Lesson Topics: manhood, coming of age, poetry
Skill Focus: Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 2 hours
Lesson Plan Download: kipling-poem-if-advanced-lesson-082024.docx
Lesson Overview:
- This lesson centers on Rudyard Kipling's 288-word poem entitled "IF--". Ostensibly, the poem addresses the trials a young person needs to overcome to become a man.
- After a warm-up activity, students match virtues to a list of vices. This vocabulary should be useful in the speaking activities following the lesson.
- Students then read Kipling's poem and discuss comprehension and follow-up questions. In a subsequent vocabulary-matching activity, students form discussion questions with the target vocabulary.
- There is one debate topic about whether it is better today to be a young man or a young woman. Next, the lesson has two role-play scenarios centered on one storyline between parents who decide to send their child on an 8-month program for personal development.
- As a bonus, students try to complete a poem for their daughter in the style of Kipling's "IF--".
- After famous quotations, the lesson ends with a review of vocabulary and collocations before presenting some final discussion questions.
ADVANCED (C1/C2) Lesson on Rudyard Kipling’s “If—”
Warm-up Questions
- Can you think of any advice you got that has really helped you in life?
- Do you enjoy poetry? Do you know any poets or can you recite a famous poem?
- Cultures have concepts of what it means to be a successful ‘man’ or a ‘woman’. What are some ideas associated with becoming a good man or woman that are often taught to youth?
| Vocabulary Matching Match some virtues (good qualities) on the left with the corresponding vices (bad qualities). | 1. Patience 2. Humility 3. Courage 4. Generosity 5. Resilience 6. Integrity 7. Prudence 8. Diligence | a. Dishonesty b. Cowardice c. Impatience d. Greed e. Laziness f. Arrogance g. Recklessness h. Fragility |
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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. ChatGPT was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Virtues & Vices:
- Patience - c. Impatience
- Humility - f. Arrogance
- Courage - b. Cowardice
- Generosity - d. Greed
- Resilience - h. Fragility
- Integrity - a. Dishonesty
- Prudence - g. Recklessness
- Diligence - e. Laziness
Comprehension Question Answer Key
- …
- Resilience, the ability to continue in the face of challenges, is a theme of the poem. The poem also promotes some stoic qualities, such as not being concerned with what others say about you nor worrying too much about loss (in this case, a financial one). There are likely other themes as well.
- The author suggests that you should keep your head, which in this case seems to mean to continue with your purpose.
- This might suggest he doesn’t view achievement (or failure) as an ultimate end, or that they are external labels that aren’t worth valuing deeply.
- This structure emphasizes the cumulative nature of developing the virtues described and highlights the conditional aspect of achieving true maturity and success.
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Vocabulary 1-e, 2-f, 3-a, 4-I, 5-b, 6-h, 7-d, 8-g, 9-c
Collocations 1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-b