Renaissance Sonnets Essay
We have read various sonnets from Edmund Spenser, Sir Philip Sidney, and William
Shakespeare. We took some time to work through them in class, and we discovered how
truly remarkable these sonnets are in terms of literary technique and syntax. Choose one
of the following prompts, or create one of your own and clear it with me, and write an
essay in which you explore the prompt fully.
1.) Re-read the sonnets of Spenser and Sidney. Consider who the narrator is speaking to
in each of the sonnets. Now, analyze how the subjects of these sonnets create a
natural progression in the minds of the narrator. Why does it make sense to address
these subjects sequentially?
2.) Review Spenser’s three sonnets. Then, explain what poets can achieve in a sonnet
sequence that they cannot in individual poems. Consider such factors as shifting
moods and developing characters.
3.) Choose any one of the four Shakespearian sonnets that we studied and analyze how
Shakespeare uses structure to develop his theme.