Sound and Structure in Poems by Dylan Thomas and W. B. Yeats
Question 15 • 26-27 Ignite English 12 NG KY-English Language Arts 12
Read the excerpt from "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death."I balanced all, brought all to mind, The years to come seemed waste of breath, A waste of breath the years behind In balance with this life, this death.
Answer
W
While the main idea in "Do not go gentle into that good night" is to accept death when it comes, the speaker in this excerpt urges his audience to fight for life.
W
While the main idea in "Do not go gentle into that good night" is to fight death, the speaker in this excerpt claims that it does not matter whether a person lives or dies.
W
While the main idea in "Do not go gentle into that good night" is to fear death, the main idea in the excerpt is that death is natural and should be embraced when the time comes.
W
While the main idea in "Do not go gentle into that good night" is to live life to the fullest, the main idea in the excerpt is that all attempts to lead a meaningful life are futile.
Explanation
The speaker weighs the years ahead against the years already lived and finds both a “waste of breath” beside the choice between “this life” and “this death.” This suggests that living or dying makes little difference to him. By contrast, “Do not go gentle into that good night” urges people to resist death, so choice B captures the contrast.
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