IF by Rudyard Kipling analysis

Example of assonance

"And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise."

Example of personification

"If you can dream- and not make your dreams your master; If you can meet Triumph and Disaster" = Triumph and disaster are concepts and here they are described as two impostors/humans. "Except the Will which says to them "hold on!" = Will of God

Example of alliterations

"If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch." "Twisted by knaves to make a trap by fools."

hidden imperative/command/bossy verbs

'keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs' - telling the son what to do

Effect of alliteration

* Vital role, It creates a musical effect and flow. * Using alliteration in the end of the poem gives us the feeling of a rush/ sprint to the end. We want to know the answer.

Effect of enjambments

* feeling of a running on of a thought from the beginning of the poem to the end, the final punctuation = flow. It helps to continue thinking about the idea of what will happen if the "if" is real in the end so it also gives a feeling of unpredictability.

Effect of consonance

* rhyming effect and lyrical feeling, also used to repeat the significance of an idea of unpredictability.

"And risk it on one term of pitch-and-toss"

. = Life is compared with games, you're not always going to win. It is a metaphor for risk, a gamble that needs bravery to take.

"your life to broken, and stoop and build'em up with wornout tools:"

= This metaphor emphasis the theme of the poem, Defeat and trying again when defeated.

Title

After if there has to be sth which follows so you are curious of what. If usually describes sth that isn't real or isn't real yet. It impies that you will be able to get it once you are there.

Which literary devices are used in IF?

Anaphora, Alliterations, Enjambments, Hyperbole (exaggerated metaphorical image), Metaphor, Paradox/contrast and Personification

Effect of anaphora 'and'

Gives us the feeling of someone who is teaching us something. Kids do like repetitions and most of the times they only can learn through repetition. Run-on feel by using "and" at the beginning of the sentence building sense of responsibility.

Men and masculinity - 'when all men doubt you'

How to become a man and act as a man involves being certain when others don't believe in you.

Example of consonance (repeated consonants eg on 'h' sound)

If you can bear to hear If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn....

Major political event- which inspired Kipling to persuade his son to be a hero like Kipling's idol (and die in the First World War)

Jameson Raid- an attemp to colonize South Africa further. References to kings, crowds, common people, leadership control, gender roles etc...

Stoicism - 'if you can wait and not be tired of waiting'

Means enduring pain, hardship, misfortune, but not showing emotion. Stiff upper lip

'lose and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss...'

Misfortune, defeat and loss are parts of life. Speaker says not how unfair life is but rather makes us understand that this is just the way things are.

Themes of "if"

Stoicism, Men and masculinity, Defeat, Politics

Effect of hyperbole

The effect of using hyperbole in the poem is to make common human feelings remarkable and intense to such an extent that they do not remain ordinary. In "if" it emphasizes the enormous feeling of power and Kipling compares the hyperbole with the last sentence of the poem namely "And which is more- you'll be a Man, my son!" to state that be a Man is more valuable than everything else in the world. It over-states the hyperbole so it also gives a feeling of certainty..

Example of anaphora 'If'

The son must show responsibility by facing choices 'whether or not' difficult situations happen or not; the effect of the device is to give more determination but uncertainty to son's future. It's a didactic (teacherly) and instructive poem.

"Or walk with kings- nor lose the common touch;" =

Theme; Politics Kings vs crowds they must lead and feel close to and inspire.

"If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew"

Triplet makes a feeling stronger - the effect of the device being to give the son determination / a feeling of being stronger, having heart.

Symbols

Walk with kings = To be a companion of the successful or rich, rather than an actual king. Man = Symbol for all the qualities Kipling listed. Trust, patience, strenghts and balance. Knaves = scoundrels, liars Crowds = common folks, people Kings = important people in society Common touch = represents humility

Effect of personification

Writers and poets rely on personification to bring inanimate things to life, so that their nature and actions are understood in a better way. Because it is easier for us to relate to something that is human, or which possesses human traits, its use encourages us to develop a perspective that is new as well as creative

Effect of assonance eg 'when all about you are losing theirs...'

Writers use repeated vowels (eg a, e, ou, oo) as a tool to enhance a musical effect in the text by using it for creating internal rhyme and greater feeling of unpredictability or decisiveness..

"If you can keep your head" = metaphorical cliche'

You can't actually lose your head so stresses how much control is important, thinking in dangerous situations.

Example of Hyperbole

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

triplet / listing makes the number of choices seem more - to increase the weight of responsibility

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