Ann Charters, author of The Elements of Fiction, states that “plot is basic to the literary form,” and that “Plot not only answers what happened next, but it also suggests why.” Charters then goes on to discuss how all plots have definitive sections in the “basic pattern of a beginning, a middle, and an end.” Robert Frost’s poem “Home Burial” is categorical in terms of a beginning and middle, but does not have a definitive ending “where the problem or conflict presented in the earlier sections proceeds towards resolution.” However, the lack of a definite ending does not take away from the narrative or fail to answer the questions when or why. Instead, it reflects the absence of resolution between the characters of the poem, and their uncertain
