Poem Summary for If, by Rudyard Kipling

The poem, If, was written by the famous poet Rudyard Kipling, in 1895. Rudyard Kipling was a great poet and wrote many poems that were suitable for kids and young adults. He understands the taste that appeals to kids and writes meaningful yet understandable poems. The publishing group, Rewards and Fairies, first published the poem in 1910.

In the first stanza, the poet explains to his son that a key virtue to help in the growth of a person is calmness and presence of mind. He says that even if everyone is going haywire and losing their calm, a man should keep his stature of mind and not be negatively affected by the rest of the people. He also says that self-confidence is required to be able to succeed. Even if everyone is against your belief and doubts your ideas, you should keep your mind straightforward and trust yourself. However, you should consider other people’s opinions before making a decision, but not be totally affected by them. You have to be patient and make sure that you can wait for your turn rather than give up because of the time or hard work. If other people show you bad values such as lying and hating, don’t let them affect you in any way. Make sure that you don’t lie or hate them back. In addition to this, don’t be overconfident or boast about yourself.

In the second stanza, the poet asks his son to dream and think, but not be taken over by these two things and not think about anything else. Dreaming and thinking is good, but action is more necessary than these two. To be a man, one must also be ready to stay balance in times of Victory or Disaster. We should treat both of these challenges in a similar way and keep ourselves on the path straight ahead, rather than veering of to the left or right path. You should also be prepared to hear something that you told to another person made into a rumor. It is only because the people around you want to make a trap. Your goal is to evade that trap. You should also be prepared to see your discoveries and inventions fail. However, just preparation is not enough. You need to have the courage to rebuild or modify your ideas to make it fit and grow again.

In the third stanza, Kipling says that a person needs to make one area where he has all of his winnings. He should be ready to risk his whole fortune on one venture and if he looses it all, not even talk about the loss. Rather, he should focus on how to win the venture and double or triple his fortune. You have to force your physical and mental strengths to work on even if they are tired. Another key to doing so is to have a will, which according to the poet should be “Hold On!” Mr. Kipling basically says that you should always stay hardworking and never loose the qualities that make you good and unique.

In the last stanza, Rudyard Kipling, the poet asks his son not to go to both extremes. One extreme being gaining bad values while talking to a crowd of people who are underneath you, and the other extreme being walking with a rich and wealthy man and boasting about it. You should keep your values and only let in good values, like a cell membrane only lets in nutrients and good gases. You should be straightforward and not be affected by any friends or enemies. Enemies may try to pull you down and not want you to progress while friends may praise you too much. Don’t take these things to heart and keep trying hard. If all men agree with you, but not too much, then you will be growing. Lastly, if you can fill the least of time with a constructive activity, “YOUR IS THE EARTH AND EVERYTHING THAT’S IN IT, AND- WHICH IS MORE YOU’LL BE A MAN, MY SON”.

Book Report 4: Tigers For Dinner

Tigers for Dinner

Author: Ruskin Bond

I don’t want to go into too much depth about what this book is about. Briefly, this book is a collection of short stories written by Ruskin Bond, which in the book, are narrated by a young boy’s cook, Mehmoud. He talks about his adventures while going to hunt with Jim Corbett in the forest.

The theme of the book if you take out the fact that these are tall tales, is bravery, courage, and quick thinking. I think the author has a great way to capture the reader as I have read the book around six times and read it again the seventh time to do this book report. Mr. Bond uses great language and has captivating situations such as sleeping on a bed which is on a moving crocodile. This book can capture any audience as the reader will be dying to know how the situation ends up and what quick thinking the character uses to escape the situation.

Even though, as the name suggests, it is a tall tale, the author uses such great language that at first, if I had not read the title, I wouldn’t have known if it was true or not.

I would recommend this book to readers of all kinds as rather than using complex words, the author uses complex literary techniques which make the book easy to understand, yet captivating.

Some of the literary techniques that are used by Ruskin Bond in this book are hyperboles, great exaggeration, and good sense of symbolism. For example, when the author narrates that the bed is moving, you can tell that some plan or the other is going to come up to escape from that situation.

I really loved this book and would rate it at least nine on ten if given a choice. I hope that many of my friends and classmates will read this book and give me feedback on how they liked it.

