1. The English Renaissance 1550-1660 Inspired by the European Renaissance Also referred to as the Elizabethan era since Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1558 The writers of the Renaissance wanted to imitate art and possibly even change reality through their art. They believed in the art of imitation, gravitating toward Greek and Roman writers and writing styles (borrowed from the Greek and Roman myths) Printing Press allowed more work to be published and it increased literacy Writers wrote in English (language of the people)

2. The Sonnet From the Italian sonetto, which means “a little sound or song," A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, which employs one of several rhyme schemes and adhere to a tightly structured thematic organization. Petrarchan, or Italian: Named after the Italian poet PetrarchPetrarch – Divided into two stanzas, the octave (the first eight lines) followed by the answering sestet (the final six lines). – Rhyme scheme, abba, abba, cdecde or cdcdcd, is suited for the rhyme-rich Italian language, though there are many fine examples in English. – Since the Petrarchan presents an argument, observation, question, or some other answerable charge in the octave, a turn, or volta, occurs between the eighth and ninth lines. This turn marks a shift in the direction of the foregoing argument or narrative, turning the sestet into the vehicle for the counterargument, clarification, or whatever answer the octave demands.

3. “The New Colossus” 'Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, (a) With conquering limbs astride from land to land; (b) Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand (b) A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame (a) Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name (a) Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand (b) Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command (b) The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. (a) 'Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!' cries she (c) With silent lips. 'Give me your tired, your poor, (d) Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, (c) The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. (d) Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, (c) I lift my lamp beside the golden door!' (d)

4. Shakespearean Sonnet The second major type of sonnet, the Shakespearean, or English sonnet, follows a different set of rules. Three quatrains and a couplet follow this rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The couplet plays a pivotal role, usually arriving in the form of a conclusion, amplification, or even refutation of the previous three stanzas, often creating an epiphanic quality to the end.

5. Spenserian Sonnets Invented by sixteenth century English poet Edmund Spenser Borrows its structure from the Shakespearean--three quatrains and a couplet--but employs a series of “couplet links” between quatrains, as revealed in the rhyme scheme: abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee. The Spenserian sonnet, through the interweaving of the quatrains, implicitly reorganized the Shakespearean sonnet into couplets, reminiscent of the Petrarchan. One reason was to reduce the often excessive final couplet of the Shakespearean sonnet, putting less pressure on it to resolve the foregoing argument, observation, or question.