If

Read these lines from the poem:

If you can think--and 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 worn-out tools;

To personify means to give human-like characteristics to something that is not human.

What does the poet personify in these lines?

• "thoughts"

• "triumph and disaster"

• "knaves" and "fools"

• "tools"

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

CCSS.RL.6.4

Read this stanza from the poem:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings,

And never breathe 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!"

To what does the pronoun "them" refer?

• "winning"

• "pitch and toss"

• "beginnings"

• "heart and nerve and sinew"

Tags

CCSS.L.6.1D

CCSS.RL.6.1

What is a theme of this poem?

• Becoming a grownup takes confidence, determination, and virtue.

• Most people handle failure better than they handle success.

• Talking about your problems is the first step toward solving them.

• People should spend more time in crowds and less time around royalty.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.2

Who does the author believe you must count on in life?

• Trustworthy friends

• Loving family

• Nobody

• Yourself

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.6

What does the following line mean: "If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue".

• Listen to what others say.

• Make sure you are loyal.

• Keep your morals even if you may be influenced by others.

• Don't share your opinions if others disagree.

Tags

CCSS.L.6.4A

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.4

Choose one line that reveals that the speaker values planning for the future while still living in the present.

• If you can wait and not be tired by waiting

• And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

• If you can dream -and not make dreams your master

• If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/ And treat those two impostors just the same

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.5

Choose one stanza that supports the idea that it is important to accept failure and move on.

• 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:

• If you can make one heap of all your winnings

  And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

  And lose, and start again at your beginnings

  And never breathe 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!"

• If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

  Or walk with Kings -nor 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,

  And -which is more -you'll be a Man, my son!

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.5

CCSS.W.6.9A

What does the rhyme pattern in these sentences emphasize about the speaker's message?

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!"

• The speaker emphasizes the need for rest

• The speaker emphasizes the need for endurance

• The speaker emphasizes the loss that everyone experiences

• The speaker emphasizes the importance of the body over the mind

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.6.5

Who is the speaker in this poem, and to whom is he or she speaking?

• A husband is speaking to his wife

• A father is speaking to his son

• A poet is speaking to nature

• A son is speaking to his father

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.6.6

What is being personify in the following lines: "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/And treat those two imposters just the same"?

• Triumph

• Two imposters

• Triumph and disaster

• Dreams

Tags

CCSS.L.6.5A

CCSS.RL.6.4