Thank You!!

My Story

The Young Fruit-seller

One fine morning, in the early 17^th century, a young boy woke up in his home in Africa, just to find that large bulky men with guns were about to take away his parents. He knew that this was the concept of slavery and so; he was determined to let his parents live their lives peacefully. He rushed out to the balcony and called out, “Let my parents go, let my parents go. I will come and work for you, but please, oh, please let my father and mother stay here!” The slave owners, upon hearing the cries of the boy, agreed that a young boy would work quicker and more efficiently than an aged father and mother. They called out to the boy, “ Come here quickly, son, and then we will free your precious father and mother”. The boy, upon hearing this, secretly rejoiced, and then went to the disciplinarian.

Soon, the ship on which the brutes had taken him stopped at their destination, India. This was a completely new world to the young boy, and he was already feeling homesick.  First of all, animals like buffalos, bulls, and cows were everywhere, which the boy, Jaffa, thought were the most dangerous creatures that existed. The next day, Jaffa was sold to the PMM Industries’ fruit selling branch. There, he was forced to work as a fruit-seller in the decalescent temperature of the day. His working hours were from 4 o’clock a.m. to 11 o’clock p.m. The worst part of all of this torture was the discrimination he faced. After his long working day, he would go to the bus station to catch a bus back to his master’s home. However, the bus driver and conductor, who were very strict followers of the caste system, would not allow Jaffa onto the bus as he was just a slave and was not worthy of sitting with the higher class people (As we all know, India in the old times was a very strict believer of the caste system). He was forced to take the long walk home. At the house, he was completely out casted by the other servants who would tease him because of his caste, slave, which was one below servants. He felt very piqued at the thought that other servants, who were local Indians, would get paid for their labor, while he, an African, would not.

After a few years in slavery, Jaffa decided to figure out a way to fight back against slavery. He planned a boycott with other African slaves who were working with or around him and decided not to work unless a proper pay was given to him. Soon, all the slaves of the PMM Industries were boycotting against the management. The head manager of the factory, Mufti, was getting agitated as the work was not being done, and the money was not rolling in before his eyes. The slave masters knew they had to solve this problem, or the management would fire them as well. The masters would not give in to paying the slaves so easily. They beat them hard with whips and threatened to kill them with daggers if they did not work. Jaffa, was whipped the most, and charged for bringing accusations against slavery into the minds of the fellow slaves. He was excused from his duties, but he was still kept prisoner in custody of the PMM Industries. However, the news of the boycotting of the slaves got to the president and founder of PMM, Motta. Motta was an opposer of slavery and never really supported the idea. However, he had allowed slavery on one condition, that all of them would be paid.

As soon as he found out about, he himself went, and fired all of the employees from the management, paid the slaves, and freed them to go back to their home countries.

Jaffa had now first-handedly experienced slavery for 5 years, and he was glad he could help his friends in becoming free men once again.

My Poem

The Rapid Fire

The burning smell spreads over the field

That fire, the King of the Forest, just won’t yield

Shouting and fighting with a deafening roar

As angry as an aggravated wild boar

Leaving behind a path of black

That fire burned down my writing shack

No water could calm it down

And the firefighters pondered with a frown

And as that deadly beast spread

I heard the sounds and got out of my bed

And ran to my car as fast as my legs could go

Not even thinking about my broken toe

That fire engulfed my house in flames

As it continued playing its dangerous games

And after three hours the fire washed away

And finally the people resumed the works of the day

Book Report 2: Old Yeller

Book Title: Old Yeller

Author: Fred Gipson

About the author: The author, Fred Gipson, uses extremely captivating language and great character personalities to grab the reader onto the book at the start. He starts off with a feeling of hatred between the two main characters, Travis and Old Yeller, which sets a tone that the story will be about how the boy, Travis, takes care of the mischievous action of the dog, Old Yeller. However, once the story moves on, Old Yeller saves Travis from a dangerous position, turning the tale around, from hatred to a sense of respect and love for each other. The author uses many words to describe Old Yeller such as old and yellow, but his appearance does not reflect how loyal he is to his master. Mr. Gipson uses incidents such as fighting wild boars and other dangerous incidents to bring out the loyalty of the dog to his master. This partnership of helping each other continues, until one fine day. The dog is bit by a wolf who is mad, and for the safety of the family, Travis had to kill Old Yeller. That was the most controversial decision made by Travis, which was displayed in a unique and creative manner by Fred Gipson.

