TAYABAS WESTERN ACADEMY

Founded 1928
Recognized by the Government
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Candelaria, Quezon

Name: GUALBERTO, Roma P. Course: BSED ENGLISH III

Prof.: Ma’am Imelda M. Cueto Date: November 18, 2022

IF BY RUDYARD KIPLING

1. State why the ideal youth should be courageous and persevering concerning the extract.
The poet Rudyard Kipling inspires young people to be brave and persevere in order to achieve long-term
success. We frequently face setbacks and hostilities in the short term, but we must keep our eyes fixed on the
goal. Furthermore, in order to achieve even greater success, we must take greater risks in life. We will never reach
our goal if we are distracted or discouraged by the initial difficulties. So, the poet asks us to bear hearing the truth
twisted by knaves. People will realize in the long run that we spoke the truth. If we see our favorite things broken,
he instructs us to rebuild with the worn-out tools. We do not deserve the final rewards if we cannot bear that
suffering and rebuild it. Nothing in life is easy, and there are no shortcuts to success. As a result, the poet advises
us to risk everything in order to achieve something great. And, if we lose, we should not tell anyone. People will
see our weakness and try to harm us if we do this. As a result, we must take every opportunity. After all, you can
lead if you win; if you lose, you can guide.

2. In the poem If by Rudyard Kipling, the poet advises us to treat success and failure as the same. But how can one
remain indifferent toward success?
It is important to remain indifferent to both success and failure, triumph and disaster, as success can make
us complacent and failure can make us sad, as the poet says. Both feelings are undesirable because they can
impair our productivity and limit our potential. It is difficult to treat those in the same way. With each success, we
must set higher goals. Instead of viewing our success as a final achievement, we should view it as an added
responsibility and a challenge to do better. We must recognize that the quality line is infinite and that there is
always room for improvement. We should aim high and strive for perfection in everything we do.

3. What does ‘keep your head’ mean? What would happen if a person loses his patient in a difficult situation?
In Rudyard Kipling's poem IF, the poet advises readers to keep their cool in difficult situations in life.
'Keep one's head' is an idiomatic expression that means "to remain calm and sensible when confronted with an
awkward situation that could cause a person to panic or lose control." Keeping our cool is critical because losing
our cool does not solve a problem, but rather exacerbates it. Keeping our cool allows us to think wisely in difficult
situations, and eventually a solution emerges. Losing patience with difficult people will only make the situation
worse. These people frequently enjoy, on some level, the conflict they create. You only give them what they want
by contributing to the conflict. As it were, fuel the fire. This only encourages them to continue being difficult.
You avoid buying into their game by remaining calm and patient. When they realize they can't get you riled up, it
often takes some of the wind out of their sails.

4. How far does the poem If by Rudyard Kipling suggest an idea of conditional fulfillment of man? Or why does the
poet use the word if?
The poem's title, 'If,' implies that there is something conditional in this poem. The poet here discusses
some important human character traits that we should cultivate in order to be successful in life, and even more so,
to become perfect human beings. As stated by the poet. If we want to accomplish more, we must have qualities
such as truthfulness, mental calmness, mental strength, self-belief, thoughtfulness, indifference to success and
failure, time sense, and so on. Dealing in lies, displaying hatred toward others, being arrogant, or breaking down
in the face of adversity are not the way to go.

In the very last lines, the poet establishes a goal for us-
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it
And–what is more–you’ll be a Man, my son.

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 TAYABAS WESTERN ACADEMY
Founded 1928
Recognized by the Government
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Candelaria, Quezon

And throughout the poem, he talks about this conditional fulfillment, which a man has to fulfill if he has to
achieve the goals.

5. What is the poet’s advice regarding truthfulness and hatred in the poem?

As the poet advises us, we should not indulge ourselves in lying even if people are telling lies about us.
We should always remain truthful to keep ourselves out of any harm.
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Again, if people show their hatred for us, we should still not hate others. We should respect and love people for
whatever good qualities they have got. This is how the poet puts it —
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
The poem encourages the reader to have self-trust and an ability to press on even in the face of lies and
doubts. The reader is encouraged to have a balance of humility, along with having wisdom and understanding. To
trudge on with what is right no matter what one has to face from the people around – even if everyone doubts or
lies to the reader. In the last lines, the reader is also told to have patience and to not stoop to the level of those who
lie or hate. To even be quiet about who one truly is and not put it on display with arrogance.

6. In the poem If by Rudyard Kipling, the poet compares ‘triumph and disaster’ with two impostors and advises to
treat them as same. Why?
In this poem, Kipling’s speaker personifies triumph and disaster. The word impostor suggests a pretense
or disguise. Perhaps he uses this word to showcase the fleeting nature of both: success never stays, nor does
disaster. Additionally, he could possibly be suggesting that these two words often come with disruption or change.
In any case, the reader should not dwell too much on either triumph or disaster because they will soon disappear.
He calls them imposters as both of these events don’t last long. The small triumphs of life indeed taste sweet. But,
staying in the hallucination of victory is an addiction and enslavement. When disaster or failure comes, the mind
remains in such a state that it becomes tough to face it. Interestingly, defeat doesn’t last for a long time too. That’s
why both triumph and disaster are traps in themselves.
7. Justify the title of Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’ or why is the poem called ‘If’?
Each time a line in Rudyard Kipling's poem starts with "if," he introduces another principle of life that needs to be
discussed before a promise is given at the end of the poem. Hence, the structure of the poem is based on
presenting one major principle of life after another; but before each one is described, a conditional "if" is placed
before it to show that the promised results are based on personal choice and follow-through. For example, the
promise at the end of the poem is as follows:

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

And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!" (Lines 31-32)

Therefore, becoming a man and inheriting all of life's opportunities provided on Earth are based on "if" a person
chooses to accept the principles that precede the end result. Another way to put it is that Kipling itemizes major
struggles that people go through in life, then shows a way to endure them; hence, if a person can endure these
struggles by also behaving properly through each trial, the promise in the end will be his. Again, Kipling follows
a specific pattern throughout the poem, which is basically like saying, "If you can face this struggle, and bear it
patiently, then you will obtain the secret to a successful life." Since the "ifs" are all connected to the many
principles discussed, and based on a person's choices in order to obtain the promise, then the title of the poem is
perfect.

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