ACTIVITY: WRITING SONNETS.

A sonnet is a poem with 14 lines that has a aparticular structure. The 14 lines are grouped into three sets of four lines, called a quatrain, and one set of two lines, called a couplet.

Each quatrain must have a rhyme. The rhyme pattern in Shakespeare's sonnets is usually ABABCDCDEFEFGG. twelve lines rhyme in alternating pairs and the last two lines also rhyme.

Sonnets also have a metrical pattern, Shakespeare's sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, which consists

of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. It sounds like a series of 5 heart

beats: da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM.

SONNET 18

First quatrain
/Shall I /compare /thee to /a Sum/mer’s day?/ a
/Thou art/ more love/ly and/ more temp/er/ate:/ b
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, a
And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date: b

Second quatrain
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, c
And oft’ is his gold complexion dimm’d; d
And every fair from fair sometime declines, c
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d: d

Third quatrain
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade e
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; f
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade, e
When in eternal lines to time thou growest: f

Couplet
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, g
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. G

1 In pairs, read Sonnet 18. First mark the rhyme pattern using the letters of the alphabet and copy the words that rhyme. Next try to find the metrical pattern and copy it in the chart.

RHYME	METRICAL PATTERN
First quatrain
Second quatrain
Third quatrain
Couplet
Now listen to actress Harriet Walter readint the poem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUV7kE4A8hc

2.A sonnet tells a story. Find

the evidence in the poem to support this idea.

1. The speaker is.......................................................................I know this because he says

that..........................................................................................................................................

2. He also feels....................................................................................because he says that

................................................................................................................................................

3. Then he............................................................................................................because

...............................................................................................................................................

4. Finally, he...........................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................................

3.In groups of four write your own sonnets following the steps below.

1. Think of a theme or idea. It can be about anything: a feeling, life, a person, music, a book, film, an experience, etc. Next introduce your idea in the first

quatrain, present a problem in the second quatrain, give a turn of events in the

third and a conclusion in the couplet.

2. Write an iambic pentameter for each line, that is, five sets of unstressed and

stressed syllables. Remember the pattern: da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM,

da-DUM.

3. Check that you have the following rhyme pattern or scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.

2018-04-07