1. March 5-6 - Sonnets Agenda: Notes: What is a sonnet?
“What a Sonnet Is”
“Sonnet 90”
MC & Essay Questions
Take out:
Pen/Pencil
Notebook
Homework:
Anything not completed in class

2. Sonnet Form A sonnet has 14 lines.
A sonnet must be written in iambic pentameter
A sonnet must follow a specific rhyme scheme, depending on the type of sonnet.
A sonnet can be about any subject, though they are often about love or nature.

3. Sonnet Form
A sonnet introduces a problem, idea or question in the beginning, and a resolution is offered after the turn.
A sonnet’s turn is the point in the sonnet where the poet changes perspective or alters his/her approach to description.

4. Iambic Pentameter
A line of Iambic Pentameter is a line with ten beats.
An “Iamb” is two beats, or one “foot.”
“Penta” is five (line has five “feet”).
“Meter” is the rhythm of the poem.
A “foot” is made of an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable (in that order).

5. English Sonnet
An English Sonnet is also called a Shakespearean Sonnet.
It includes three quatrains (groups of four lines) and a couplet (two lines).
The rhyme scheme is often abab cdcd efef gg.
The turn is either after eight lines or twelve lines.

6. Italian Sonnet An Italian Sonnet is also called a Petrarchan Sonnet.
It includes an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines).
The rhyme scheme must begin with abbaabba, and can conclude with any variation of c, d, and e (cdecde, cdcdee, etc.).
The turn must occur between the octave and the sestet.

7. “What the Sonnet is”
Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold; Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled Into the sea, for pearls to come of them; Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem With which Medea human fate foretold; Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old, Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem. It is the pure white diamond Dante brought To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought; The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core; The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought For his own soul, to wear for evermore. ~Eugene Lee-Hamilton

8. What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”?
Rhyme scheme is abbaabba cdcdcd.
Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem
Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold;
Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled
Into the sea, for pearls to come of them;
Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem
With which Medea human fate foretold;
Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old,
Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem.
It is the pure white diamond Dante brought
To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore
When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought;
The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core;
The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought
For his own soul, to wear for evermore.

9. What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”?
Lines are in an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines).
Fourteen small broidered berries on the hem
Of Circe’s mantle, each of magic gold;
Fourteen of lone Calypso’s tears that rolled
Into the sea, for pearls to come of them;
Fourteen clear signs of omen in the gem
With which Medea human fate foretold;
Fourteen small drops, which Faustus, growing old,
Craved of the Fiend, to water Life’s dry stem.
It is the pure white diamond Dante brought
To Beatrice; the sapphire Laura wore
When Petrarch cut it sparkling out of thought;
The ruby Shakespeare hewed from his heart’s core;
The dark, deep emerald that Rossetti wrought
For his own soul, to wear for evermore.

10. What type of sonnet is “What the Sonnet Is”?
The turn in this sonnet is between the octave and the sestet, or after eight lines.
The period at the end of line eight is a clue that this is the turn, especially because it is one of only two periods in the sonnet.
Before the turn, the speaker is telling of groups of fourteen; after the turn, he tells of who wrote the sonnets.

11. Sonnet 90 Determine the following BEFORE READING: After reading:
Rhyme Scheme
Location of the turn
Type of sonnet
After reading:
Break down the meaning
Answer and explain each MC question
Answer the essay

12. Which of the following best describes the speaker’s present situation?
He has recently lost faith in his friend.
He has been beset with various problems.
He has barely overcome many misfortunes.
He has almost lost his will to live.
He has seen his fortunes at court decline.

13. In the context of the entire poem, it is clear that “if ever” (line 1) expresses the speaker’s
inability to understand his friend’s behavior
belief that his friend has left him
desire that his friend should never turn against him
failure to live up to his friend’s ideals
assumption that he will prove worthy of his friend’s trust

14. In line 2, “bent” means
misshapen
molded
altered
determined
convinced

15. In the poem, the world and fortune are characterized as
hostile to the speaker
indifferent to the speaker
favorable to the speaker
exploitable resources
fickle friends

16. In context “a windy night” (line 7) refers to
past misfortune
a loss of love
the friend’s hatred
future sorrow
present pain

17. Which two lines come closest to stating the same idea?
Lines 1 and 5
Lines 1 and 9
Lines 3 and 6
Lines 3 and 9
Lines 5 and 11

18. In line 12, “the very worst of fortune’s might” refers to the
friend’s death
friend’s desertion
speaker’s grief
loss of the speaker’s self-esteem
loss of the speaker’s worldly possessions

19. What is the function of the final couplet (lines 13-14)?
It explains why the friend should hurt the speaker now.
It comments on the speaker’s change of heart.
It describes the reasons for the speaker’s behavior.
It undercuts the idea that the friend will depart.
It suggests that the speaker’s woes are largely self-created.

20. The speaker is best described as displaying which of the following?
Anger
Jealousy
Disappointment
Self-love
Vulnerability

21. Taken as a whole, the poem is best described as
a rationalization
an ironic commentary
an apology
an entreaty
a reproof