Blogger #10 - Rain Guan - Period 1 - 11/18/2020 - Day A - Freshmen 2021
Tuesday, November 18th, 2020.
Blogger #10 - Rain Guan - Pd. 1 - Day A - Freshmen 2021
Aim: How can further implementation of our poetry skills enhance our exploration and analysis of Shakespearean Sonnets?
Do Now: With your partner, consider the word “Summer”. What symbolic meanings or connotations are usually associated with this word? Why?
We started the class discussion with the Do Now talking about the word summer and what meanings and connotations we see in the world. My answer was: The word summer has a symbolic meaning for me where I usually think of having a break. Another symbolic meaning would be how it would be so bright that I would not be able to see anything.
Structure of a Shakespearean Sonnet
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)
Note: 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.
An Iambic 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.
An example can be:
/ u / u / u / u / u / u
a. Phoenix b. Forbid c. anew c. in turn 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.
Some more examples can be:
Often, a pet’s soft whine outcries the son’s
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day
We then watched the following video to help further our understanding of Iambic Pentameter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-tayWCupD8&ab_channel=ShakespeareCoach
The video starts off by saying how we use Iambic Pentameter in our everyday life. Then it provided multiple examples that use the Iambic Pentameter and then define where the Iambic Pentameter comes from and what it is about.
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.
Keep the following mnemonic device in mind:
ANALYSIS OF POETRY
Sonnet 18
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
We watched a video about sonnets after we finished reading Sonnet 18.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42_QOaCL8uc&ab_channel=Shmoop
In the video, it talked about the free verse poem, rhyme scheme, and the rhyme scheme Shakespeare Sonnet uses(ABAB CDCD EFEF GG). It also states how poems also use iambic pentameter.
Team Group Work
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?
In the Sonnet, the speaker compares summer with the subject. The subject is lovely, persistent, and temperate, and how the summer has rough winds and is very short. He prefers the subject more than the summer.
2.In Quatrain Two: What are the problems the speaker has with summer?
What does line 7 mean (“and every fair from fair sometimes declines”)?
The problem the speaker has with summer is how sometimes summer can be a little too hot. Line 7, “and every fair from fair sometime declines” means how everything would soon lose its value someday and when this is applied to summer, it says how summer would soon fade then the beauty of summer would fade as well.
3.No question.
4.In Quatrain Three: According to the speaker, what is the main difference between the subject of the sonnet and summer?
The main difference between the subject of the sonnet and summer is how the subject will never fade away where as long as people still live and read this poem, the subject will forever live on.
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?
In the conclusion of the sonnet, the speaker is saying how as long as people are alive, this poem will live on with the subject living on where the subject is memorialized. This confirmed the messages expressed in the rest of the sonnet.
6.What is the theme of this sonnet?
What is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject?
The theme of this sonnet is time and love where the beauty of the subject fades as time passes on, and how the subject is immortal, where the subject is memorialized in the poem and how as long as there are people that read this poem, she will be alive. The subject is also compared by the speaker showing the speaker’s love and affection towards the subject. For example, “Thou art more lovely and more temperate” showing how the subject is compared with the summer.
After the group finished answering the questions in breakout rooms, we came back all together to have a class discussion on the questions.
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
After we read the poem, we were assigned questions in slides 10-12 to do for homework.
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 as someone that is beautiful and attractive where she is compared with the sun, corals, snow, and wires. Specific attributes he references is her physical traits like her eyes, lips, and hair.
In Quatrain Two: How does the speaker speak to: her cheeks, and her breath?
The speaker describes her cheeks and her breath, how her cheeks were not as beautiful as the flowers, and how her breath is not as fragrance as perfumes.
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?
The speaker addresses his mistress’ voice and walks how hearing music is better than hearing his mistress’ talk and how she walks normally. This contrasts with most people’s claims about their mistresses because they focus on their perfections and not flaws.
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?
In the conclusion, the speaker is saying that his love is rare and the poet thinks that way because when loving someone, people would focus on what someone is good at and not their flaws. The poet plays with the conventional stereotype of love poetry where it is comparing the mistress with other subjects but is not necessarily praising the mistress, yet he still loves her.
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?
The speaker’s lover is an inversion of the petrarchan and medieval lover where despite his mistress does not have any good physical traits, the speaker still loves the mistress. Shakespeare uses juxtaposition where he compares the mistress with contrasting things and can be seen as humiliating her but is actually complimenting her. The writer’s focus on physical beauty enhances the emphasis and relevance on the theme where it shows many people at that time compare their mistresses with good aspects instead of bad. This theme is still relevant and prevalent today where people usually do not talk about one’s flaws but one’s outstanding personality and looks and accomplishments.
Reflection:
From this lesson, I learned that Shakespeare is known for his sonnets. Sonnets are a poem that is made up of fourteen lines, has a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, and is opposite of a free verse. I also learned that in Shakespeare’s sonnets, he uses iambic pentameter where some words have stress to create a rhythm. We use iambic pentameter in our everyday life, in every conversation we have, yet we barely notice that we use them. This lesson allowed me to expand my knowledge on poetry where I learned a new form of poetry, sonnet, and elements that are used in Sonnets. I can use the new knowledge I learned to make sonnets and further improve my poetry writing skills.
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