What is a Sonnet?

Shakespearean Sonnet

A “little song” written in a strict format:

1. 14 lines2. Rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG 3. Meter: Iambic Pentameter4. Volta: A turn in the poem where the poem

shifts gears (around line 8)

A Note on Rhyme

Not all rhymes have to perfect (like cat and hat).

Keep in mind that there’s a general category of rhyme called Slant Rhyme that includes words that “almost rhyme” … these will include those fancy terms you already know like: alliteration, assonance, and consonance.

Think “hip-hop rhymes.”

Iambic Pentameter

Poetry is measured in “feet” One foot = two syllables Iamb = one unstressed syllable + one

stressed syllable Pentameter = 5 feet (or 10 syllables).

Practice!

Reading Steps

1. Read the poem silently.2. Read the poem aloud. Twice. Yes, two times.3. Cross out thee/thou and and write “you”4. Cross out thine/thy and write “your”5. Do the same for any other “olde” words littering the poem6. Look up words in the dictionary if you don’t know them. Yes.

Open a book.7. Mark rhyme scheme. Number the lines. Look at meter.

Determine structure of the poem. Is it a sonnet?8. Locate the turn. It should be somewhere around line 8 for a

Shakespearean Sonnet.9. Paraphrase the poem line-by-line (or by sentence, whichever

makes most sense). 10. Note any poetic techniques … things like metaphors, similes,

etc.