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I've studied the use of a polite(?) te-form conjugation that is used to
enumerate actions or for a request (adding `ください`). Examples would be `聞いて`,
`死んで`.

But what about non-polite(?) te-form conjugations? `聞け`, `死ね`, when do you use
them? They rather seem imperative, as if the speaker were giving an order with
an angry tone, but I believe that's actually the case of the `〜なさい` suffix.
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conjugations て-form imperatives
When to use these plain Te-Forms?
Choco's right but being pedantic ;)

~て form is often used as a casual direct request/command. ドア開けて！早く飲んで！ Adding
くれ！makes it very powerful, impatient, angry, desperate or comic.

~なさい is more how you would politely but strongly address/command/request a
child or 'lower' person. You could also see it as one step down in formality
from ください。

Like many things, tone, delivery and situation impart a lot of nuance and
variety of application.
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Let's talk about the imperative in Japanese: an imperative is a way to give
orders and/or commands. However, the form of these utterances decides whether
they are humble requests to barked orders.

You can find a quite complete reference
[here](http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/requests)

In general you can use a number of forms:

  * ます-stem+`なさい`: this is a polite yet firm request. It is often used to soften orders, between parents and child or boss/employee.

> よく聞｛き｝きなさい！

  * て-form+`ください` or noun+`ください`: This also a polite way of expressing a request, think of "Please do this". This is widely used, I hear it all the time in classrooms:

> 座｛すわ｝ってください！

  * The imperative form that is made from either turning the last syllable of a godan verb to the corresponding `e` pair or by adding `ろ` to the stem of a ichidan verb. This one is used for strong orders, such as those you give to your dog:

> 走｛はし｝れ！ しっかりしろ！

There are other variations, but these are the main imperative forms. Note that
the て-form is one imperative form among many others. Usage of those forms
depends a lot on the context, mainly the current situation and relationship
between the speakers.

An interesting example is `頑張｛がんば｝る`, to do one's best, to strive for
perfection.

  * 頑張りなさい would typically be used by soccer moms encouraging their children.
  * 頑張ってください would be used to encourage a co-worker.
  * 頑張って may be used by friends encouraging you
  * 頑張れ (often written ガンバレ) will be used by sports fan cheering on their favorite team/player.

Unfortunately there is no set rule, so it will take some time to recognize in
which situation which form of imperative is to be used.
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