Name: ____________________________________
Date: ______________________
Shakespearean Sonnets
Organize your thoughts and draft! Sonnets are carefully crafted; think about the how
the metaphor is extended and explored throughout the works you have looked at.
That doesn’t happen by chance!
Quatrain 1: What is your topic and metaphor? Write a comparison
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Expand that comparison: 4 lines- 10 syllables each line.
A ________________________________________________________________
B ________________________________________________________________
A ________________________________________________________________
B ________________________________________________________________
Quatrain 2: Expand the metaphor. For example- in Sonnet 18, Quatrain 1 is about summer in
general. In Quatrain 2 Shax incorporates more elements of summer.
List 2-3 additional elements of your metaphor.
1. ________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________________
Expand: 4 lines 10 syllables each. (don’t forget your rhyme scheme!)
C ________________________________________________________________
D ________________________________________________________________
C ________________________________________________________________
D ________________________________________________________________
Quatrain 3: THE BUT! The twist or conflict. In Sonnet 18, we learn in quatrain 1 how the beloved
is like a summer’s day. In Quatrain 2 we learn about some of the unsavory elements of summer and
that summer eventually ends and all its beauty “dies.” BUT in quatrain 3 we see that UNLIKE the
end of summer, his love’s beauty will not meet the same fate.
What is your BUT? How does your sonnet take a different direction?
My topic _____________________________ is like ______________________________
(metaphor)
Because: ________________________________________________________
Option: Choose one of the following to complete your third quatrain.
BUT it is not because: __________________________________________________________
BUT the upside is: __________________________________________________________
E ________________________________________________________________
F ________________________________________________________________
E ________________________________________________________________
F ________________________________________________________________
Couplet: A summary. In Sonnet 18 we learn why the speaker’s beloved and their beauty IS and IS
NOT like a summers day. In the couplet we can almost hear the writer say, “So what I’m trying to
say is, as long as men can breathe and see your beauty will last forever.”
So what I’m trying to say is:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Expand it: Two lines with the same rhyme:
G ________________________________________________________________
G ________________________________________________________________
Now…title your work! Keep in mind, I will be asking for a rationale!
__________________________________________________________________________________
Name: ____________________________________
Date: ______________________
Shakespearean Sonnets
PEER REVISION
Whose sonnet are you revising? _______________________
Sonnet title: ____________________________________
What is the topic of the sonnet?
What metaphor is the speaker using?
What does it all mean?
Quatrain 1
Questions for the writer:
Quatrain 2
Quatrain 3
Couplet