Compare and Contast Essay: That’s All I Know So Far vs. The Road Not Taken vs.Slam, Dunk, and Hook

Within the bundle, there are three poems that all contain similar themes. 

“That’s All I Know So Far” is a poem that expresses one person’s advice about how to be true to oneself. The poem “The Road Not Taken” discusses choosing paths in life that lead to one's own story. Finally, in “Slam, Dunk, and Hook” the speaker reflects on how it is important to focus on the activities that one loves and use those activities to cope during stressful times. In each of the poems, the authors create themes that include: pride in identity, making unique choices, and coping through adversity.

The first poem is titled “That's all I know So Far.” Within this poem, the theme is that individuality is more important than what others believe. The author claims that there are no rules on how to live one’s own life. “No one’s handing you the keys or a book with all the rules” (line 6). This illustrates that there is not a set way to live one's life. Everyone has to live by their own rules. The author also writes that people are not able to change others. “They can’t tell you to change who you are” (line 12). This implies that nobody is able to change someone into someone else. 

The second poem in the unit is “The Road Not Taken.” The author's message in this passage is that life offers many paths, and every individual gets to choose which one to take. The speaker describes how not following others has made a major impact on his life. “I took the one less traveled by,/and that has made all the difference” (lines 19-20). This demonstrates that the author believes there are multiple paths to take in life and people get to pick their own paths. Along with that, the speaker explains how choosing his path led to more paths he had to choose from, not allowing him to come back to the previous paths. “Yet knowing how way leads on to way,/I doubted if I should ever come back” (lines 14-15).Throughout the poem the author is pointing out that life is full of choices, and depending on the choices one makes, it will lead to the unfolding of their story.

Finally is “Slam, Dunk, and Hook.” The theme in this passage is that it is important to find ways to cope when dealing with times of sorrow. The author claims that it is good to cope through difficult times. “When Sonny Boy’s mom died/he played nonstop all day” (line 24-25). This poem suggests that coping is a good way to get through hard times. In another quote, the author declares that being able to cope makes people stronger. “Through a lyric slip knot/of joy, and we knew we were/beautiful and dangerous” (lines 38-40). This demonstrates that since the speakers are  able to cope through tough times, they are stronger and better able to get through more tough times.

In conclusion, the three poems discussed above all have three similar themes. The first poem is about showing individuality. The second poem reflects on the importance of picking one’s own path in life. The last poem explains coping during times of struggle. A short quote from Shawn Anchor summarizes the main themes of the three poems well: “The most successful people see adversity not as a stumbling block, but as a stepping stone to greatness."