understanding the forms, meter, rhyme, and other aspects...

Understanding the forms,

meter, rhyme, and other

aspects of the sonnet.

Pretest

What is “iambic

pentameter?”

A.) A single file line of five

people, each person with

two feet.

B.) A ten syllable line,

consisting of five iambic

feet.

What is a “sonnet?”

A.) a poem consisting 10

lines.

B.) a poem consisting of

14 lines

What are the main types of

sonnets?

A.) English and Italian

B.) Shakespearean and

Petrarchan

C.) Both A and B.

What is a poetic “foot?”

A.) the most important line

in the poem

B.) The last line in a poem

C.) A group of two

syllables.

Identify the following as true or false.

An Octave is a sentence with eight syllables.

A Quatrain is a stanza of four lines.

The sestet is found at the end of the sonnet.

“Volta” is another name for the title.

A couplet is a group of three lines.

Pretest

What is a Sonnet?

A very structured type of poetry in which the author attempts to show two related but differing things to the reader in order to communicate something about them.

Developed in Italy, probably in the

thirteenth century.

Sonnets (cont.)

Almost always consists of fourteen lines and follows one of several set rhyme schemes:

English (Shakespearean)

Italian (Petrarchan)

Spenserian

Sonnet Vocabulary

Quatrain:

A stanza of four lines.

Octave:

An eight line stanza. Used primarily to denote the first eight-line division of the Italian Sonnet as separate from the last six-line division, the sestet.

Vocab. (cont.) Volta:

The turn in thought– from question to answer, problem to solution– that occurs at the beginning of the sestet (line 9) in the Italian sonnet. Sometimes occurs in the English sonnet between the twelfth and thirteenth lines. Marked by “but,” “yet,” or “and yet.”

Sonnet Form

A sonnet has 14 lines.

A sonnet must be written in iambic pentameter

A sonnet must follow a specific rhyme scheme,

depending on the type of sonnet.

A sonnet can be about any subject, though they are

often about love or nature.

A sonnet introduces a problem or question in the

beginning, and a resolution is offered after the turn.

Iambic Pentameter

A line of Iambic Pentameter is a line with ten

beats.

An “Iamb” is two beats, or one “foot.”

“Penta” is five (line has five “feet”).

“Meter” is the rhythm of the poem.

A “foot” is made of an unstressed syllable

and a stressed syllable (in that order).

English Sonnets

(Shakespearean)

Four divisions are used:

Three quatrains

○ Each with a rhyme scheme of its own, usually rhyming alternating lines.

And a rhymed concluding couplet.

The typical rhyme scheme is

Abab cdcd efef gg

English (cont.) each quatrain develops a specific idea, but

one closely related to the ideas in the other quatrains.

Not only is the English sonnet the easiest in terms of its rhyme scheme, calling for only pairs of rhyming words rather than groups of 4, but it is the most flexible in terms of the placement of the volta. Shakespeare often places the "turn," as in the Italian, at L9

English Sonnet

An English Sonnet is also called a Shakespearean Sonnet.

It includes three quatrains (groups of four lines) and a couplet (two lines).

The rhyme scheme is often abab cdcd efef gg.

The turn is either after eight lines or ten lines.

Italian Sonnet

An Italian Sonnet is also called a Petrarchan Sonnet.

It includes an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines).

The rhyme scheme must begin with abbaabba, and can conclude with any variation of c, d, and e (cdecde, cdcdee, etc.).

The turn must occur between the octave and the sestet.

What type of sonnet is

“What the Sonnet Is”?

What are the groupings of the lines (how many lines are in each group)?

What is the rhyme scheme?

Where is the turn?

Based on your answers, what kind of sonnet is it?


“What the Sonnet Is”? Lines are in an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold; Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled Into the sea, for pearls to come of them; Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem With which Medea human fate foretold; Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old, Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem. It is the pure white diamond Dante brought To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought; The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core; The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought For his own soul, to wear for evermore.



Rhyme scheme is abbaabba cdcdcd.

Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem

Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold;

Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled

Into the sea, for pearls to come of them;

Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem

With which Medea human fate foretold;

Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old,

Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem.

It is the pure white diamond Dante brought

To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore

When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought;

The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core;

The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought

For his own soul, to wear for evermore.



The turn in this sonnet is between the

octave and the sestet, or after eight lines.

The period at the end of line eight is a clue

that this is the turn, especially because it is

one of only two periods in the sonnet.

Before the turn, the speaker is telling of

groups of fourteen; after the turn, he tells of

who wrote the sonnets.


“Shall I Compare Thee to

a Summer’s Day”?

What the Sonnet Is…?

What are the groupings of the lines (how many lines are in each group)?

What is the rhyme scheme?

Where is the turn?

Based on your answers, what kind of sonnet is it?


“Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”? Lines are in an three quatrains (four lines) and a couplet(two lines). Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.


“Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”? Lines are in an three quatrains (four lines) and a couplet(two lines). Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? A

Thou art more lovely and more temperate: B Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,A And summer's lease hath all too short a date: B Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,C And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; D And every fair from fair sometime declines,C By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;D

But thy eternal summer shall not fade E Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;F Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,E When in eternal lines to time thou growest: F

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,G So long lives this and this gives life to thee. G


“Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”?

The turn in this sonnet is between last

quatrain and the couplet (L12 and L13)

When the author begins to bid farewell that

is a clue of the turn

Translation

Translate each stanza of the Sonnet.

Then, write the translation in paragraph

form.

Sonnet 18 - Translation

Shall I compare you to a summer’s day? You are more

lovely and more moderate: Harsh winds disturb the delicate

buds of May, and summer doesn’t last long enough.

Sometimes the sun is too hot, and its golden face is often

dimmed by clouds. All beautiful things eventually become

less beautiful, either by the experiences of life or by the

passing of time. But your eternal beauty won’t fade, nor lose

any of its quality. And you will never die, as you will live on in

my enduring poetry. As long as there are people still alive to

read poems this sonnet will live, and you will live in it.

Group Assignment:

Identify Rhyme Scheme

Identify grouping of lines

Identify the Volta

Translate into Modern English

understanding the forms, meter, rhyme, and other aspects...

Documents