Question

Read the excerpt from "If—” by Rudyard Kipling.

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!

Which statement best describes how a graphical element adds to the encouraging tone in this part of the poem?

The capital letters emphasize the speaker’s hopes for his son.
The word placement suggests that the speaker feels proud of his son.

Answer 1

The first statement is best. The repeated capitalized "If" at the start of lines highlights the speaker’s hopeful conditions for his son and reinforces the encouraging, advisory tone.