DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT

Question 1

‘do not go gentle’

Answer 1

Plosive alliteration
Consonance

Question 2

‘do not go gentle into that good night’

Answer 2

Imperative verb mood
Begging pleading tone
Shows desperation

Question 3

‘rage, rage’

Answer 3

Epizeuxis
Angry at death because of fear

Question 4

‘old age should burn and rave at close of day’

Answer 4

Assonance
Long words

Question 5

‘close of day’

Answer 5

Euphemism for death/night
Doesn’t seem as frightening to the speaker
Not as harsh/hard to say as death

Question 6

‘words had forked no lightning’

Answer 6

Haven’t done anything in their life yet so they do not want death to come so soon

Question 7

‘blinding sight’

Answer 7

Oxymoron

Question 8

What type of poem?

Answer 8

Villanelle poem

Question 9

What do villanelle poems show?

Answer 9

Obsession (repetitive)

Question 10

What is the speaker doing?

Answer 10

Standing up to death
Begging/plea

Question 11

What is the meter?

Answer 11

Iambic pentameter (conversational and dialogue in plea)

Question 12

‘and learn, too late’

Answer 12

Consonance on ‘L’
Slows the pace

Question 13

‘curse, bless’

Answer 13

Juxtaposition

Question 14

‘fierce tears’

Answer 14

Gentle sibilance
Internal rhyme
Contrast of strong and weak
Assonance

Question 15

Anaphora of ‘men’

Answer 15

Set structure

Question 16

What is the poem talking about?

Answer 16

Obsessive fear of death
Whilst we are living we are in the process of dying
speaker grasping for control (restricted form)

Question 17

What is the form?

Answer 17

Monologue

Question 18

Structure?

Answer 18

Long vowels and sentences at the start
Become shorter and breathless at the end

Question 19

themes of do not go gentle into that good night

Answer 19

• family and grief
• life and death
• life lessons

Question 20

summary of do not go gentle into that good night

Answer 20

• thomas talks abt lots of different types of men who attempt to ignore and deny that they will die
• he says that wise men are men who fight death because they havent done anything revolutionary yet
• Old men have the knowledge and wisdom to realize the preciousness of life and therefore want to hold onto it.

Question 21

structure of o not go gentle into that good night

Answer 21

• villanelle - highly structured with refrains, strict rhyme scheme - demands control and intensity - death is unavoidable

Question 22

language of do not go gentle into that good night

Answer 22

• oxymoron - ‘curse bless’ - conflicting nature of life and death - you can die instantly so make the most of your life - his father didnt bc he never became a teacher