Question

Overall, how do the images of the poem “I Could Not Stop for Death” reinforce the meaning of the poem? Check the two boxes that best apply.
They suggest that death is a journey.

They suggest that farm work is very important to society.

They suggest that death is not to be feared.

They suggest that carriages are a very reliable means of transportation.

Answer 1

To answer this, we need to make sure we have a good understanding of the poem itself. Dickinson describes death as a gentleman that comes to call, gently taking her on a carriage ride through life before she reaches her final resting place. This is important because it's a different characterization than many other poems have of death, which is shown as something to be feared.

Looking at your answer choices, we need to use process of elimination to determine the two answers that work best. Since the poem is about death, we can automatically eliminate the answers about farming and carriages. Nothing in the poem suggests anything about farm work being important to society and, while the poem mentions a carriage, there is nothing to suggest she is talking about how reliable they are.

That leaves the two choices that discuss death as a journey and that death is not to be feared. These are the two choices that are best because in the poem itself, the narrator goes on a journey as she dies and, because death is implied as being an gentleman, death should not be feared.

Answer 2

They suggest that death is a journey.  

They suggest that death is not to be feared.