the cars to stop near the roadside stands. But even if any ‘selfish
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car’ (the poet meant the people inside the car) do stop by, they mostly do it,
to enquire about the price or use the backyard for taking a turn or to ask the
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way around.
WORD MEANING
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Vain: go waste
Lurks: lie in wait
Longing: expectation, wish
Squeal: the scratchy sound of the car break
POETIC DEVICES
Personification: ‘sadness that lurks near the open window’

Transferred epithet: selfish car
QUESTION
● Why do people stop their cars near the roadside stand?

Ans. When the cars do stop near the sellers, they never really buy
anything. They inquire about the price or they use the space to take a turn
or they just ask for directions.
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NCERT PARAGRAPH 6
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And another to ask could they sell it a gallon of gas
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They couldn’t (this crossly); they had none, didn’t it see?
No, in country money, the country scale of gain,
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The requisite lift of spirit has never been found,
Or so the voice of the country seems to complain,
I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
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To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.
And then next day as I come back into the sane,
I wonder how I should like you to come to me
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And offer to put me gently out of my pain

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EXPLANATION
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The poet further says that those in the car don’t even care to pay attention
to the roadside stands at all, sometimes they come asking whether the
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farmers sell gas. In a small village like this, the slope for money gaining is
so low that their wishes cannot be fulfilled and they cannot be happy. The
poet wishes to end their agony and put them out of their misery in just one
stroke. But he comes back to the realization that they cannot be saved just
like that by one guy’s sympathy. The poet can’t bear the pain of the poor
villagers at all; he wants someone to put him out of pain.
WORD MEANINGS
requisite: necessary
Stroke: In a single attempt (in the context of the poem)
POETIC DEVICES:
Repetition: ‘in country money, the country scale of gain’
QUESTION
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● What does the poet wish for? Is it a feasible wish?
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Ans. The poet wishes for the poor villagers’ agony to be over. He wants all
the problems to be solved in one go. But he knows that it cannot happen
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since the poet’s sympathy or a person's single action cannot save the poor
people from their misery. For it to happen, those with money should be
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willing to spend it on the small businesses in the villages.
KEY PHRASES
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● Pathetically pled: the description of the roadside stand. The phrase
symbolises the wretched condition of the shed-like shop.
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● dole of bread: charity for the poor

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● The flower of cities from sinking: Metaphorical way of saying how

the rich only spend money in the city and it keeps the place from
being economically weaker.
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● landscape marred with the artless paint: How the beautiful country
landscape is spoiled with the roadside stands (according to the city
dwellers)
● trusting sorrow: The shop owners put the effort into keeping their
small business with hope even though their lives have so much
sorrow. They trust/believe that their life will get better as shown in the
movies
● life of the moving pictures’: life as shown in movies
● greedy good-doers and beneficent beasts of prey: These phrases

talk about how some rich and powerful appear to be kind and helpful,
but they are just greedy and have their own personal motivations in
doing so.
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● they sleep all day: City people ignore the misery of the poor
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● childish longing in vain: the hope for a better living is like a child’s
wish, it goes waste and is never fulfilled
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● Polished traffic: The poet uses this phrase to denote the polished
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luxurious life of those in the cars.
● Out of sorts: to complain or criticise

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NOTES
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● The poem is written in 56 lines divided into 6 stanzas.

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● The first 4 lines of the poem have rhyming words in the end and in
the later parts it doesn’t follow any rhyming scheme
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● There are rhyming couplets (for example, turn around; it was bound)
● The poem is written as a monologue or the lamentation of a roadside
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stand owner.
● But towards the end, the poet writes in his own voice
● He has a sympathetic attitude towards the subjects of the poem
● Personification, alliteration and transferred epithet are the major
poetic devices used.
● Through the poem, the poet tries to bring attention to the unequal
development between cities and villages and how the rich are
apathetic and selfish.
● The poem can also be interpreted as the harsh reality of life and how
movies and media give false expectations to the poor.
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SUMMARY
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The poem is simple, yet it conveys a powerful theme. It is about how
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unequal development leaves out the poor in rural areas and how they are
neglected. It begins with the description of a roadside stand and is written
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as a lamentation of the owner of the shop. It is a sympathy inducing shop
which looks more like a shed. The cars that go past the shop never stop or
pay attention to them. Hence, the shop owners and their families are
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suffering from poverty. Moreover, the inmates in the car criticise the shops
for not being aesthetic enough and according to them, it ruins the beauty of
the landscape. The shop owners feel hurtful and ignored. They wish for a
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city life like in the movies, but it largely remains unfulfilled due to the
negligence of those in power. In addition to this, there are rich people who
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appear as kind ones, but they have their own selfish needs to fulfil by
removing the poor from the villages. The shop owners wait for customers
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like little kids, but the cars stop only for needs like asking for directions or
for turning around. The villages are in misery and they have complaints that
nobody pays attention to. The poet ends by saying he wishes to put an end
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to their agony, but he is unable to do that. Therefore he joins their sadness,

although he wishes someone put an end to his pain too.
NCERT QUESTIONS
1. The city folk who drove through the countryside hardly paid any heed to
the roadside stand or to the people who ran it. If at all they did, it was to
complain. Which lines bring this out? What was their complaint about?
The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead,

