Blog #11 - Yinglin Guan - Period 1 - 11/18/2020 - Day A
Freshmen Lit 2021
Aim: How can further implementation of our poetry skills enhance our exploration and analysis of Shakespearean Sonnets?
Today’s lesson
The do now from today’s lesson read as follows:
Do Now: Think/Pair/Share
With your partner, consider the word “Summer”. What symbolic meanings or connotations are usually associated with this word? Why?
We were given some time to think about the Do Now. Students had to think about what meanings and connotations we see in the world are related and can represent the word “Summer”. During the time the teacher gave us to answer the question, something that first came to mind was having a long break where people can play on the beach and do some fun activities that would make them relax. After coming back together to discuss the question as a class, examples of students’ answers were happiness, hot weather, ice cream, relaxation, summer vacation, etc… I also agree with the answers that other students gave. All of these have a positive connotation instead of a negative connotation.
Later on, the teacher taught our class about the Structure of a Shakespearean Sonnet.
Shakespearean sonnets are structure-specific:
Shakespearean sonnets are fourteen-line poems.
They are traditionally about love and romance.
Divided into four parts: three quatrains (four lines each) and a rhyming couplet at the end of the -poem (two lines)
First quatrain introduces the subject
Second quatrain complicates the subject
The couplet resolves or alters the subject in some way
Follows the rhyme scheme- ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter (a metric line consisting of unstressed syllables -followed by stressed syllables)
Continue..
Additional notes:
Each syllable in a word is either stressed(hard) or unstressed (soft) based on the pronunciation of the letters. Stressed syllables are marked with a / over the letters; unstressed are marked with a u.
A lambic foot contains two syllables, the first unstressed and the second stressed. Iambic measure is often called the heartbeat meter because of its similarity to the rhythm of the human heart.
Examples of term with an iambic rhythm:
/ u / u / u / u
a. Phoenix b. Forbid c. anew c. in turn
/ u / u
d. repair e. heaven
Understand iambic pentameter: Iambic pentameter (five-measure) is a line of five iambic feet. The line has a total of ten syllables repeating the pattern of “unstressed, stressed” five times. Identify the iambic pentameter below using / for stressed and u for unstressed, then write and mark two lines below.
More examples are:
Often, a pet’s soft whine outcries the son’s
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day
Then, the teacher showed us a video that gives more information about understanding Iambic Pentameter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-tayWCupD8&ab_channel=ShakespeareCoach
The video begins with a definition of Iambic Pentameter. Then, it provides examples of Iambic Pentameter that we use all the time.
Some examples are:
I’m going to my friend’s house after school.
Could you please put the milk back in the fridge?
I don’t know how to study for this test.
My sneakers are too tight when I wear socks.
Another example written by Shakespearean is :
“If music be the food of love, play on.”
Keep the following mnemonic device in mind:
Sonnet 18:
Sonnet 18 is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known sonnets and even if you aren’t familiar with the entire poem, you have likely heard the first line (it is often alluded to in other forms of pop culture). Pay attention to the rhyme scheme, figurative language, diction, and tone, and as you read annotate the poem for meaning.
1 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? A
2 Thou art more lovely and more temperate: B
3 Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, A
4 And summer's lease hath all too short a date: B
5 Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, C
6 And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; D
7 And every fair from fair sometime declines, C
8 By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd; D
9 But thy eternal summer shall not fade E
10 Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; F
11 Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, E
12 When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st; F
13 So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G
14 So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. G
After spirit reading Sonnet 18, we watched a video that gives information about the sonnets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42_QOaCL8uc&ab_channel=Shmoop
The video “ Sonnet by Shmoops” talks about the free verse (no strict guidelines of rhyme or meter) which is the opposite of the sonnet. The rhyming pattern of Shakespearean sonnets is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Then, it describes how the sonnets use Iambic Pentameter.
Team Group Work
We had to go into breakout rooms and discuss the questions with our group.
1.Using the capital letters A-G, mark the poem for its rhyme scheme. In Quatrain One: According to the speaker, how does this subject compare to summer? Which does he prefer?
According to the speaker, he compares summer with the subject. The subject, the speaker’s lover, is described as beautiful and lovely. Therefore, the speaker compares his lover to the beauty of the summer, which he thinks is the most beautiful season of the whole year. However, he prefers the subject more than the season, summer.
2.In Quatrain Two: What are the problems the speaker has with summer?
What does line 7 mean (“and every fair from fair sometime declines”)?
