Do Not Go Gentle

Which of the following statements best describes a central theme of the poem?

• Life is precious and should be fought for when facing its end.

• Family is the most valuable thing in life and should be protected at all costs.

• Man is in a constant struggle versus Nature's attempts to kill him.

• Growing up involves learning to let loved ones go.

Why does the narrator include descriptions of different types of men?

• He uses them to illustrate how people face death differently.

• He includes these different types of men—who all fight against dying, despite their differences—to support his stance against giving up on living.

• He contrasts how they face or conceptualize death versus how he does (i.e. passing peacefully versus raging against it).

• The speaker includes these different types of men in order to shame his father into living by attacking his masculinity.

Which of the following statements best describes the speaker's point of view?

• The speaker is facing death and is attempting to encourage himself to live.

• The speaker is distraught over the idea of dying quietly of old age; he wants his death to be more heroic than that.

• The speaker is at his father's deathbed, trying to encourage his father to be strong in the face of death.

• The speaker is actually an omniscient narrator, as he possesses knowledge about others' thoughts (while dying).

Which of the following quotes best supports that the speaker is at his father's deathbed, trying to encourage his father to be strong in the face of death.

• "Do not go gentle into that good night, / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light." (Lines 1-3)

• "Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright / Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay" (Lines 7-8)

• "Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight / Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay" (Lines 13-14)

• "And you, my father, there on the sad height, / Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. / Do not go gentle into that good night." (Lines 16-18)

What does the "light" mentioned in the poem most likely represent?

•  The light most likely represents death; Thomas uses light in this way by putting a twist on the phrase "light at the end of the tunnel."

•  The light most likely represents the afterlife (i.e. heaven); the speaker is attempting to guide his father to a peaceful afterlife.

• The light most likely represents love; the speaker begs his father to remember the love he has for his family in order to fight death.

•  The light most likely represents life; the speaker tells his father to "rage, rage against the dying of the light" as he encourages him to be strong in the face of death.