Sonnets
Assignment: Write an English (Shakespearean) sonnet of your
own.
Rules:
- Rhyme Scheme: abab cdcd efef gg (Use this rhyming
dictionary if you need help.)
- Iambic Pentameter: Each line has ten syllables (an unstressed syllable
followed by a stressed syllable x 5).
(Use this online thesarus if
you need help.)
- Lofty topic: love, nature, death, freedom, etc.
- Use metaphor in your imagery to flesh out a theme.
- Start some of the sentences with verbs, and juggle the order of words
like Shakespeare does.
- Have lines “lap over” into other lines so your poem does
not just read to end-stopped lines like Dr. Seuss.
- Start by finding a "lofty" topic.
- Identify three images related to the topic that you can describe (one quatrain
each).
- Write the poem to meet the rhyme scheme; don't worry yet about iambic pentameter.
- Adjust the lines to make them iambic pentameter.
- Write/type the final poem very neatly to turn in.
Resources:
Rhyming Dictionary
Online Dictionary/Thesarus
Shakespeare's
Sonnets
Sonnet
Info and Shakespeare's Sonnets
Shakespeare's
Sonnets and Analysis
The
History of the Sonnet