Line 7 (“and every fair from fair sometime declines”) means that the beauty of summer will fade. Therefore, the problem the speaker has with summer is that he thinks the summer season is too short and the summer’s beauty doesn’t last long enough.
4.In Quatrain Three: According to the speaker, what is the main difference between the subject of the sonnet and summer?
According to the speaker, the main difference between the subject of the sonnet and summer is that summer doesn’t exist the whole year but his lover is “external summer”. The subject and her beauty will live on forever.
5.Rhyming Couplet: Look at lines 13-14. What is the speaker saying in the conclusion of the sonnet? Does this confirm the messages expressed in the rest of the sonnet or alter them in some way?
According to lines 13-14, the speaker is saying that as long as there are people on earth and as long as this poem is still there, it will make his lover immortal. This confirms the message expressed in the rest of the sonnet because the whole poem is saying that his lover and his lover’s beauty is forever.
6.What is the theme of this sonnet?
What is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject?
The theme of this poem is endless love. Shakespeare compares his lover to summer, which he thinks I’d the most beautiful season. Even though the beauty of summer doesn’t last long, his love for her is endless.
After the groups finished discussing and answering the questions, we came back together as a class to discuss our answers. Most of us agree with each other.
Sonnet 130
1 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun, A
2 Coral is far more red, than her lips red, B
3 If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun: A
4 If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head: B
5 I have seen roses damasked, red and white, C
6 But no such roses see I in her cheeks, D
7 And in some perfumes is there more delight, C
8 Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. D
9 I love to hear her speak, yet well I know, E
10 That music hath a far more pleasing sound: F
11 I grant I never saw a goddess go, E
12 My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. F
13 And yet by heaven I think my love as rare, G
14 As any she belied with false compare. G
Team group work
Identify the rhyme scheme (by marking the poem) using the letters A-G..
In Quatrain One: How does the speaker describe his mistress? What specific attributes does he reference?
The speaker describes his mistress using figurative language. He compares his mistress’s appearance, body, smell, and sound with other things. For example, he describes that his mistress’s hair is like black wires.
In Quatrain Two: How does the speaker speak to: her cheeks, and her breath?
The speaker says that “I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks”. It means that the speaker has no colors, like red, on her cheeks. He then says, “And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that my mistress reeks.” The speaker means that some perfumes smell even better than his mistress' breath.
In Quatrain Three: According to the speaker, how does he address his mistress’ voice and walk?
How does this contrast with what most people would claim about their mistresses?
According to the speaker, he addresses his mistress’ voice by saying that he would love to hear her voice but the music has a much more pleasing sound. He also addresses his mistress’ walk by saying that he never see a goddess walk but he knows that his mistress walks on the ground. Most people,in contrast, would claim that their mistresses are beautiful and perfect.
5. Rhyming Couplet: Look at lines 13-14. What is the speaker saying in the conclusion of the sonnet? Why does the poet think his love is rare?
How does the poet play with conventional stereotypes of love poetry?
The speaker says that his love is rare because he loves a woman who is different from most women in society. The poet plays with conventional stereotypes of love poetry since the poem is all about the expectations and stereotypes of the way women should look.
6. How is the speaker's lover an inversion or parody (an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect) of the petrarchan (A Petrarchan lover is melodramatic, self-consciously suffering and has given himself up to the power of his mistress) and medieval lover?
How has Shakespeare used juxtaposition, and for what purpose?
In what way(s) has the writer’s focus on physical beauty enhanced the emphasis and relevance on the theme for society at the time?
How is this theme still relevant and prevalent today?
Shakespeare used juxtaposition by comparing the physical characteristics of his mistress to other things. The purpose of this is to create a clearer image of the mistress' appearance. The main theme of this poem is love. The speaker describes how the mistress's physical appearance doesn’t fit in the society at that time but he loves her anyway. This theme is still relevant and prevalent today because many people won’t care about what others think about the person and how the person is different. He/she would still love that person because of love.
Reflection:
From this lesson, I learned that Shakespeare is well known for his sonnets and his use of Iambic Pentameter. Sonnets are poems that are made up of fourteen lines and have to follow a certain pattern, unlike free verse. Shakespeare sonnets have a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. He also used iambic pentameter to add rhythm to his sonnets. I also learned that we commonly use iambic pentameter when we have a conversation with someone. I also learned to analyze sonnets (sonnet 18 and sonnet. 130). This lesson helped to improve my writing skills in poetry. The lesson about sonnets and its structure and strategies on putting things like Iambic Pentameter make a sonnet an even better sonnet. This also helps to acknowledge me on how I can write a good sonnet.
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