Of signs that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong
They claimed that the poorly kept stalls, misdirected signposts, and
defaced stall paint spoiled the attractiveness of the country landscape.
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2. What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stand?
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The people on the roadside put up sign boards urging the city folks who
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passed through the road, to buy their products. They wanted those in the
cars to take notice of them and their effort instead of blatantly ignoring
them.
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3. The government and other social service agencies appear to help the
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poor rural people, but actually do them no good. Pick out the words and
phrases that the poet uses to show their double standards.
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While greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey,

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Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits

That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits,
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And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day,

Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way
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4. What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to? Why is it ‘vain’?
The childish longing in the poem is the shop owners' hope for customers
and subsequent better living style. It is in vain because not many people
stop in front of the roadside stand to buy their products. They only stop to
ask for direction or take a turn
5. Which lines tell us about the insufferable pain that the poet feels at the
thought of the plight of the rural poor
I wonder how I should like you to come to me And offer to put me gently out
of my pain
PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS
1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow
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The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer
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For the squeal of brakes, the sound of a stopping car,
Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass,
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Just one to inquire what a farmer’s prices are. (2012, Outside Delhi)
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a) Which open window is referred to? Why does sadness lurk there?
The open window here is the roadside stand where the farmers sell their
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products. Sadness lurks in this place because they expectantly wait for
customers to buy their products, but that doesn’t happen much, pushing
them further towards poverty
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b) What does the farmer pray for?

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He prays for the cars to stop by so that he gets customers
c) Is the farmer’s prayer ever granted? How do you know?

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His prayers are never granted because in the next line it says that the
people who stop near the roadside stand only do it to enquire about
something or the other and not actually to buy things
2. Why didn’t the ‘polished traffic’ stop at the roadside stand? (2012 Delhi)
Because they are just concerned with getting to their goal, the "polished
traffic" conveniently passes by the roadside stand and does not stop there.
They also criticised the stand's shoddy interior design, paint, and decor.
3. Why do people at the roadside stand ask for city money? (2013 Comptt.
Delhi)
Contrary to city dwellers, the rural residents operating the roadside stall are
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impoverished and neglected. They, therefore, want city funds so that they
too may live happy and prosperous lives. They will be able to live the life
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that the ruling party had promised them with the help of this desperately
needed city money.
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4. Why does Robert Frost sympathise with the rural poor? (2011 Comptt.
Outside Delhi)
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The suffering of the rural poor, who are disregarded and neglected by the
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wealthy politicians, causes Robert Frost unimaginable sorrow. Their welfare
is not a priority for the government or the ruling party. They deceive them
with false promises before taking full advantage of them to further their own
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selfish goals.
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5. What news in the poem ‘A Roadside Stand’ is making its round in the
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village? (2013 Outside Delhi)
The news making round in the village is that the villagers will be soon
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relocated to locations near the stores and theatres where they do not have
to think about them anymore as they would be close to the city.
6. The little old house was out with a little new shed
In front at the edge of the road where the traffic sped,
A roadside stand that too pathetically pled,
It would not be fair to say for a dole of bread,
But for some of the money, the cash, whose flow supports
The flower of cities from sinking and withering faint.
a) Where was the new shed set up? What was its purpose?
The new shed was an extension of the old house of the farmer. It was
close to the roadside, it’s supposed purpose was to attract those went
down the road in their cars
b) Why does the poet use the word pathetic?
He uses the word to signify the wretched condition of the roadside stand.
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c) Explain “too pathetically pled”?
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It appeared as though the owner was appealing to the wealthy residents of
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the city to visit and make purchases from his roadside stand so they could
make some extra money by erecting the shed.
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d) Who are referred to here as ‘the flower of the cities’?
(2012,Delhi)
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The wealthy city dwellers.
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7. Explain ‘soothe them out of the wits’ with reference to the poem the
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Roadside stand (Delhi, 2005)

