The Love Sonnets of Petrarch and Shakespeare

-Its likely that none of you will ever be literature professors, so how could this skill/process help you in your life? …Why bother doing this?

…On the practical side, knowing how to de- code complicated texts can help you in your career no matter what you do- tech people deal with tech talk, business people work with business jargon, lawyers deal with legalese, and at the very least, all of you will sign some form of legal document in your life, and this process can help you build this skill of rewording complicated texts …Why bother doing this?

…This activity can also prove edifying to you as a person. The poets we will look at today are remarkably important in the history of literature. Of course you already know that about Shakespeare, but youll also get a chance to see how influential Petrarch is and how much he influenced Shakespeare. …Why bother doing this?

…Furthermore, you may feel entirely removed from love poetry- you may think youre too modern (or maybe too macho) to appreciate love sonnets from nearly a thousand years ago- but approach this with an open mind and you might just get why people still talk about these particular poems after all this time (there has to be some reason, right?) …Why bother doing this?

With that, lets begin with a little background… …Why bother doing this?

Petrarch -14 th Century Writer -Famous for his love poetry: Sonnets focused on a woman referred to as Laura -It is said that Petrarch never talked to Laura, only seeing her once at church on Good Friday

As we read through these poems, try to think of how you would rephrase these words in your own terms. …This may be a bit challenging, but here are a couple of tips… 1)Read the subtitle for a quick summation of the poem 2)Keep in mind the poets overall purpose- to praise his beloved 3)Pay attention to the definitions given in the footnotes

As we read through these poems, try to think of how you would rephrase these words in your own terms. Another note: It may help you to understand that, in love poetry, the person the poet is writing about is called the beloved

Also, as we read through these poems, lets look to answer the following questions: 1. What is the central idea of this text? 2. How does the poet develop that idea (using specific details)? 3. How would you summarize this text?

Lets take a look at a few themes weve seen in these sonnets….

-The poet is unable to express the beauty of the beloved in Sonnet 18 -Nature praises the beloved in Sonnet 159 -Love leads to joy and sorrow in Sonnet 104

Now were going to read sonnets by Shakespeare, still looking out for the central idea, how Shakespeare develops that idea, and how we would summarize the poem…. …Keep in mind that even though Petrarch died in 1374 and Shakespeare wasnt born until 1564 (nearly 200 years later), Petrarchs poems were still very popular and Shakespeares sonnets would have been written with Petrarchs in the forefront of his mind…

…So as we read, lets think about how Shakespeare draws on Petrarchs style, themes, and general approach to writing a love sonnet

As you take a look at the sample essay given to you, make a few notes about citation: 1)Always mention which poets sonnet you are referring to before you make a quote or reference a line- i.e. Shakespeares Sonnet 18 OR Petrarchs Sonnet 18 2)As you see above, put the title of the particular sonnet in quotation marks 3)Put the line number quoted or referenced directly after the reference in parentheses 4)If you include two or more lines, include a dash- / between the two lines 5)If you skip past any parts, insert an ellipses in brackets […]

Another note on the sample essay : Remember not to go too in-depth on your summary, as you may end up repeating yourself in your analysis. Youre expected to provide a brief and accurate summary of the poem, youll go into detail in your analysis.