Complexities of the Sonnet

Grade Level: Advanced Placement Language or Literature 11-12 grades

Subject/Content: English/Elizabethan or Shakespearean Sonnets

Summary of Lesson: Students will discover and identify how William Shakespeare created complex systems within his sonnets using both words and the structure of the poem.

Focus Questions: What makes William Shakespeare's sonnets "classic." Why do we still study his sonnets? What can we learn from Shakespeare's sonnets?

Database(s): Student Resource Center Gold, LitFinder

Procedures:

1. This lesson should be taught after the students have been exposed to various forms of sonnets. Review with students the basic structural and thematic elements characteristic of Shakespearean sonnets:
• Fourteen lines
• Three sets of four lines called quatrains
• Two lines at the end called a couplet
• Each line contains ten syllables
• The sonnet has a formal rhyme scheme of abab, cdcd, efef, gg
• The first two quatrains set up a problem
• The third quatrain begins to answer the problem
• The ending couplet tries to solve the problem

2. Guide students as they access and read "The Sonnets" from The Student Resource Center Gold.
3. Ask students the following questions as you guide them through the passage:
• What does William Shakespeare create when he links his witty wordplay together with the classic Shakespearean or Elizabethan sonnet form?
• How does Shakespeare's wordplay when he is detached from the experience he is writing about compare to the wordplay when he is near to the experience?
• Explain the author's comments, "...Shakespeare's most telling imagery is scarcely ever visual..."
• How is Sonnet 49 a "vivid example of wordplay...?"
• What can you conclude regarding Shakespeare's relationship with his friends?
• What is the author's tone towards Shakespeare and his sonnets?

4. Have students read and explicate William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18." Students can access the sonnet through LitFinder. After reading and explicating the poem have the students link to the "Explanation of: 'Sonnet: 18'" from the poems text page on LitFinder. Read the explanation with the students. For a more detailed explication of "Sonnet 18" have the students access "Plot Summary: 'Sonnet 18'" through Student Resource Center Gold. Discuss the poem and the explication of the poem with the students.
5. Once the students are comfortable explicating Shakespearean sonnets have them choose a Shakespearean sonnet from LitFinder to explicate on their own.

Steps/Activities by student(s):

1. Review elements of the Shakespearean sonnet
2. Read "The Sonnets" from Student Resource Center Gold.
3. Read and explicate William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18." Access the sonnet through LitFinder. After reading and explicating the poem link to the "Explanation of: 'Sonnet: 18'" from the poems text page on LitFinder. Read the explanation. For a more detailed explication of "Sonnet 18" access "Plot Summary: 'Sonnet 18'" through Student Resource Center Gold. Discuss the poem and the explication of the poem with the class and teacher.
4. Access LitFinder and find a Shakespearean sonnet to explicate.

Outcome: Students will study the complexities of William Shakespeare sonnets. They will gain an understanding and appreciation for the structure of the sonnet and the wordplay used. They will develop the skills to explicate Shakespearean sonnets and be less apprehensive reading Shakespeare in the future.

Related Activities: Students write their own sonnet using the attached handout "Writing a Sonnet."

Standard Date: Approved 1998

Content Standard(s):

• NL-ENG.K-12.1: Reading for Perspective
• NL-ENG.K-12.2: Understanding the Human Experience
• NL-ENG.K-12.3: Evaluation Strategies
• NL-ENG.K-12.6: Applying Knowledge
• NL-ENG.K-12.8: Developing Research Skills
• NL-ENG.K-12.11: Participating in Society

Performance Indicators:

• At Level 1, the student is able to:
• Identify the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet
• At Level 2, the student is able to:
• Identify how William Shakespeare used structure and wordplay to create complexities in his sonnets
• At Level 3, the student is able to:
• Explicate a Shakespearean sonnet on their own

Computer Literacy and Usage Standards 9-12:

• The student will demonstrate proficiency in the care and use of computer based technology.
• The student will develop skills using a variety of computer resources to increase productivity, support creativity, conduct and evaluate research and improve communications.

ISTE NETS for Students

• Basic operations and concepts
• Social, ethical, and human issues
• Technology productivity tools
• Technology research tools

Information Power; Information Literacy Standards 1-4:

• The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.
• The student who is information literate evaluates information critically and competently.
• The student who is information literate uses information accurately and creatively.
• The student who is an independent learner is information literate and appreciates literature and other creative expressions of information.