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The rich and powerful men approach the rural residents and make them
false promises of improved living arrangements and a better existence.
These naive, unassuming farmers have total faith in their exaggerated
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claims and feel comforted and satisfied by them. They are blind to their
own corruption and selfishness.
WORKSHEET
STAND ALONE MCQs
1. What does the farmer want in life?

a) He wants to buy acres of land to expand his production
b) He wants to buy a car

c) He wants to live his life like the city folks
d) He wants to become a powerful politician
Answer: He wants to live his life like the city folks
2. How did the news farmer come to know that they will be relocated?
a) Through the news
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b) A city dweller told him
c) The local politician told him
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d) He just assumed
Answer: Through the news
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3) greedy good-doers and beneficent beasts of prey are examples of
______
a) Transferred epithet
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b) Oxymoron
c) Metaphor
d) Repetition
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Answer: Oxymoron
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4) Which among the following phrases denotes the luxurious life of the city
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dwellers?
a) Polished traffic
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b) Beneficent beasts
c) Pitiful kin
d) Greedy good doers
Answer: Polished traffic
5) Which among the following is not an activity that the people travelling in
cars do?
a) Use the space to turn the vehicle around

b) Criticise the landscape

c) Ask for directions
d) Bargain about the price of the fruits
Answer: Bargain about the price of the fruits
6. What is the ‘tone’ of the poem?
a) Sympathetic
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b) Melancholic
c) Angry
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d) Optimistic
Answer: Sympathetic
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EXTRACT BASED MCQs
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A. “And another to ask could they sell it a gallon of gas They couldn’t
(this crossly); they had none, didn’t it see? No, in country money, the
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country scale of gain, The requisite lift of spirit has never been found,”
1. The shopkeeper was irritated at the car driver because he asked

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whether they sell gas? Why?

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a) The shopkeeper has run out of gas

b) The car driver was rude
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c) The car driver did not notice the sign boards

d) The car driver wants the gas at a low price
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Answer: The car driver did not notice the sign boards
2. “The requisite lift of spirit has never been found” , what is the meaning od
these lines?
a) The city people never get the requisite amount of gas

b) The rural folks never get enough money to live the life they want
c) The rural folks never get the requisite amount of gas
d) The city people are never happy and spirited
Answer: The rural folks never get enough money to live the life they want
B. Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts At having the landscape

marred with the artless paint Of signs that with N turned wrong and S
turned wrong Offered for sale wild berries in wooden quarts,
1. What does N turned wrong and S turned wrong refer to, here?
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It refers to the direction sign boards that are wrongly kept
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2. Find the synonym for marred
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a) Adorned
b) Celebrated
c) Covered
d) Spoiled
Answer: Spoiled
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C. “It is in the news that all these pitiful kin Are to be bought out and
mercifully gathered in To live in villages, next to the theatre and the store,
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Where they won’t have to think for themselves anymore”

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1. Who are the pitiful kin referred here?

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Answer: The family members and relatives of the poor villagers
2. What do these lines denote about the future of the villagers?

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They denote that the villagers will be soon relocated to a location near the
store and theatre
QUESTIONS
1. Do you find relevance for the poem’s theme in the current Indian
scenario? Explain
Yes, Even though the poem is written in the 20th century about American
country life, we can find resonations with the theme in the current Indian
scenario. Similar to the village and city depicted in the poem, Indian cities
and villages also face an urban-rural divide when it comes to development.
Rural farmers and their small businesses are often neglected. Rich people
who could help them by buying their products mostly buy from large shops
or malls owned by city folks themselves.
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2. Do you think ‘moving pictures’ give farmers high expectations on life?
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Yes, Movies show city life as modern and wonderful with a better lifestyle.
What they do not show is how the poor can attain that condition in life. In
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short, they rarely showcase the struggles of the poor.
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3. What does the poem say about the rich and powerful?
In the poem, they are crooked and cunning. They are apathetic people who
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turn a blind eye to the plight of the rural poor. But when they need
something from these miserable people, they approach them with kind and
helpful faces. In reality, they do not adhere to these kindness principles,
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they are there to only satisfy their selfish needs.

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4. Is there a way the poor farmers in the poem can escape the misery?
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It is an improbable and unlikely scenario, however, that does not mean it is

impossible. With proper help from the authorities and kind-hearted people,
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the farmers can expand their businesses and make more money. They also
need to be able to realize the crookedness and manipulative tactics of
those in power.
VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract.

