The Sonnet Understanding and Appreciation of the sonnet form ‘Sonetto’ – Little Song (Italian)

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level LearningOutcomes  I can identify a sonnet poem and explain what the key features are.  I can write a critical essay which compares and contrasts two examples of sonnet poetry.  I can discuss thoughtfully a range of sonnet poems and demonstrate some knowledge of their writers.

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level KeyAreasforStudy  Sonnet as form: rhythm, rhyme & structure  Techniques  Finding the volta: form and meaning  Identifying the speaker  Analysis of language  Themes

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Fe atu res of a So nne t 14 lines per sonnet - Structure 10 syllables per line - Rhythm Iambic Pentameter – Rhythm Particular Rhyme Scheme - Rhyme Particular Structure - Structure

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level So nne t Ty pes Elizabethan (English / Shakespearean) Petrarchan (Italian)

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level E liz a be th a n S on ne t Sonnet 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 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. TASK: Working as a group attempt to identify any aspect of the sonnet which relates to the areas already mentioned: Structure, Rhyme, Rhythm.

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Ia mb ic Pe nta me ter  METRE - Sound patterns which create rhythm  RHYTHM - is measured in small groups of syllables (known as ‘feet’)  IAMBIC – Describes the type of ‘foot’ that is used  PENTAMETER – indicates that a line has ‘five’ feet  In English – an unstressed syllable tends to be followed by a stressed syllable  Different languages express rhythm in different ways  SYLLABLES – Unstressed – SHORT / Stressed = LONG  When a pair of syllables is arranged unstressed / stressed, that ‘foot’ is considered to be IAMBIC

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Ex am ple The word ‘trapeze’ is made up of two syllables. ‘Tra’ (unstressed/short) & ‘peze’ (stressed/long) Therefore, the stress is on the second syllable ‘tra – PEZE’ rather than ‘TRA-peze’

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Ia mb ic Pe nta me ter Is made up of FIVE pairs of unstressed / stressed syllables (iambs) Example An iambic foot can be expressed as: Da DUM A standard line of iambic pentameter is five iambic feet in a row: Da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM x / x / x / x / x /

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level V ari ati ons Now is the winter of our discontent / x x / x / x / x / Here the stressed and unstressed syllable have been inverted at the beginning

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level V ari ati ons To be or not to be, that is the question x / x / x / / x x / (x) It is also common to add a final unstressed syllable, which in turn creates a weak (feminine) ending

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Ana lysis of a Son net Opening Question – Which the rest of the poem will explore and try to answer Interim Question – a subsequent question to be addressed. The answer to the opening / interim question A longer illustration An observation or philosophical thought Explanation / Expansion Minor Turn (unlike the Italian sonnet the English sonnet does not turn completely at line 9.) The claim / declaration The couplet – usually containing the ‘turn’ and the conclusion. These are the main aspects of the sonnet to look out for although it’s worth noting that not all sonnets will have every element.

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Ana lysis of a Son net Task: Working in your group of four, discuss and analyse all three quatrains and the rhyming couplet of Sonnet 18 Use your textual analysis skills (as well as the techniques you know for analysing language) to attempt to explain what the sonnet is about. It may be useful to attempt to write the sonnet out in contemporary English

Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level Fourth level Fifth level Anal ysis of a Son net Compare your group analysis to that of the actual analysis on the printed hand out. Were you close?