Poetry Analysis Reteach

What is the RHYME SCHEME of Stanza one?

• ABCDEFG

• AAAABCBC

• ABABCDCD

Answer explanation

....... you (A)

....... you (A)

....... you (A)

....... too (A)

....... waiting (B)

....... lies (C)

....... hating (B)

....... wise (C)

Words that rhyme get the same letter. You start with the first line and give it the letter A. If the last word in the second line doesn't rhyme with the last word in the line above it, give it a B. If it does rhyme, give it an A. Keep doing the same thing down the stanza.

What is a topic in this poem?

• Allowance

• Doubt

• Advice

• Tools

Answer explanation

This poem is about a father giving advice to his son.

Which of the following lines contains ALLITERATION?

• If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

• But make allowance for their doubting too

• And treat those impostors just about the same

• Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools

Answer explanation

The letter "t" is repeated at the beginning of the words: "Twisted," "to," and "trap."

What are the two impostors mentioned in stanza two?

• Dreams and thoughts

• Triumph and disaster

• Truth and knaves

• Things and tools

Answer explanation

If you take out the line break and read it as a sentence: "If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same," it is easier to see that the two impostors are triumph and disaster.

Which of these is NOT a mood in the poem, "If"?

• Humbleness

• Determination

• Arrogance

• Genuine

Answer explanation

The poem is about a father advising his son how to live his life in a positive way. Arrogance is cockiness. The reader does not feel this way about the poem because the speaker doesn't use tone words to develop that tone.

"If you can dream and not make dreams your master," is an example of:

• Assonance

• Personification

• Symbolism

• Simile

Answer explanation

Dreams cannot be someone's "master"... that is a human (or person-like) trait. Therefore, it is personification.

Who is the speaker talking to?

• Son

• Daughter

• Everyone

• Father

Answer explanation

The speaker is a father talking to his son.

What is the THEME of this poem?

• Be the best person you can and make the best out of life.

• Good will always overcome evil.

• Life is about being strong and powerful.

• A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Answer explanation

The father is giving his son advice on how to live a full and good life.

This poem uses verbal irony

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Verbal irony is sarcasm. The speaker (the father) is not being sarcastic at all. He is being very genuine.

What type of meaning are these two lines?

• Literal Meaning

• Figurative Meaning

• Satirical Meaning

Answer explanation

HINT ANY TIME a poem uses figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification, etc.), it has figurative meaning. This specific line uses an idiom.