1. Write Exactly Fourteen Lines, Putting One Syllable in Each Box

AP Lit

Sonnet Fever

Instructions: Write a sonnet on a topic of your choice on this grid, using the rules below.

1. Write exactly fourteen lines, putting one syllable in each box.

2. In the first twelve lines, describe a problem, introduce an issue, or pose a question.

3. In the last two lines, resolve the problem, make general comments or conclusions, or answer the question.

4. Follow the pattern for end rhymes shown along the right side of the grid.

1 / A
2 / B
3 / A
4 / B
5 / C
6 / D
7 / C
8 / D
9 / E
10 / F
11 / E
12 / F
13 / G
14 / G

Name______

Composing a Sonnet

Background: In William Shakespeare’s day, any gentleman was expected to be able to produce a sonnet in praise of someone he loved. (Very few sonnets seem to have been written by women of those times.) To write a sonnet was a challenge, a kind of game. The writer wanted to see how well he could express his feelings while following certain rules. He also wanted to see how close to natural speech his formal poem could sound.

A sonnet consists of fourteen lines of poetry with a strict meter and rhyme scheme. The particular form of a sonnet favored (but not invented) by Shakespeare came to be known as the Shakespearean, or English sonnet. Its fourteen lines are divided into three quatrains (rhyming stanzas of four lines each) and a concluding couplet (a pair of rhyming lines). Each quatrain usually makes a point or presents an example, and the couplet sums up the message of the sonnet.

--Excerpt taken from The Elements of Poetry

Your Sonnet:

1) Before you read, be sure to read through several sonnets by several different authors and notice the elements of the poem that make them appeal to their audience. Pay close attention to the rhyme scheme and the story that it tells.

2) Each box on the back represents a syllable. Remember, in poetry, regular grammar rules do not apply. You can shorten words and use partial phrases if it makes the poem work.

3) Work on the grid on the back to construct your own sonnet. Remember, Shakespeare wrote over 150 of them. I am asking for 1.