January
Poem of the Month
"IF"
by Rudyard Kipling
1
This month, we are going to
focus on
theme
while analyzing our poem.
What is theme?
2
Q: What is theme?
A: The life lesson a story
(or poem!) teaches
theme...
­ a message about life or human nature that the
writer shares with the reader
­ in many cases, readers must infer what the
writer's message is
­ one way of figuring out a theme is to apply
lessons learned by the main characters to
people in real life
­ helps us figure out what stories, poems, and
plays we read really mean
3
theme...
Have you heard the fairy tale about
the duckling who doesn't fit in?
His siblings call him the "ugly
duckling" because he looks different
from them. In the end, the duckling
discovers that he is actually a
beautiful swan.
4
theme...
The story of the ugly duckling is about being
different. But this is not the theme of the story.
It is simply a topic ­ one or two words that sum
up what the story is about. The theme is the
writer's message about the topic.
Examples:
­ It's important to accept people for who they are.
­ Differences are what make people special.
5
theme...
While a topic can be
described in a word or two,
it takes a complete sentence
to describe a theme.
6
The Drum
by Nikki Giovanni
daddy says the world is
a drum tight and hard
and i told him
i'm gonna beat
out my own rhythm
7
The Drum
by Nikki Giovanni
TOPICS
daddy says the world is
a drum tight and hard
and i told him
i'm gonna beat
out my own rhythm
THEME STATEMENTS
8
The Stray Cat
by Eve Merriam
It's just an old alley cat
that has followed us all the way home.
It hasn't a star on its forehead,
or a silky satiny coat.
No proud tiger stripes, no dainty tread,
no elegant velvet throat.
It's a splotchy, blotchy
city cat, not a pretty cat,
a rough little tough little bag of old bones.
"Beauty," we shall call you.
"Beauty, come in."
9
The Stray Cat
by Eve Merriam
It's just an old alley cat
that has followed us all the way home.
It hasn't a star on its forehead,
or a silky satiny coat.
No proud tiger stripes, no dainty tread,
no elegant velvet throat.
It's a splotchy, blotchy
city cat, not a pretty cat,
a rough little tough little bag of old bones.
"Beauty," we shall call you.
"Beauty, come in."
1. Notice the way the cat
is described. Would
most people consider
this cat beautiful?
Explain.
2. Reread the boxed
lines. Choose the
statement that best
expresses this poem's
theme.
a) Beauty is
something that everyone
can agree on.
b) Different people
have different ideas
about what is beautiful.
10
January
Poem of the Month
"IF"
by Rudyard Kipling
11
* He was born on December 30, 1865 in Bombay, India. His parents were very wealthy and he was often taken care of by a nanny.
* In 1871 his parents sent him and his sister to a boarding school in England where he was often beat up by the son of the owners, Captain and Mrs. Holloway.
*His father had an art studio and his aunt and uncle were very creative painters, actors and songsters. He spent vacations with them and his creativity began to grow.
* His mother rescued him from the boarding school in 1877 so he could attend a school in Devon.
*He was now armed with spectacles, for Kipling was nearly blind without them and his undiagnosed vision problems were the source of much grief from Mrs. Holloway and his schoolteachers. He learned to defend himself from bullies and settled into the life of a student, became the editor of the school paper, and in his second year started writing his own Schoolboy Lyrics (1881) printed by his parents.
12
* In 1881 he returned to India to live with his parents. He became the editor of several newspapers.
* In 1888 he began to write and publish short stories and essays.
* In 1892, he married and began a world travel for his honeymoon. While on vacation he learned he had lost all of his wealth when the bank where he had his money failed.
* Between 1892 and 1897, his three children were born.
* One of his most famous stories, which also made him famous in England, was published in 1894. Have you heard of The Jungle Book?
* In 1899 his first daughter died of pneumonia.
* Mr. Kipling refused many honors and awards but was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
* He died in 1936 of a hemorrage.
13
The title of the poem is
"IF"...
What do you think the poem
is about based on the title?
14
IF by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
allowance ­ tolerating; allowing something to happen
15
If you can dream­­and not make dreams your master;
If you can think­­and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn­out tools;
imposters ­ a person who deceives others by using a false identity knave­ a rascal; a dishonest person
16
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch­and­toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
sinew ­ source of power
17
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings­­nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run­­
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And­­which is more­­you'll be a Man my son!
virtue ­ goodness foes ­ enemies 18
Paraphrase: Let's translate the
poem in our own words.
**Let's do the first one together!
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
*Go back through the next three
stanzas and paraphrase.
19
e
h
t
s
ti
a
h
W
e
m
y
rh
? by Rudyard Kipling
e
m
sche
IF If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
Complete the rhyme
scheme for every stanza.
20
If you can dream­­and not make dreams your master;
If you can think­­and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn­out tools;
Can you locate any
personification
in this stanza?
21
Question:
What is the poet's attitude (tone)?
Question:
Are there any shifts (changes)
in the poem?
Question:
Re­evaluate the title.
Did you guess correctly before reading?
22
n
i
s
i
h
t
k
r
r
e wo r w
s
An r bell ut ou
you y abo f the a
o !
d
o
m
t
poe onth
m
theme...
• What does the poem mean?
• What is it saying?
• How does it relate to life?
• What is the poet trying to
teach us in this poem?
23
Now that we have learned what Rudyard Kipling thought made a good man,
you are going to write a poem about what you think
makes a good 6th grade student.
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
Assignment:
• Write a poem about what you think makes a good 6th
grade student (what would you advise new 6th graders
to do to be successful).
• The title of your poem should be "If".
• Your poem must be at least 8 lines long.
• Each phrase needs to begin with "If..." (ex. If you do
your homework, you will make straight A's.)
• You must write the theme of your poem at the very
bottom of the page.
• You should write your final draft on a half sheet of
white paper. PUT YOUR NAME ON THE BACK!
• Rhyme scheme is not important.
24