Centre of the story: The story is about a dog who strays into the house of Travis, while his father is away, and is taken in by Travis’ brother. However, Travis hates Old Yeller, the dog, because of his mischievous actions. One day, Old Yeller saves Travis from danger and this forms a sense of loyalty and love between the two. They become partners while hunting, doing chores, and at times, playing around. Read the story and find out the controversial ending that the book has.

Book Report 1: The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

                             (a book report)          

By: Yash Kothari

Grade 6

Author Description

The author of this book C.S. Lewis wrote the book during World War II. It described his feelings when his children were sent to the middle of Britain, away from him to be safe. He is a very imaginative person and created a whole new series of books in a new land called Narnia.

Setting and Character Sketch

·       Lucy: Lucy is a girl who learns archery in the book. She is the smallest of the four children and discovers the new world Narnia first. She is a very curious personality and is always on the lookout for something new. In the story, Lucy is also the most honest and always tells the truth to everyone.

·       Edmund: Edmund is the second youngest of the four siblings and he discovers Narnia second, as Peter and Susan do not believe the story of a new world. He goes on the wrong path, and joins with the white witch. He is very just and always solves problems fairly as one of the kings of Narnia.

·       Susan: Susan is a very mature girl and likes to do girly sorts of things. She does not fight at all like Lucy but is very beautiful in her looks. She is quite bossy to her younger siblings, but is liked by the whole kingdom of Narnia.

·       Peter: Peter is the oldest of all siblings. He is a very understanding brother and cares dearly for all his siblings. He is a great swordsman and learns quickly to fight. He is also very brave and is the High King of Narnia.

·       Aslan: The High King above all High Kings of Narnia. He is a lion and is very dangerous to his enemies. They say when Aslan comes, the White Witch will die and spring and summer will arrive again in the land of Narnia

·       White Witch: the White Witch takes over Narnia and rules it. She never lets spring enter or Father Christmas come and bless the land. All the creatures that refuse to serve her are turned to stone by her. However, the creatures of Narnia that come under her service are allowed to live in peace.

The setting of this story starts of in the home of their uncle, a professor in England. They must go there for protection from the Germans who are constantly bombing and firing bullets from their air force. Lucy finds Narnia, an unknown land and she explores the area with Tumnus. This story was written and occurred in the time of the World War II. Narnia was soon discovered by all four children and they figured out that it was always winter and never summer or Christmas or even spring. Peter, Lucy, Susan, and Edmund go through many struggles with the help of Aslan and travel through Narnia to defeat the powers of the White Witch.

Plot

          In the book, the four children find a new world while exploring a wardrobe. The new world is called Narnia. In this world, they realize that they have to defeat the White Witch to free Narnia from a long and terrible spell of misery. The two daughters of Eve and two sons of Adam have to sit in the four thrones of the high castle of Narnia called: Cair Paravel. In the starting, the children meet the beavers, who take them to meet the lion who will guide them, Aslan. On the way, they meet the Father of Christmas, who is finally broken the power of the Witch to enter Narnia. He gives them each gifts. Edmund escapes from the house and betrays the others. He enters the castle of the White Witch, who in the end, plans to kill him. Aslan sacrifices his life to save Edmund. However, a magic deep down says that if a person gives in to his enemy to be killed, death will work backwards. Instead of dying, Aslan becomes more powerful than ever. They free all the animals who have been turned into stone in the witch’s castle and go fight a war. The war lasts for only a day and when Aslan arrives, the enemy is defeated in a few hours. After all the cleaning up of the war, Peter goes to the castle with his siblings and is crowned High King of Narnia.

                                      Recommendation

I would surely recommend this book to any reader who loves adventure. The children discover new lands and I felt, wouldn’t it be great if this were actually true. While reading this book, I could not wait to continue reading it. The literature style is great and some very nice tricks of writing are used to grab the reader onto the book.