The Shakespearean Sonnet

What is a Sonnet?

14 lined poems with a special rhyme scheme

In Shakespearean sonnet, last word in each line rhymes in the following pattern:

abab cdcd efef gg (total of 14 lines) Every other line rhymes except the last 2

lines (gg is a rhyming couplet)

Shakespearean Sonnets

Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets Wrote in London in the 1600s His sonnets talked about love, friendship,

fleeting time, and lost love. He used sonnets to express love and

devotion to others Shakespeare was the original hopeless

romantic!

Stanza Rhyme Scheme in a Sonnet

abab rhyme scheme…. We went to the mall = a The stores were great = b Our shopping bags were tall = a And after we shopped we ate = b

Prologue to Romeo and Juliet

Intro/Exposition of Romeo and Juliet is written as a 14-line poem or “sonnet”

Starts with: Two households both alike in dignity (a) In fair Verona where we lay our scene (b) From ancient grudge break to new mutiny (a) Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean

(b)

YOUR TURN!

Using the worksheet, turn to a partner and complete numbers 1-5 after reading the prologue.

HINT: The prologue tells the reader the setting, characters, conflict, and resolution of the play

Young Love