I have to write a paper on why Jesus Colon liked the poem, "if" so much. And I need help, because i am completely lost!

Perhaps if you actually read the work in question, that might help?

[tinyurl.com]

Kayla, could you print the poem, so we know what you're talking about.

Les

If

Here is the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling:

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,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
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
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Did you notice that the 'Glencoe Online' list references eMule for a copy of the poem?

pam

My quick guess, not having read any of Colon's work, is that IF represents and reinforces a very traditional view of masculinity.

pam

Here is a biography of Jesus Colon, perhaps that will give you a clue as to why he would like the poem.

[oak.cats.ohiou.edu]


Les

How do you know he liked 'If' so much?
Even if he did, why single him out? It has long been one of the most popular poems in the English language.

"Many immigrants come to America and don’t find the happiness that they had dreamed of and worked so hard for. This is evident in the essay, “Kipling and I” by Jesus Colon. This essay shows how one individual named Jesus Colon has the dream to be an American citizen and come here from Puerto Rico to live in an environment, of what he thought, would be pure bliss. New York is the place where Jesus thinks he would find his new life and new beginning. Instead, all he finds is attitude. He finds negative attitude that is directed towards him and the color of his skin. He discovers people and their rude ways. Through all the attitude he finds in the people of New York, he finds some of his own to help him through the tough times. His attitude is in his hand and in his memory. His attitude is through a poem he bought when he was young. He “clung to his poem like faith” (440). Through all of his struggles in jobs and living such a tough life, he never quit and never ) stopped trying. I think if he can come out of such a negative situation so profoundly, he is living more than his dream."

[tinyurl.com]

I need help in a essay about Kipling and I by Jesus Colon. Please the soon it posible.

Jesse, there is some info. here:

[216.239.57.104]


Les