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Kimberly Garcia English 1 B2 Mrs. Knowles 10 May 2013 The Outcome of Staying Positive In the poem If, Rudyard Kipling uses personification and repetition to develop the theme that somebody who can stay positive while things are going bad then he/she can do anything he/she wants. The poem is about how a person can go through bad things in life but if he/she stays positive, the world is theirs. It explains how people can turn their backs on somebody and make them lose trust, and how staying positive among ones self has a better ending than being negative. The speaker in this poem is a person who went through rough times in life but stayed positive throughout the whole ride, and saw how staying positive is better than being negative. The speaker uses many examples of personification throughout the poem. In stanza two, the speaker says, If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / and treat those two imposters just the same (Line 11-12). This is an example of personification because the speaker is stating that triumph and disaster can be met and treated the same. This communicates with the theme by the speaker giving the reader an example of how he/she can stay in an optimistic attitude. Another clear example of personification occurs in stanza four when the speaker says, If you can fill the unforgiving minute / with sixty seconds worth of distance run, (Line 29-30). This line is showing personification because a minute cannot be unforgiving.

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The speaker also uses repetition in the poem. A strong example of repetition is shown when the speaker states, 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 (Line 1-5). If you can is repeated among the first stanza to show the reader how important it is to the title and to give the reader an idea on the theme. Another clear example of repetition occurs in stanza four when the speaker says, If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue / 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 (Line 25, 27-29). This shows repetition by the speaker repeating the word If to give the reader different examples of negative things in life. The speaker of the poem If believes that if somebody stays positive when bad things are occurring in life then he/she can do anything they want. Staying in a positive attitude and always thinking the best can help someone achieve their goals in life.