shakes sonnet

O.Y.L.ScottHeydt ComposingSonnets

I. Objectives1.UsingexamplesofShakespeareansonnets,studentswillanalyzeforrhymescheme,iambicpentameterrhythm,andthemeconstruction.2.Usingsentencestripsofstanzas,studentswillworkinpartnershipstoreconstructascrambledsonnet.

3.Giventhe“ABABCDCDEFEFGG”rhymeschemetemplate,studentswillattempttocomposeaShakespeareansonnetaboutafamiliarsubject.

II. Materials

*Shakespeare’ssonnets18,73,and76ontransparency*Visàvismarkers*Sentencestripsofsonnets(1set/partnership)*Scissors*Glue*Constructionpaper*Partnershipsonnettemplate(1/partnership)*Independentsonnetcreationtemplate(1/student)

ComposingSonnets


III. MethodA. AnticipatorySetReadMr.Sansom’sexplanationofsonnetsaswrittenonpages80‐82ofO.Y.L.Basedonthereading,whocantellmesomeofthebasicsofaShakespeareansonnet?‐14lines‐Iambicpentameterrhythm(daDUMdaDUM)B. BuildingFoundationalKnowledge1. PlacetransparencyofShakespeare’sSonnet18ontheoverhead

projector2. Readitcollectively,oncewithobviousexaggerationofiambic

pentameterrhythmandonceaswritten,anddiscussthebreakdownofthispiece.

a. Seeinformationtakenfrom“WritingaSonnet”inPoetryforDummies

b. Informationcanbefoundathttp://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/Writing‐a‐Sonnet.id‐1748.htmlorontheattachmenttothislessonplan

3. RepeatprocesswithSonnets73and76(asneeded),havingstudentscometotheoverheadtoidentifyportionsofthesonnets(rhymescheme,numberoflines,etc.)

a. Couldalsoencouragesmallgrouptablediscussionregardingthemeaningofthesepieces.

C. PracticeandProcessing1. ProvidecopiesofthejumbledSonnet60topairsofstudents.2. Instructstudentstocutouteachlineandplacethelinesinthecorrect

ordertoformulatethesonnet.3. StudentsshouldconsidertheABABCDCDEFEFGGrhymeschemeas

wellasthethemeelementsdiscussedduringfoundationalknowledgedevelopment.

4. Instructstudentstopastethecompletedsonnetlinesinthecorrectorderonapieceofconstructionpaper.

5. Nexttoeachline,theyshouldlabeltherhymeschemeaccordingly.6. Afterpartnershipshavecompletedthistask,invitestudentsforward

toexplaintheirrationalefortheconstructionofthesonnet.**Note:Rationaleismoreimportantthan100%correctconstructionofthesonnet.


D. IndependentPractice1. Providestudentswithsonnetconstructiontemplate.2. Invitethemtochooseaneverydaytopicrelevanttothem.3. Remindthemofthevitalaspectsofawell‐constructedShakespearean

sonnet

E. Closure1. Whenpossible,invitestudentstosharetheircompletedsonnets

orally.2. Studentsintheclassareinvitedtorespondwithpositivecomments

regardingtheaspectsofaShakespeareansonneteachpresenterwassuccessfulinachieving.


18

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 dimmed,

And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:

But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,

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


73

That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

In me thou seest the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west,

Which by and by black night doth take away, Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.

In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,

As the death-bed whereon it must expire Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.

This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long.


76

Why is my verse so barren of new pride, So far from variation or quick change? Why with the time do I not glance aside

To new-found methods, and to compounds strange? Why write I still all one, ever the same,

And keep invention in a noted weed, That every word doth almost tell my name,

Showing their birth, and where they did proceed? O! know sweet love I always write of you, And you and love are still my argument; So all my best is dressing old words new,

Spending again what is already spent: For as the sun is daily new and old, So is my love still telling what is told.


Student Version

60 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crooked elipses 'gainst his glory fight, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In sequent toil all forwards do contend. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And delves the parallels in beauty's brow, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Each changing place with that which goes before, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nativity, once in the main of light, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So do our minutes hasten to their end; ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And Time that gave doth now his gift confound. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Teacher Version

60

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our minutes hasten to their end;

Each changing place with that which goes before, In sequent toil all forwards do contend.

Nativity, once in the main of light, Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,

Crooked elipses 'gainst his glory fight, And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.

Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,

Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth, And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow: And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,

Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.


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*Reread your sonnet. Clap out the rhythm. Double check your rhyme scheme.


Poetry For Dummies excerpt “Writing a Sonnet”

-It must consist of 14 lines. -It must be written in iambic pentameter (duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-

DUH-duh-DUH). -It must be written in one of various standard rhyme schemes.

If you're writing the most familiar kind of sonnet, the Shakespearean, the rhyme scheme is this:

A B A B C D C D E F E F G G

Every A rhymes with every A, every B rhymes with every B, and so forth. You'll notice this type of sonnet consists of three quatrains (that is, four consecutive lines of verse that make up a stanza or division of lines in a poem) and one couplet (two consecutive rhyming lines of verse).

Ah, but there's more to a sonnet than just the structure of it. A sonnet is also an argument — it builds up a certain way. And how it builds up is related to its metaphors and how it moves from one metaphor to the next. In a Shakespearean sonnet, the argument builds up like this:

First quatrain: An exposition of the main theme and main metaphor. Second quatrain: Theme and metaphor extended or complicated; often, some

imaginative example is given. Third quatrain: Peripeteia (a twist or conflict), often introduced by a "but" (very

often leading off the ninth line). Couplet: Summarizes and leaves the reader with a new, concluding image.

The argument of Sonnet 18 goes like this:

First quatrain: Shakespeare establishes the theme of comparing "thou" (or "you") to a summer's day, and why to do so is a bad idea. The metaphor is made by comparing his beloved to summer itself.


Second quatrain: Shakespeare extends the theme, explaining why even the

sun, supposed to be so great, gets obscured sometimes, and why everything that's beautiful decays from beauty sooner or later. He has shifted the metaphor: In the first quatrain, it was "summer" in general, and now he's comparing the sun and "every fair," every beautiful thing, to his beloved.

Third quatrain: Here the argument takes a big left turn with the familiar "But."

Shakespeare says that the main reason he won't compare his beloved to summer is that summer dies — but she won't. He refers to the first two quatrains — her "eternal summer" won't fade, and she won't "lose possession" of the "fair" (the beauty) she possesses. So he keeps the metaphors going, but in a different direction. And for good measure, he throws in a negative version of all the sunshine in this poem — the "shade" of death, which, evidently, his beloved won't have to worry about.

Couplet: How is his beloved going to escape death? In Shakespeare's poetry,

which will keep her alive as long as people breathe or see. This bold statement gives closure to the whole argument — it's a surprise.

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shakes sonnet

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