Question

Read the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay.

If we must die—let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die—oh, let us nobly die
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!

Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;
Though far outnumbered, let us still be brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but—fighting back!

What sentence best conveys the speaker’s message?

A. Nature is more powerful than man.
B. Victory is unlikely when one is outnumbered.
C. There is honor in dying courageously.
D. Nonviolence is the only way to prevent bloodshed.

Answer 1

The answer is: C. There is honor in dying courageously.

In the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay from the very beginning he established that If they are going to die it must be an honorable death, he starts the poem saying “If we must die—let it not be like hogs / Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,” and in the fifth line he refer to nobly die “If we must die—oh, let us nobly die” in this case the best sentence to convey the speaker message is: There is honor in dying courageously.

Answer 2

the only two answers listed that even remotely work are B and C, but B can be eliminated as it doesn't match the tone of the rest of the poem, which talks about honor and dying nobly. Therefore, the answer is clearly C.