1. How to write a sonnet Renaissance Poetry Project

2. Writing a sonnet Now that we have analyzed sonnets in various styles and have worked with the content specific vocabulary such as paradox, rhyme scheme, iambic pentameter, symbolism, etc. you are going to write your own sonnet.

3. Breaking it down Writing a sonnet is easy when you understand what a sonnet is. Five things that most sonnets have in common: They are written in iambic pentameter They are fourteen lines long They have a rhyme scheme They have a turn or “volta” They all bear the name “sonnet”

4. Looking at an example He turned the fourteenth glass and said, “Begin.” and I had fourteen minutes left to live; and I had fourteen unrepented sins, and fourteen people whom I would forgive, and fourteen unread books upon my shelf, and fourteen loves I knew I’d loved in vain, and fourteen dreams I’d kept within myself (the fourteen I’d most wanted to explain.) But fourteen minutes quickly passed away. I filled my pen with fourteen drops of ink- the fourteenth glass had offered one delay; and fourteen final grains retained the brink. This sonnet flowed like fourteen final breaths- the fourteenth line, the fourteenth grain, then death. 1. Iambic Pentameter In order to write a sonnet you have to be able to write iambic pentameter. “Iambic pentameter” is the name given to a certain type of rhythm. An “iamb” is two syllables. The first syllable is un-stressed, and the second syllable is stressed or emphasized. When the two syllables are spoken out loud, they sound like a fall and rise.

5. Continued… Many single words are iambic. Say the following words out loud and listen to how you naturally emphasize or stress the first syllable of the word and then how you naturally let the second syllable fall. within forgive myself explain begin To make the idea of the iamb more visual, let’s use CAPITAL letters for stressed syllables and lower case letters for unstressed syllables. The list above would look as follows: withIN forGIVE mySELF exPLAIN beGIN

6. Continued… 2. Fourteen Lines Why fourteen lines? Why not? The fourteen lines allows for some creative breaks in traditional sonnets. Our example is a Shakespearean sonnet. It has three quatrains, (a quatrain is group of four lines) followed by a couplet (a couplet is a group of two lines). The turn, or “volta” in a Shakespearean sonnet typically comes at the beginning of the third quatrain. This gives the sense that the sonnet has built to a sort of point before being brought home to its ending, which is then punctuated by the final rhyming couplet. It reminds me of a wave building up, rolling in, and crashing onto the shore.

7. Continued… 3. Set Rhyme Scheme A rhyme requires a set of lines with matching sounds at the end. The most number of rhyming pairs a sonnet can have then is 7, since there are only 14 lines and fourteen divided by two is seven. When we talk about rhyme schemes for a sonnet, we typically use letters to indicate the matching rhymes. In our example, lines 1 and 3 rhyme as do lines 2 and 4. We therefore say the first four lines have a rhyme scheme of abab. Or if it helps to see it vertically (with the rhyme sound in parentheses): a (in) b (ive) a (in) b (ive) (You may have noticed that line 3 is not quite a perfect rhyme with line 1. This is called a slant rhyme.)

8. Continued… 4. The Turn or “Volta” The word “volta” is the Italian word for “turn.” Placing a volta in a sonnet is the most difficult part for many people. To help visualize a volta or turn in your sonnet, think of this: When you are walking through a field, you may at some point decide to change direction by turning. You might turn one small degree from your previous direction, or you might turn all the way around, 180 degrees and head in the opposite direction. You may do the same thing in a sonnet. Where the turn comes in the sonnet also sometimes depends on what type of sonnet you are attempting to write. In a Shakespearean sonnet the turn usually comes at the ninth line. An easy example of a turning point would be, lines 1-8 ask a question or series of questions and lines 9-14 answer the question or questions.

9. Continued… 5. Sonnet The name sonnet comes from the Italian word “sonnet” which literally means “little song.” If someone reads your sonnet and says, “I don’t like it because it’s too sing- songy,” you can tell them, that it’s supposed to be sing-songy. Everything about the sonnet lends itself to music: the rhymes, the rhythm of the iambic pentameter, the volta. Perhaps the simplest way to write a sonnet is to read a few sonnets and mimic what you like about them. After a few sonnets written in this fashion, you will find that the iambic pentameter and rhyme structure come easy to you.

10. The Shakespearian Sonnet The Shakespearean sonnet is probably the best known and most written type of sonnet A Shakespearean sonnet, like most sonnets, is written in iambic pentameter. Each line is 10 syllables long. The rhythm of each line, as discussed above, should be like this: soft-LOUD-soft-LOUD-soft-LOUD-soft-LOUD-soft-LOUD All sonnets have fourteen lines. What makes a sonnet a Shakespearean sonnet is that its fourteen lines rhyme like this: Line 1 rhymes with line 3 Line 2 rhymes with line 4 Line 3 rhymes with line 1 Line 4 rhymes with line 2 Line 5 rhymes with line 7 Line 6 rhymes with line 8 Line 7 rhymes with line 5 Line 8 rhymes with line 6 Line 9 rhymes with line 11 Line 10 rhymes with line 12 Line 11 rhymes with line 9 Line 12 rhymes with line 10 Line 13 rhymes with line 14 Line 14 rhymes with line 13 Last, most sonnets have a volta, or a turning point. In a Shakespearean sonnet the volta usually begins at line 9. An easy example of a turning point would be, lines 1-8 ask a question or series of questions and lines 9-14 answer the question or questions.

11. The Assignment You will be writing a Shakespearian Sonnet Therefore you will follow the basic principles from the previous slide including: 14 lines Written in iambic pentameter Rhymes Should be about love, personal love or a love of something Has a volta If you want to get crazy with it! Include various literary devices like simile, imagery, paradox, alliteration, etc. Note: These will be presented to the class (yes it’s part of the project) so they should be school appropriate This should happen in several drafts, you will also create a poster including a visual representation of the poem you write. This is a project grade and should be taken seriously.