The World Is Too Much With Us William

“The World Is Too Much With Us” William Wordsworth an Introduction to Poetry and Sonnets

“Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat. ” —Robert Frost What do you know about poetry? What excites or scares you about poetry? What would you like to learn about poetry? (As in, to enrich your brain…not for some silly test that you’ll forget about in 5. 8 years!)

I’d like you to read • “The World Is Too Much With Us” • Don’t jot anything down—don’t even hold a pen in your hand! Read for understanding; read for pleasure. • Here’s what I’m going to ask: – What did you notice? – What did you appreciate? – What frustrated you?

Watch as I Model: • Am I writing more statements or asking more questions? • What kinds of things am I writing down? • What is my level of understanding at this point? • Why do you think I’m approaching the poem this way? What do you think my next steps might be?

Now You Finish With a Partner: • Take turns reading and thinking aloud – Pose questions – Identify unfamiliar vocabulary/allusions – make connections to your own experiences – rephrase inverted lines – comment on the poem

With your partner: • Highlight or circle each end punctuation mark (this would be ! ? . ) • Paraphrase each sentence in the poem (note—this is NOT the same thing as paraphrasing by line!) • Now, Partner A reads their paraphrased version out loud to Partner B. • Partner B reads the Wordsworth’s original sonnet out loud to Partner A. – What did you notice about/during/after paraphrasing sentence by sentence? – How might this influence your reading of poetry?

What Lingering Questions Remain?

Now Let’s Write! • Read the poem again • Write for 10 minutes: what do you think the poem is about? – **This is a thinking exercise. Use the ideas that emerged from your conversation to sort out your thoughts. Casting ideas into coherent sentences helps to shape ideas and pushes you to develop your thinking without fear of being (dun, dun!) WRONG!! (NO fear of being WRONG!!)

Sonnets • 14 lines • Iambic pentameter • Italian (Petrarchan): Let’s label these parts in “The World” – 2 parts: 1. 8 -line octave (abba) 2. 6 -line sestet (cdcdcd) he t ? s t i ion a t h W solu re What is the problem? – Octave presents a problem that the sestet resolves

On a Sticky Note: • How did today go? • Were some of your fears quelled? Some heightened? • What was the most difficult part about today’s poetry lesson? • What did you learn today? • What question(s) do you still have?

A bit more about Sonnets: • 14 th c. , Italy: Francesco Petrarch developed and popularized the sonnet. Italian sonnet = "Petrarchan" sonnet. • 16 th Century, England: English poets discovered Petrarch while traveling abroad and began a vogue for sonnet writing in England. English sonnet writers translated Petrarch’s poems into English. In 16 th Century thinking, such imitation was flattery rather than plagiarism!

A bit more about Sonnets: • Though the sonnet writers continued to recycle Petrarch’s themes they developed some new forms: the most famous and influential came to be named for the major poets who used them: the Spenserian and the Shakespearean (English). • By the end of the 16 th c, sonnets no longer in vogue— Shakespeare used mainly to poke fun at convention • Meant to display cleverness, wit and sophistication of poet; meant for a public audience, not just for the lova involved

Sonnet Forms • Sonnets contain 14 lines. • English sonnet-writers almost always used iambic pentameter--10 syllables per line with alternating stressed and unstressed syllables. • Ideas stated in very controlled ways. – Turn or "volte" at the end of 2 nd/3 rd quatrain -- a change in the direction of the argument; this is usually signaled by such words as "but, " "yet, " or "however. "

Sonnet Forms Italian (Petrarchan) • 14 lines are grouped into an octave (an eight-line unit) and a sestet (a six-line unit). • The rhyme scheme varies in Italian sonnets; a common pattern was ABBA CDE. • Look for a "volte" after the octave. Words in RED are good ones to commit to memory! English (Shakespearian) • 14 lines are grouped into 3 quatrains (quatrain = four-line unit) followed by 1 couplet (two lines). • Rhyme scheme = ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. • Main idea develops through each of the 3 quatrains, each one contributing a piece of the argument (or clarifying the previous piece). • Couplet stands apart as a conclusion/afterword/rebuttal of the ideas developed in the first 12 lines; "volte"

Sonnet Themes • The great majority of 16 th-century sonnets were written to explore unrequited romantic love. • The speaker = a besotted man • The beloved = a resistant, disdainful, or chaste/virtuous, otherwise unavailable woman. The speaker is trying to persuade the woman to sleep with him—you know, what you hear every day in the halls at school.

Sonnet Devices • Sonnets abound in wordplay: puns, doubleentendres, multiple meanings, and clever figures of speech. • The most common figures of speech used in 16 th-century sonnets include the conceit, conceit the blazon, blazon and personification a series of metaphors and/or similes to compile a description of parts of the body: "her lips are like rubies; her eyes are stars. " A simile or metaphor

Sonnet Info Courtesy of Nancy W. Miller. (See her web-based version of this course: OSU-Mansfield, English 201. ) Some of the definitions on this page have been adapted from The Bedford Glossary of Literary Terms. Ross Murfin and Supryia M. Ray, eds. (New York: Bedford Books, 1997).