Explanation of the poem The Man Who Thinks He Can

1. Name: Khan Sadika
S.Y.B.Ed
Roll No: 16
Topic: The Man who Thinks he can ...

3. • The poem is about believing in yourself, and the power of positive
thinking. It also talks about what will happen if you fail to have faith in
yourself.
• The poet believes that to achieve success, one has to believe in one’s
self. As he states in the last lines of the poem, “Success begins with a
fellow’s will./ It’s all in the state of mind.”

4. • The first stanza is rather negative; it only focuses on what will happen
if you don’t believe in yourself. “If you’d like to win, but think you
can’t/ It’s almost a cinch you won’t.”
• The second stanza starts out negative, and then begins to turn it
positive. It begins to become a positive message during the third line;
It stops talking about failure and starts talking about success.
“Success begins with a fellow’s will,

5. • In the third Stanza, it is mostly positive. It begins on a negative note,
but then goes positive from there. There is a note of caution in the
message saying you need to be sure of yourself.
• The fourth stanza is the most powerful of the poem. It begins by
saying that skill doesn’t always mean success; you need to believe in
yourself to acheive success in life.

6. • Literary Devices
• This poem makes use of rhythm, and rhyme to make its message
more powerful. It has rhythm in all of it’s line. Every second line
rhymes in the poem.

7. Theme
• There are two main themes in this poem. The two themes are opposite to
one another, and emphasize each other. They balance each other with
their messages.
• Theme One: Don’t
• The poem begins focusing on the negative, and what will cause you to fail
in life. There is a theme of “Don’t do this” in the first few lines. There is a
list of what causes failures, and why people do not succeed.
• Theme Two: Do
• The other theme in the poem is one of success. There is a theme of “Do
this” in the lines. The poem encourages the reader to believe in
themselves, and if they do so, they will have success.

8. • Theses two themes are different from one another, but they both
send the same message of believing in one’s self. They emphasize self
empowerment, and positive thinking. They say this from two different
perspectives, but balance each other to complement the message
that they both are communicating. The poem says that belief is the
most important factor in success.

9. Thank You !