I. The Sonnet: originated in Italy by Petrarch
Taken from the Italian meaning “little song”
A fourteen line poem written using iambic penatmeter
Introduced into English Literature by Sir. Thomas Wyatt
II. Flourished in Elizabethan era because of
-strict rules governing format -ornamental nature -challenged skill -beauty
Central Theme: unattainable love
Important sonnet sequences:
Shakespeare: 1-126-the fair youth The Rival Poet: Marlowe? (78-86) 127-152-The Dark Lady 153-154-classical Greek interpretations
Spenser: Amoretti (heart shaped book)
Important motifs and terms:
Apostrophe
Muse
Conceits:
-Eternizing (ie Shakespeare 1-17)
-Petrarchan
Paradox
Volta (turn)
Synecdoche
THREE TYPES OF SONNETS:
I. Italian/Petrarchan
divided into:
octave volta
and a sestet
typical Italian rhyme schemes
octave: abbaabba or abababab
sestet: cdecde or cdcdcd (may end with a rhyming pair)
II. English/Shakespearian
organized into three groups of alternating rhymes
quatrains
plus a rhyming couplet
rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg
Developed by the Earl of Surrey, Henry Howard
III. Spenserian Sonnet
interlocking rhymes
rhyme scheme: abab bcbc cdcd ee
Developed by Edmund Spenser
Sonnet Sequences:
1. Sit Thomas Wyatt
2. Sir Philip Sidney
3. Sir Walter Raleigh
4. Edmund Spencer
5. William Shakespeare
6. John Donne
Sonnet Sequence Writing Project: Test Grade due 3/7/16 Select a muse (you probably already have one anyway) to/about whom you will pen a sonnet sequence of six verses. Keep in mind Renaissance sonnet conventions of theme, language and organization of ideas. Your sequence will contain one of each of the three styles, and then in whichever style you prefer, you may write the remaining three sonnets. You should title the sequence but you may number each verse so I know the order in which they should be read. Your sequence should be completely original and typed in a single document in two columns so it may be printed on one page front and back.
Sonnet Recitation Project: Two Quiz Grades due 3/4/2016 Pick your favorite Renaissance sonnet and memorize it. The verse must have been written in the English Renaissance but can be from any poet of your choice. You will have the option of reciting in front of the class (3 quiz grades) or privately to me at my desk.
Rubric: Each line is worth 6 points. (84 points)
Potential to move to 100 points* see Extra points
Requirements= printout of sonnet to hand to Mrs. Mordica
= summary explanation of sonnet broken down by significant parts.
= paragraph explanation of your reasons for selecting this verse.
Deductions
1) Not introducing your sonnet by title & author -3 points
2) Starting over again (regardless of where)-5 points each time
3) Repeating words-1 point each
4) Incorrect words- 1 point each
5) Omitted words – 1 point each
6) Pausing to think of next words -5 points each long pause
7) Asking for hint – 5 for each hint
*Extra points
1) Delivery with inflection on significant words
2) Delivery in the form of a rap with music (like Kala)
3) Delivery with meaningful pauses (not falling into a sing-song approach)
4) Delivery with a dramatic approach
Representative Sonnets
Italian Sonnet by Sir Thomas Wyatt
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me,alas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.
Shakespearean Sonnet
Sonnet 147
My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease,
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
Th’ uncertain sickly appetite to please.
My reason, the physician to my love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve
Desire is death, which physic did except.
Past cure I am, now reason is past care,
And frantic-mad with evermore unrest;
My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are,
At random from the truth vainly expressed:
For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.
Spenserian Sonnet (Amoretti)
Sonnet 75
One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washed it away:
Again I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.
"Vain man," said she, "that dost in vain assay,
A mortal thing so to immortalize;
For I myself shall like to this decay,
And eke my name be wiped out likewise."
"Not so," (quod I) "let baser things devise
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:
My verse your vertues rare shall eternize,
And in the heavens write your glorious name:
Where whenas death shall all the world subdue,
Our love shall live, and later life renew."
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