Aim: How can further implementation of our poetry skills enhance our exploration and analysis of Shakespearean Sonnets ?
Do Now: Think/Pair/Share
With your partner, consider the word “Summer”. What symbolic meanings or connotations are usually associated with this word? Why?
Our Do Now for today was to share what words we each associated with the word “summer”. Many of us came across the common themes of fun, warmth, and freedom. This is because
Summer is oftentimes correlated with realizing experiences and has a positive connotation. This exercise provided a gateway to our lesson by reviewing our past knowledge of connotations and teaching us how to compare two subjects.
Following our Do Now practice we learned about the structure of a Shakespearean Sonnet, named after the well known poet William Shakespeare. Sonnets are poems, usually comparing a subject to nature. All sonnets follow the same rhyme scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG and consist of fourteen lines. Sonnets are written in iambic pentameter, which is a metric line consisting of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables. Each syllable in a word is either stressed (hard) or unstressed (soft) based on the pronunciation of the letters. In the video presented during class on iambic pentameter, we saw that iambic pentameter is a form or verse, and an iamb is a two syllable part of a total meter, which we call a foot. Iambic pentameters are used in our speech quite frequently. Furthermore, there are five iambs in each life of iambic pentameter (the root “Penta” means five)
Our first activity required us to annotate Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, and complete 6 corresponding questions in our breakout groups. As a class, we concluded that this poem was comparing his eternal love for a woman to a summer day. His preference for this woman was revealed in Quatrain One and Two, in which he states that the subject is more “lovely and temperate” than summer. Shakespeare also believes that the “lease” of summer is too short and the weather can sometimes be too hot. We concluded that the theme of this sonnet is that as long as this sonnet is present, it will bring life to all men who read it. Shakespeare also implies that poetry is eternal, as long as the sonnet is present, his love will too, exist eternally.
Afterwards, we analyzed a parody of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 called Sonnet 130, in this poem, the speaker describes his mistress as ugly and unpleasant. As with all sonnets, this sonnet followed the rhyme scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG. As a class, we discussed that the speaker of this poem uses words and phrases with a negative connotation to describe his mistress. The author recounts that his mistress’ voice is unfavorable compared to music, and that her walk is more of a tread. The speaker also refers to his mistress’ hair is “wiry” and her complexion is pale, her cheeks are colorless in comparison to roses. The speaker uses imagery to create images of his mistress, as well as figurative language to empathize the unattractive attributes of his mistress. In the conclusion of the sonnet, the speaker explains that despite his mistress's unattractive appearance and unlikeable qualities, he continues to feel a strong connection with her. The use of juxtaposition and verbal irony in both poems create a mutual feeling towards the subjects, in other words, Shakespeare develops the idea that although the love interests in the two sonnets are different, the speaker feels a strong love towards both women. The writer’s focus on physical beauty has revealed that physical appearance has accounted for the worth of someone in our current society.
Reflection- In today’s lesson, I learned about the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet, and advanced my knowledge of poetic skills. Moreover, I was able to see how Shakespeare's use of juxtaposition emphasizes a relevant theme for society today, that beauty is not based solely on physical appearance.
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