1. Discuss the following passage, extracted from Dylan Thomas' 'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night';
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
2. Alice Munro's 'Boys and Girls' is a depiction of the coming of age of a young woman. Discuss it's symbolism, with regards to the function of the story.
1. Thomas' 'Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night' is a comment on the meaning of life, and the 'best' way to live it. Good men, while 'good', have not lived. They have been 'good', though, their "frail deeds" might have shone brighter, burned longer. The poem is about sapping every drop out of life, and the men in the passage have failed to do so.
2. 'Boys and Girls' acts as a mirror to society; a microcosmic representation of what girls go through as they become women, the character symbolizes all women on a smaller scale. The family farm that the story takes place on is a 'smaller' society, with all of its pressures and expectations. By acting as a mirror to society, Munro's story brings attention to what girls and young women go through with age.
Thanks Tulalel.
ReplyDeleteOn the exam, of course, I won't tell you where the passage comes from; you'll have to identify it. But you should identify it exactly as you have here, but using the title and author of the poem or story on your way to stating a thesis, not by making the title of the poem INTO your thesis.