Class

1. Shakespeare wrote his first
batch of sonnets __________.
A. after he fell in love with
Anne Hathaway.
B. to make a living before
becoming a playwright.
C. because of the plague.
D. at the end of the his life.

2. An outbreak of the
plague in Europe
resulted in all London
theaters being closed
between 1592 and 1594.
As there was no demand
for plays during this
time, Shakespeare began
to write poetry,
completing his first batch
of sonnets in 1593, aged
29.

4.  Divide into two groups—one for
each sonnet
 Take five minutes to decipher
the meaning of the sonnet as a
group

5. Simile and Metaphor
on Page 7

6.  A simile uses "like" or "as"
to make a comparison.
 A metaphor uses "is" to state
a comparison.

7. She is as sweet as candy.
Bob runs like a deer.
The willow's music is like a
soprano.
She slept like a log.
He is as thin as a rail.

8. My dad is a bear.
The bar of soap was a slippery
eel.
The light was the sun during
our test.
He hogged the road.
She toyed with the idea.

9. A friend is like…
Friendship is like…
A friend is as…as…
When I am tired, I am as…
When I am sad, I am like…
The dog was as fast as…

10. A friend is…
Friendship is…
Feeling tired is…
He was a…through all their
trouble…

14.  Iamb—unstressed syllable followed
by a stressed syllable
 Feet—rhythmic unit (iamb is a foot)
 Pentameter—foot repeated five times
 Iambic pentameter—line of poetry
with five iambs in it

15.  On the back of your paper, jot down five “I
am” sentences.
 I am a great student.
 Practice saying your five sentences with the
emphasis on the “am”
 i AM a great student.
 i AM=iambic (weak/strong)

16.  Write this sentence on your paper.
 Draw parentheses around the
iambs.
 Note: some parentheses will divide
words—meter is about sound, not
spelling!
 Underline the stressed syllables.
 Stand up!
 Step with your good leg on the
stressed syllables and drag your
wooden leg on the unstressed
syllables!

17. My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
A
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
B
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
A
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
B
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
C
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
D
And in some perfumes is there more delight
C
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
D
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
E
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
F
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
E
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
F
G
G

18. My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

25. Create a poster of the poem and
decorate it with items that reflect
the ideas and themes in the poem.
Prepare a dramatic reading of the
poem for the class.

26. As the debate wages on about the Bard's relatability—
and whether or not relatability matters to begin
with—a hilarious Tumblr has surfaced that translates
modern-day pop songs into Shakespearean sonnets.
Every wonder what Taylor Swift's newest album
would sound like in iambic pentameter? Us neither,
but the outcome is, unsurprisingly, joyous. After all,
he who gave us the wide-eyed Miranda ("O brave
new world!") and the naive Juliet was pretty great at
capturing the dramatic pitfalls of youthfulness.
The rest of the lyrics on Pop Sonnets (ha!) are great,
too. You'd expect "Call Me Maybe" written in 1600s
English ("Now our acquaintance, only moments
sown/ has made my heart fair logic cast away") to be
a funny juxtaposition, but it's more than that: it's a
catchy, natural reworking that rolls off the tongue.

27.  Watch the “Introduction to 17th- and 18th-
Century Literature” video and take the
quiz by 10:35 a.m. on Thursday, October
30 (via Moodle)
 Watch the “Introduction to John Milton”
video and take the quiz by 10:35 a.m. on
Thursday, October 30 (via Moodle)
 Write a sonnet (preferably a spooky one for
Halloween) or turn a song into a sonnet
 Read books 1-3 of Paradise Lost (pages 1943-
2003)