Sonnet Notes - Handout for Students with Practice Exercise Included

Posted by emeraldjde on March 28, 2009

Description

I use this handout to introduce sonnets. I make copies for each student to keep as reference. The handout explains the English sonnets (both Shakespearean and Spenserian) and the Italian/Petrarchian sonnet style.

The second page is an enlarged copy of Sonnet 130 by Shakespeare, and I have a transparency of this page I put up on the overhead. We read through it a few times and I have them help me explain what the sonnet is talking about. We then use our textbook to review meter, feet, etc., and I go through the first few lines on the overhead showing them how to find and denote stressed and unstressed syllables, break a line up into feet, decide what the meter is, etc. I then make them walk me through a few lines, telling me what to do with minimal prompting. Afterwards, I have volunteers come up and do a line each, and the class corrects them as necessary (either verbally while the student is working if it's a class that can handle that or after the student has completed a line, I'll ask if anyone sees any mistakes and then let that person correct them).

Students follow along and mark their own copies while this is going on so that they've got an example to keep.

This would work with any sonnet unit, not just Shakespeare's sonnets. I believe that it applies to any grade level, too.

*Look for the Sonnet Test I created to go with this unit under "Levi Sonnet Test". It's a test that has them go through and identify all of the parts of the sonnets and then tell me which style it is, identify the rhyme scheme, mark the stressed/unstressed syllables, etc. I created the test for seniors, so you may want to edit as appropriate for lower grades.

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Exercises and Activities, Literature, Sonnets, Teachers, Teaching Guides