Think you’ve got your head wrapped around Design? Put your knowledge to
the test. Good luck — the Stickman is counting on you!
Q. The first line contrasts…
a dark sky with a bright morning sun
the spider and the princess
a fat spider with a skinny flower
a nursery rhyme sound with a scary image
Q. Frost probably chose a heal-all as his flower because
it helps create the supernatural mood of the poem
its color is obviously symbolic
it reminds him of the death of his father
all the other flowers were already claimed by other poets
Q. Lines four and five contrast one another in what way?
Line four is like "you're ugly" and line five is like "I know you are but what am I?"
the images are predominately of darkness and light
the first claims that moth will probably live, but the other condemns the moth to die
they seem to argue for the randomness of nature and the design of nature at the same time
Q. The word "innocent" in line ten implies…
that the spider is only doing what it was meant to do
that we should pity the moth
that nature is wrongly viewed as a savage place
that the flower doesn't control its fate
Q. The last lines of the poem leave the reader wondering…
if fear is the last obstacle man has yet to overcome
what the true fate of the moth will be
if there is a loving God out there in charge of things
where he left his darn keys (they were just here!)