Tone & Mood
What is the overall tone of "If—" by Rudyard Kipling?
hopeful and encouraging
The tone in "If—" is calm, optimistic, and encouraging, offering advice on perseverance and dignity in life's challenges.
What key lesson is "If—" trying to impart to the reader?
resilience and personal integrity in the face of life's challenges
The poem teaches the importance of maintaining composure, patience, and strength when dealing with both triumph and failure.
Identify and explain the figurative language in "Prayer Before Birth" where the speaker pleads, "Let not the man who is beast or who thinks he is God come near me."
It is a metaphor
The speaker wishes to avoid “the beast” which could represent corrupt leaders or the person “who thinks he is God”, a reference to people in positions of power or religious leaders
Who is the intended audience of "If"? Support your answer with evidence from the poem.
The intended audience is his son
"And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!”
Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
Alliteration
In "A Prayer Before Birth", the tone is best described as...
fearful and desperate
The speaker is afraid of the harshness of the world and prays for protection before entering it.
What does "A Prayer Before Birth" express about the human condition?
fear of the world and a desire for protection from its evils
The poem highlights the vulnerability and anxiety the speaker feels about being born into a dangerous, unpredictable world.
What figurative device is used in the line:
"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;"
And what is this suggesting?
It is personification
"Triumph" and "Disaster" are personified as "impostors," suggesting they are deceptive or not to be trusted at face value.
What is the speaker's purpose in "Prayer Before Birth"? Consider the plea and the imagery used.
The speaker, an unborn child, prays for future guidance and protection from the horrors of the modern world, and possesses great foresight about humankind's capacity for self-destruction and violence. The speaker ultimately insists that, if this prayer cannot be answered, the speaker would rather not be born at all.
This technique is used in the poem "If you can dream—and not make dreams your master"
Personification
Which poem has a more somber and reflective mood: "If—" or "A Prayer Before Birth"?
"A Prayer Before Birth"?
The mood of "A Prayer Before Birth" is darker, focusing on fear and vulnerability, while "If—" conveys hope and strength.
What is another theme in "If" besides focusing on life?
- self-belief or self-confidence
- morality
- perseverance
- resilience
Find where MacNeice uses alliteration and how it is used to create a sense of urgency and distress in "Prayer Before Birth."
"I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me, / with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me, / on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me" (5-7).
The alliteration in these lines adds a sense of relentlessness to the speaker's sentiments, suggesting that this torture the speaker imagines will be inevitable and ongoing.
How many Great Lakes are there in the United States?
Five
Define analogy and explain the difference between analogy and metaphor
Analogy is a comparison between one thing and another, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification
A metaphor is often poetically saying something is something else. An analogy is saying something is like something else to make some sort of an explanatory point. You can use metaphors and similes when creating an analogy
Find a quote in the poem "If" where the speaker gives advice to his son about being patient, honest, and compassionate, and modest.
"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"
Which poem’s message centers more around an ideal of hopelessness?
"Prayer before Birth"
What do you call a group of crows?
A murder
How do the structural choices in each poem align with their respective purposes?
"Prayer before Birth": structured like a prayer with a refrain in the beginning followed by a request. The differing lengths of each stanza can reflect the speaker's fear but the last stanza is the shortest
"If": one long sentence filled with hypothetical situations.
When comparing poems for an exam, students should consider these three things.
Language
Form
Structure
How does the repetition in "Prayer Before Birth" impact the poem's fearful mood?
- relates back to the idea of a prayer
- emphasizes that the child is not yet born
- helps to create helpless tone
Both poems touch on the message of facing life's challenges. How do their approaches differ in conveying this message?
"If—" has a tone of encouragement, offering a set of principles for navigating life's trials with resilience. The poem is structured as a direct address to a his son using the second person pronoun "you". This creates a sense of personal instruction and mentorship. "If" focuses on inner strength
"Prayer Before Birth," on the other hand, takes on a more pleading tone. The poem is delivered from the perspective of an unborn child who expresses fear and uncertainty about the world it is about to enter. The use of imperative verbs like "fill me," and "otherwise kill me" highlights the child's vulnerability and powerlessness in the face of life's potential hardships. "Prayer before Birth" focuses on external threats
Compare and contrast the effectiveness of the figurative language employed by both poets in conveying their respective messages.
"If": uses analogy comparing life to a game with rules and strategies, reinforces the poem's message of self-control and perseverance.
"Prayer before Birth": uses a lot of imagery to evoke an emotional response and a sense of danger.
Compare and contrast the overall impact of each poem on its intended audience.
"If": is the speaker's son. The poem's tone of paternal guidance and encouragement aims to instill principles of resilience and self-control in the face of life's challenges. By presenting hypothetical situations, the poem encourages the reader to adopt a philosophical approach to dealing with challenges
"Prayer Before Birth": speaks to a broader audience or even God, reflecting anxieties about the state of the world. The poem's pleading tone, delivered from the perspective of an unborn child, evokes a sense of vulnerability and powerlessness in the face of potential dangers.
Explain the concept of enjambment and provide an example from either poem.
Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next
"If": If you can keep your head when all about you / Are losing theirs and blaming it on you..."
"Prayer before Birth": "O fill me With strength against those..." the whole stanza uses it to reflect desperation