A. No, in country money, the country scale of gain,
The requisite lift of spirit has never been found,
Or so the voice of the country seems to complain,
I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.
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And then next day as I come back into the sane,
I wonder how I should like you to come to me
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And offer to put me gently out of my pain.
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i. The ‘country money’ contextually here refers to
a) money kept aside for the rural development.
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b) wealth accumulated by the whole country.
c) meagre income earned by the countryside people.
d) riches collected by the ancestral farmers over time.
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ii. Pick the option that mentions elements justifying monetary aspect as the
‘requisite lift of spirit’.
1. confidence
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2. ego
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3. self-esteem
4. status
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5. fame
a) 1, 2, 4
b) 2, 4, 5
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c) 1, 3, 4
d) 1, 3, 5
iii. Choose the correct option with respect to the two statements given
below.
Statement 1: The poet is agitated and depressed.
Statement 2: The poet realizes the futility of his thought about giving up.
a) Statement 1 can be inferred but Statement 2 cannot be inferred.
b) Statement 1 cannot be inferred but Statement 2 can be inferred.
c) Statement 1 and Statement 2 can be inferred.
d) Statement 1 and Statement 2 cannot be inferred.

iv. Choose the option that correctly paraphrases the given lines from the
above
extract.
“I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.”
a) The poet wants to kill the impoverished people.
b) The poet feels that death is better than living such a miserable life.
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c) The poet wants to eliminate poverty from the society.
d) The poet states that it is important that these people become rich.
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B. The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead,
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IS
Of signs that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong...
i. The polished traffic in particular refers to the

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a) sophisticated city dwellers in their vehicles.
b) shiny cars that the poet sees on the road.
c) extremely affluent people living in the neighbourhood.
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d) civilized manner in which traffic is coordinated.

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ii. ‘The urban and educated people have their minds ahead.’
Choose the option suggesting the correct meaning behind this line.
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a) Option 1
b) Option 2
c) Option 3
d) Option 4
iii What do the urban rich feel about the S and N signs that have been
painted wrong?
a) Tolerant
b) Amused
c) Sympathetic
d) Annoyed
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iv The passers-by find the sign artless but the landscape ___________.
a) animated
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b) aesthetic
c) amusing
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d) ancient
Stand Alone MCQs

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i Based on your reading of the poem, choose the option that correctly lays
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out the difference between the city-dwellers and the countryside people.
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IP
SH
a) Option 1
b) Option 2
c) Option 3
d) Option 4
ii “I wonder how I should like you to come to me

And offer to put me gently out of my pain.”

The tone of the poem by the end, as depicted by the given lines is
a) frustrated.
b) commanding.
c) Introspective.
d) emotional.
A
R
H
IS
M
A
iv Choose the option that correctly categorizes the given literary devices as
per the given analogy.
R
selfish cars : ................ :: ................... : metaphor

a) personification; polished traffic
IP
b) transferred epithet; trusting sorrow

c) metaphor; pitiful kin
SH
d) oxymoron; greedy good-doers

v. Choose the option that correctly mentions the complaints made by the
poet
through this poem.
1. The rich people drive carelessly on the road hitting the poor people on
purpose.
2. The city-dwellers remain highly insensitive and offhand towards the
poor people.
3. The urban people are unable to understand the struggles of the
impoverished people.
4. The goods are not being bought by the wealthy people even at
discounted rates.
a) 1, 2
b) 2, 3
c) 3, 4
d) 1, 4
A
Answer in 30-40 words
i Though money holds the same value everywhere, the poet draws a
R
distinction between city money and country money. Elaborate.
ii The roadside stand and the moving cars are a contrast around which the
H
entire poem is woven. Expound.
iii Comment on the significance of the symbol of the car in the poem.
Discuss. IS
iv Does the poet reach a conclusive solution for the issue at hand?
v. State any two characteristics that can be inferred about the people from
M
the countryside in The Roadside Stand.
Answer in 120-150 words

A
i. Imagine a car stops and actually buys from the roadside stand.
R
Keeping in mind the reaction you think the peasants would have, write a
diary entry as the farmer describing not only your immediate experience but
IP
also your after-thoughts on being able to earn “city-money”.

