1. The Sonnet

2. A sonnet is a very strict form with a lot of rules…
A sonnet is a lyric poem
All sonnets have fourteen lines
Sonnets are written in a special meter called iambic pentameter
Sonnets have a strict rhyme scheme
Sonnets have a definite thought structure

3. A lyric poem Deals with emotions, feelings
Like other lyric poetry, sonnets use a lot of sound devices and figurative language
So sonnets usually deal with emotions and feelings

4. The Two Types of Sonnets
Shakespearean
Also called Elizabethan or English
Divided into 3 quatrains and 1 couplet
Rhyme Scheme=
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Petrarchan
Also called Italian
Divided into an octave and a sestet
Rhyme Scheme=
ABBA ABBA CDECDE or
ABBA ABBA CD CD CD

5. Both are written in Iambic Pentameter
Iambic Pentameter is a special meter or rhythm
Meter is the rhythm created by the number and pattern of syllables in a line of poetry
A line of IP has ten syllables
Those syllables are broken up into five units or feet
If there are ten syllables divided up into five feet, how many syllables are in each foot?

6. An iamb is a metrical foot or unit consisting of two syllables: a unstressed syllable: U followed by an stressed syllable: /
U /
a gain
U / U /
im mor tal ize

7. Iambic pentameter One day /I wrote/ her name/ upon/ the strand,
One day /I wrote/ her name/ upon/ the strand,
But came the waves and wash ed it a way:
A gain I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey
Edmund Spenser, Amoretti, Sonnet 75
U / U / U / U / U /
U / U / U / U / U /
U / U / U / U / U /
U / U / U / U / U /

8. Marking Scansion
Drawing lines between the feet and marking the syllables as stressed or unstressed is called marking the scansion.
You have to do this in your packet. It would probably be easier if you typed out the line and then put in the notations after you printed the packet.

9. Rhyme scheme
Like we said earlier… there are two types of sonnets. Each has a different rhyme pattern:
Petrarchan (Italian) rhyme scheme:
abba, abba, cd, cd, cd
abba, abba, cde, cde
Shakespearean (English, or Elizabethan) rhyme scheme:
abab, cdcd, efef, gg

10. Let’s take a look at a Shakespearean Sonnet….
First we’ll examine the form…
How many lines will it have?
What type of stanzas are those lines divided into?
How many syllables in each line?
And the rhyme scheme?
OK…. Go do Edline and download Sonnet 18

11. Sonnet 18 A B C D E F G
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.
Let’s take a look at the rhyme scheme of this sonnet…

12. Thought structure
Every Shakespearean sonnet is made up of three quatrains and a couple
Quatrain, quatrain, quatrain, couplet
Each quatrain, four lines, describes an idea or situation which leads to a conclusion or response in the couplet, two lines.

13. The first quatrain describes the ways in which the summer’s day is inferior to the beloved.
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.
The 2nd quatrain describes the ways that nature and the sun are not perfect like his beloved.
The 3rd quatrain explains that his beloved will live on forever through this poem.
The couplet sums this up. The poem makes her immortal

14. So…
While the diction of Shakespearean sonnets may seem difficult, with a little patience, you can unravel the meaning.
Let’s try writing our own lines of Iambic Pentameter so you can see how difficult it would be to write an entire sonnet.