1. Sonnets
~ Overview ~

2. What is a Sonnet?
They are very structured type of poem in which the author attempts to show two related but differing things to the reader in order to communicate a feeling about them.
They were developed in Italy, around the thirteenth century (1200s).

3. Sonnets have several parts…
Quatrain
Octave
Sestet
Volta
Couplet

4. Parts of a Sonnet QUATRAIN A stanza of four lines. Example:
“O, my luve’s like a red, red rose” ---Robert Burns

5. VOLTA
A shift in thought, or “turn;” sometimes marked by “and yet,” “yet,” or“ but” and usually begins at the… 9th line (sestet)  Italian
13th line (couplet)  English
Example: “Sonnet 130” ---William Shakespeare

6. COUPLET
A literary device which has two successive rhyming lines at the end of a verse.
Example: “Sonnet 18” ---William Shakespeare

7. English (Shakespearean) Sonnets
14 lines total
Four stanzas used:
3 quatrains - four lines each
1 couplet - two lines
Consistent rhyme scheme:
abab cdcd efef gg
William Shakespeare

8. each quatrain develops a specific idea, but one closely related to the ideas in the other quatrains.
it is the easiest in terms of its rhyme scheme, calling for only pairs of rhyming words.
Shakespeare often placed the volta, or the “turn,” (as in the Italian) at Line 9.

9. ~ Rhythm & Rhyme ~

10. 3 syllables 2 syllables 1 syllable
The separate sounds that make up a word:
Ken - tuck - y
stu - dent
school
3 syllables
2 syllables
1 syllable

11. Iambs A unit for measuring poetic verse: - 1 iamb = a foot
- contains unaccented & accented syllables
- like the rhythm of a human heartbeat…
ba-BUM | ba-BUM | ba-BUM | ba-BUM | ba-BUM
(unstressed) (stressed)
i AMB | i AMB | i AMB | i AMB | i AMB

13. Types of Feet Trochaic - 1 stressed, 1 unstressed
Iambic - 1 unstressed, 1 stressed
Trochaic - 1 stressed, 1 unstressed
Anapast - 1 unstressed, 1 unstressed, 1 stressed
Dactyl - 1 stressed, 1 unstressed, 1 unstressed
U \
stu - dent
\ U
stu - dent
U U \
Ken - tuck - y
\ U U
Ken - tuck - y

14. Meter The basic structure of rhythm for a line of verse:
Monometer = one foot
Dimeter = two feet
Trimeter = three feet
Tetrameter = four feet
Pentameter = five feet (Shakespearean)
Hexameter = six feet
Heptameter = seven feet
Octometer = seven feet

15. Pentameter A pattern of accented & unaccented syllables:
“Penta” = five (Greek); Meter = sound
5 feet per line
10 syllables total per line
Example:

16. Iambic Pentameter
The combination of rhythm and meter used by Elizabethan writers, like William Shakespeare.

17. Iambic Pentameter - Examples
But SOFT | what LIGHT |
through YON | der WIN | dow BREAKS
He WENT | to TOWN | toDAY | to BUY | a CAR
When I | do COUNT | the CLOCK
that TELLS | the TIME

18. < < < < Rhyme Scheme
Shakespearean sonnets have three quatrains followed by a couplet, with end rhyme scheme:
A B A B
C D C D
E F E F
G G
<
1st stanza - Quatrain: establishes subject and main theme
<
2nd stanza - Quatrain: develops theme; extends metaphor
<
3rd stanza - Quatrain: often contains a turn/twist: volta
<
4th stanza - Couplet: rhymes; the conclusion

19. Romeo & Juliet - Prologue
Rhyme Scheme - Example
Romeo & Juliet - Prologue
Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. A B C D E F G

20. ~ Sonnet Practice ~

21. Try it for yourself!
Using your notes and examples of Shakespeare’s poems, try to write your own sonnet about:
a lost love
a beautiful day
a season of the year
or ANYthing that you are interested in
View this video of students trying:

22. Online Source #1
Dummies.com provides good information about sonnet styles and parts.

23. Sonnet Example Topic: friend On a bright sun ny day I met friend re
call
the
like It
was to
knew we
would be
friends un
til
end
miss
you
lot
since
went
way

24. _____________________________
sonnet title
___________________________________________ (A)
___________________________________________ (B)
___________________________________________ (C)
___________________________________________ (D)
___________________________________________ (E)
___________________________________________ (F)
_______________________________________ (G)

25. ~ Sonnet Quiz ~ 1) What is a “sonnet”?
a. Poem consisting 10 lines.
b. Poem consisting of 14 lines
c. Both A and B
2) What are the main types of sonnets?
a. English and Italian
b. Shakespearean and Petrarchan

26. 3) What is a “foot” in poetry?
a. The most important line in the poem
b. The last line in a poem
c. A group of two syllables.
4) What is “iambic pentameter?”
a. A single file line of five people,
each person two feet tall
b. A 10 syllable line, consisting of
5 iambic feet
c. Both A and B

27. 5) What is a “quatrain”? 6) What is “couplet”? a. A group of 3 lines
b. A paragraph of writing
c. A stanza of 4 lines
6) What is “couplet”?
a. A single file line of five people,
each person two feet tall
b. The last two lines of a sonnet
c. Both A and B

28. Shakespearean Sonnets Are…
7) …is written in a metered style known as ____________ ______________.
8) …has______ syllables in each line that represent the sound of a human heart beating----- duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH.
…always contains a total of ______ lines.
iambic pentameter 10 14

29. Shakespearean Sonnets Are…
quatrains
10) …broken into three _______________, with
each one being made up of four consecutive lines
of verse.
11) …always ends with two rhymed lines called a ______________.
12) …often written with a rhyme scheme ending each line that looks like:
_a__ _b__ ____ ____
____ ____ ____ ____
____ ____
couplet a b c d c d e f e f g g

30. metaphors
13) Sonnets are full of _________________, a poetic device used to compare two things.
14) The _____________ is “the turn” or point of dramatic shift within a sonnet.
volta

31. d c a b …builds up an argument within the poem in the following order:
15) ____ First quatrain
16) ____ Second quatrain
17) ____ Third quatrain
18) ____ Couplet
a. Peripeteia (a twist or conflict)
b. Summarizes; leaves a new, concluding image
c. Theme and metaphor extended or complicated
d. The main theme and main metaphor d c a b