Basic Sonnet Information The word sonnet means little

Basic Sonnet Information (The word sonnet means little song) 1

History of the sonnet • Italy in the 13 th Century • Petrarch • 14 lines of romantic love song • Made famous by Francesco Petrarch 14 th Century (Petrarchan sonnet) 2

Sonnets by Shakespearean (or Elizabethan) – Shakespearean sonnets are written in iambic pentameter – William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets 3

Components of a sonnet • 14 lines • Each line consists of 10 syllables • Every other syllable in the line is stressed to give it a rhythm that sounds like da-DUM, da-DUM – Written in iambic pentameter (meter!) • Broken into 3 quatrains – A quatrain is a group of 4 lines • The last 2 lines are called a couplet. These two lines rhyme • Rhyme scheme for a Shakespearean sonnet: abab, cdcd, efef, gg 4

Thee = you Thou = you Hath = has Fair = beauty & youth Thy = your 5

The method to his madness • Subject = Love • Method = Metaphor, imagery, simile. rhyme, form • The twist = Volta 6

Turning the Cheesy Sonnet on its head • http: //www. shakespearessonnets. com/sonnet/130 7

A (sun) B (red) Quatrain 1 (lines 1 -4) A (dun) B (head) C (white) D (cheeks) Quatrain 2 (lines 5 -8) C (delight) D (reeks) E (know) F (sound) E (go) Quatrain 3 (lines 9 -12) F (ground) G (rare) G (compare) Couplet (lines 13 -44) Volta-look for transition words such as: but, therefore, however, yet, or, so. These words 8 are a good place to start.

You are now a sonneteer. Write one! Requirements: Follow the recipe: • 14 lines, 10 syllables per line • (iambic pentameter: da-DUM, da-Dum). Only break the rules if you can do it well. • Follow the rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg • Must use metaphor and volta • Recommendation: tackle it in chunks. 9

What should you write about? School, your boyfriend/girlfriend, art, spring, rain, snow, a smile, how depressing/exciting the end of the school year will be for you, missing someone, emptiness, metacognition, love, lunch, spaghetti, dogs, homework, water-skiing, Shakespeare, your favorite book, a vacation, childhood…Whatever. Everything’s good. It can be happy, sad, funny, crazy, serious…Just be creative! Due Typed 10