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Not What You Meant?  There are 28 definitions for If.

If Study Guide

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by Rudyard Kipling
About 28 pages (8,533 words)
If— Summary

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Summary and Analysis

Stanza 1

The first stanza of "If" illustrates the practice of self-confidence and expresses that, in being confident, the reader must have the courage to face unpopularity and disagreement. This stanza also, however, advises against a self-confidence that does not allow for the consideration of opposing ideas. In exhorting the reader to both ignore doubt and make allowance for doubt (lines 3 and 4), Kipling creates a paradox (the combination of mutually exclusive ideas that, while seemingly contradictory, serve to make a point in their contradiction) that is characteristic of the tone of the entire poem.

Line 5 advises patience, line 6 advises honesty, and line 7 advises fortitude of character. These three lines, along with the first four lines of the poem, share a common thread: they provide instruction in the maintenance of.....

This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 912 words. This study guide contains 8,533 words (approx. 28 pages at 300 words per page).

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If from BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.



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