O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
Composing
Sonnets
Composing
Sonnets
I. Objectives
1.
Using
examples
of
Shakespearean
sonnets,
students
will
analyze
for
rhyme
scheme,
iambic
pentameter
rhythm,
and
theme
construction.
2.
Using
sentence
strips
of
stanzas,
students
will
work
in
partnerships
to
reconstruct
a
scrambled
sonnet.
3.
Given
the
“ABABCDCDEFEFGG”
rhyme
scheme
template,
students
will
attempt
to
compose
a
Shakespearean
sonnet
about
a
familiar
subject.
II. Materials
*Shakespeare’s
sonnets
18,
73,
and
76
on
transparency
*Vis­à­vis
markers
*Sentence
strips
of
sonnets
(1
set/partnership)
*Scissors
*Glue
*Construction
paper
*Partnership
sonnet
template
(1/partnership)
*Independent
sonnet
creation
template
(1/student)
O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
Composing
Sonnets
III. Method
A. Anticipatory
Set
Read
Mr.
Sansom’s
explanation
of
sonnets
as
written
on
pages
80‐82
of
O.Y.L.
Based
on
the
reading,
who
can
tell
me
some
of
the
basics
of
a
Shakespearean
sonnet?
‐14
lines
‐Iambic
pentameter
rhythm
(da
DUM
da
DUM)
B. Building
Foundational
Knowledge
1. Place
transparency
of
Shakespeare’s
Sonnet
18
on
the
overhead
projector
2. Read
it
collectively,
once
with
obvious
exaggeration
of
iambic
pentameter
rhythm
and
once
as
written,
and
discuss
the
breakdown
of
this
piece.
a. See
information
taken
from
“Writing
a
Sonnet”
in
Poetry
for
Dummies
b. Information
can
be
found
at
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/Writi
ng‐a‐Sonnet.id‐1748.html
or
on
the
attachment
to
this
lesson
plan
3. Repeat
process
with
Sonnets
73
and
76
(as
needed),
having
students
come
to
the
overhead
to
identify
portions
of
the
sonnets
(rhyme
scheme,
number
of
lines,
etc.)
a. Could
also
encourage
small
group
table
discussion
regarding
the
meaning
of
these
pieces.
C. Practice
and
Processing
1. Provide
copies
of
the
jumbled
Sonnet
60
to
pairs
of
students.
2. Instruct
students
to
cut
out
each
line
and
place
the
lines
in
the
correct
order
to
formulate
the
sonnet.
3. Students
should
consider
the
ABABCDCDEFEFGG
rhyme
scheme
as
well
as
the
theme
elements
discussed
during
foundational
knowledge
development.
4. Instruct
students
to
paste
the
completed
sonnet
lines
in
the
correct
order
on
a
piece
of
construction
paper.
5. Next
to
each
line,
they
should
label
the
rhyme
scheme
accordingly.
6. After
partnerships
have
completed
this
task,
invite
students
forward
to
explain
their
rationale
for
the
construction
of
the
sonnet.
**Note:
Rationale
is
more
important
than
100%
correct
construction
of
the
sonnet.
O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
D.
1.
2.
3.
Composing
Sonnets
Independent
Practice
Provide
students
with
sonnet
construction
template.
Invite
them
to
choose
an
everyday
topic
relevant
to
them.
Remind
them
of
the
vital
aspects
of
a
well‐constructed
Shakespearean
sonnet
E. Closure
1. When
possible,
invite
students
to
share
their
completed
sonnets
orally.
2. Students
in
the
class
are
invited
to
respond
with
positive
comments
regarding
the
aspects
of
a
Shakespearean
sonnet
each
presenter
was
successful
in
achieving.
O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
Composing
Sonnets
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 dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
Composing
Sonnets
73
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
Composing
Sonnets
76
Why is my verse so barren of new pride,
So far from variation or quick change?
Why with the time do I not glance aside
To new-found methods, and to compounds strange?
Why write I still all one, ever the same,
And keep invention in a noted weed,
That every word doth almost tell my name,
Showing their birth, and where they did proceed?
O! know sweet love I always write of you,
And you and love are still my argument;
So all my best is dressing old words new,
Spending again what is already spent:
For as the sun is daily new and old,
So is my love still telling what is told.
O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
Composing
Sonnets
Student Version
60
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Crooked elipses 'gainst his glory fight,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Each changing place with that which goes before,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nativity, once in the main of light,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------So do our minutes hasten to their end;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
Composing
Sonnets
Teacher Version
60
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked elipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.
O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
Composing
Sonnets
_____________
(Title)
____________________________________________ (A)
____________________________________________ (B)
____________________________________________ (A)
____________________________________________ (B)
____________________________________________ (C)
____________________________________________ (D)
____________________________________________ (C)
____________________________________________ (D)
____________________________________________ (E)
____________________________________________ (F)
____________________________________________ (E)
____________________________________________ (F)
____________________________________________ (G)
____________________________________________ (G)
*Reread your sonnet. Clap out the rhythm. Double check your rhyme scheme.
O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
Composing
Sonnets
Poetry For Dummies excerpt
“Writing a Sonnet”
-It must consist of 14 lines.
-It must be written in iambic pentameter (duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duhDUH-duh-DUH).
-It must be written in one of various standard rhyme schemes.
If you're writing the most familiar kind of sonnet, the Shakespearean,
the rhyme scheme is this:
A B A B C D C D E F E F G G
Every A rhymes with every A, every B rhymes with every B, and so
forth. You'll notice this type of sonnet consists of three quatrains (that
is, four consecutive lines of verse that make up a stanza or division
of lines in a poem) and one couplet (two consecutive rhyming lines of
verse).
Ah, but there's more to a sonnet than just the structure of it. A sonnet
is also an argument — it builds up a certain way. And how it builds
up is related to its metaphors and how it moves from one metaphor
to the next. In a Shakespearean sonnet, the argument builds up like
this:
First quatrain: An exposition of the main theme and main metaphor.
Second quatrain: Theme and metaphor extended or complicated; often, some
imaginative example is given.
Third quatrain: Peripeteia (a twist or conflict), often introduced by a "but" (very
often leading off the ninth line).
Couplet: Summarizes and leaves the reader with a new, concluding image.
The argument of Sonnet 18 goes like this:
First quatrain: Shakespeare establishes the theme of comparing "thou" (or
"you") to a summer's day, and why to do so is a bad idea. The metaphor is
made by comparing his beloved to summer itself.
O.Y.L.­
Scott
Heydt
Composing
Sonnets
Second quatrain: Shakespeare extends the theme, explaining why even the
sun, supposed to be so great, gets obscured sometimes, and why
everything that's beautiful decays from beauty sooner or later. He has
shifted the metaphor: In the first quatrain, it was "summer" in general, and
now he's comparing the sun and "every fair," every beautiful thing, to his
beloved.
Third quatrain: Here the argument takes a big left turn with the familiar "But."
Shakespeare says that the main reason he won't compare his beloved to
summer is that summer dies — but she won't. He refers to the first two
quatrains — her "eternal summer" won't fade, and she won't "lose
possession" of the "fair" (the beauty) she possesses. So he keeps the
metaphors going, but in a different direction. And for good measure, he
throws in a negative version of all the sunshine in this poem — the
"shade" of death, which, evidently, his beloved won't have to worry about.
Couplet: How is his beloved going to escape death? In Shakespeare's poetry,
which will keep her alive as long as people breathe or see. This bold
statement gives closure to the whole argument — it's a surprise.
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