You may begin this way:
Wednesday, 2nd March XX 9 PM
SH
We had an unexpectedly good day today!...
ii. Imagine a child from the farmer’s family migrates to the city for their
education. As the child, write back to your family telling them whether you
would or would not want to turn into a city-person.
Use the context of the poem “A Roadside Stand” in mind to pen down this
letter.
You may begin this way:
12, Davidson County
23 January ‘XX
Dear mom
I have been thinking about the roadside stall lately. Now that I find myself
surrounded by
city-people all the time, I think............................................
With love
Jennifer
A
iii. 'The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the
business of making bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home.'
R
(The Lost Spring)
'...far from the city we make our roadside stand and ask for some city
H
money to feel in hand'. (A Roadside Stand)
Create a conversation between a bangle maker and the owner of a
IS
roadside stand with reference to the above extracts.
You may begin the conversation like this: Owner of a roadside stand: Your
bangles are pretty. Tell me about your experience in this business.
M
C. It is in the news that all these pitiful kin Are to be bought out and
mercifully gathered in To live in villages, next to the theatre and the store,
A
Where they won’t have to think for themselves anymore, While greedy
R
good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey, Swarm over their lives enforcing

benefits That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits, And by
IP
teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day, Destroy their sleeping at
night the ancient way. (A Roadside Stand)
i. What is the tone of the poet in the above lines?
SH
(i) aggressive
(ii) tolerant
(iii) sarcastic
(iv) resigned
(v) sentimental
Choose the most appropriate option.
A. Only (i)
B. (ii) and (iii)
C. (i), (iv) and (v)
D. Only (iii)
ii. Identify the phrase from the extract, that suggests the following: No one
bothers to take ‘their’ consent before pushing the promise of a better life,
their way.
iii. What quality of the villagers can be inferred through these lines?
A. gullible
B. futuristic
C. hypocritical
A
D. ambitious
iv. Complete the following analogy correctly. Do NOT repeat from used
R
example. greedy good doers: alliteration ::................................... oxymoron
v. On the basis of the extract, choose the correct option with reference to
H
(1) and (2) given below.
(1) The city dwellers make promises for the betterment of the villagers.
A. (1) is true but (2) is false.

B. (2) is true but (1) is false.
IS
(2) The city dwellers have ulterior motives.
M
C. (2) is the reason for (1).
D. Both (1) and (2) cannot be inferred from the extract.
vi. Fill the blank with an appropriate word, with reference to the extract. ‘…
A
calculated to soothe them out of their wits’ implies that ‘them’ are being .
R
IP
SH

A Roadside Stand by Robert Frost SDC NOTES

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A Roadside Stand by Robert Frost SDC NOTES

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YOUTUBE CHANNEL: SHIPRA MISHRA

Dole: benefit paid by the government to the unemployed/charity

Personification: “ A roadside stand that too pathetically pled”

Offered for sale wild berries in wooden quarts,

Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts

Repetition: “N turned wrong and S turned wrong”

Or beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene,

You have the money, but if you want to be mean,

The hurt to the scenery wouldn’t be my complaint

And ask for some city money to feel in hand

● Do you think the media gives improbable life expectations? Explain

in the context of the poem

It is in the news that all these pitiful kin

Where they won’t have to think for themselves anymore,

Kin: one’s family and relations

Oxymoron: greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts

Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear

Personification: ‘sadness that lurks near the open window’

Transferred epithet: selfish car

● Why do people stop their cars near the roadside stand?

And offer to put me gently out of my pain

Repetition: ‘in country money, the country scale of gain’

● dole of bread: charity for the poor

● The flower of cities from sinking: Metaphorical way of saying how

● life of the moving pictures’: life as shown in movies

● greedy good-doers and beneficent beasts of prey: These phrases

● Out of sorts: to complain or criticise

● The poem is written in 56 lines divided into 6 stanzas.

to their agony, but he is unable to do that. Therefore he joins their sadness,

The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead,

While greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey,

Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits

And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day,

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

b) What does the farmer pray for?

He prays for the cars to stop by so that he gets customers

c) Is the farmer’s prayer ever granted? How do you know?

village? (2013 Outside Delhi)

Roadside stand (Delhi, 2005)

STAND ALONE MCQs

1. What does the farmer want in life?

b) He wants to buy a car

a) Through the news

a) Use the space to turn the vehicle around

b) Criticise the landscape

6. What is the ‘tone’ of the poem?

1. The shopkeeper was irritated at the car driver because he asked

whether they sell gas? Why?

a) The shopkeeper has run out of gas

c) The car driver did not notice the sign boards

a) The city people never get the requisite amount of gas

B. Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts At having the landscape

Where they won’t have to think for themselves anymore”

1. Who are the pitiful kin referred here?

Answer: The family members and relatives of the poor villagers

2. What do these lines denote about the future of the villagers?

they are there to only satisfy their selfish needs.

It is an improbable and unlikely scenario, however, that does not mean it is

VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract.

d) Statement 1 and Statement 2 cannot be inferred.

i. The polished traffic in particular refers to the

d) civilized manner in which traffic is coordinated.

Stand Alone MCQs