Rhyme Scheme and Rhythm in a Sonnet by William Shakespeare

Imagine that you have chosen to memorize and recite Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18." What is the first step you should take once you have chosen a poem to memorize?

Read the entire poem aloud. What is a good memorizing strategy to use for this poem? Memorizing one part at a time.

Reread the first four lines of "Sonnet 18" two or three times out loud. Which features of this sonnet will help you memorize it? Check all that apply.

There are ten syllables in each line. Every other line rhymes. The four lines are a comparison between a person and the features of summer.

Read the first five lines of Shakespeare's "Sonnet 12," and use the drop-down menus to mark the rhyme scheme.

When I do count the clock that tells the time, And see the brave day sunk in hideous night, When I behold the violet past prime, And sable curls all silvered o'er with white: When lofty trees I see barren of leaves {a,b,a,b,c}

Which statements about iambic pentameter are true? Check all that apply.

-An iamb consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. -A line of iambic pentameter contains five iambs, or ten syllables. -Shakespeare uses iambic pentameter in his sonnets.

Which statements about sonnets are true? Check all that apply.

-The sonnet form was invented in Italy, and then adopted by English poets. -Sonnets are a kind of poetry. -The two types of sonnets are English (Shakespearean) and Italian (Petrarchan). -Shakespeare's sonnets frequently focus on love and romance.

Which steps will help you identify central ideas in a sonnet? Check all that apply.

-using context clues or a dictionary to define unfamiliar words -restating main ideas in my own words -finding a single idea or concept that links the big ideas in each quatrain

Read the second quatrain of "Sonnet 73," and then answer the questions. What is the best paraphrase of these lines?

In me thou seest the twilight of such day,As after sunset fadeth in the west,Which by and by black night doth take away,Death's second self that seals up all in rest. —"Sonnet 73,"William Shakespeare What is the best paraphrase of these lines? I am like a day at twilight, slowly becoming dark. What is the central idea of these lines? The speaker is getting older.

Now that you have read the first four lines of the poem several times, complete this part of the poem by adding the third and fourth lines from memory.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date" What tone should the speaker use to recite this poem?

Sincere and romantic.

Reread the first six lines of the sonnet. If the first line is identified as "a" in the rhyme scheme, how should the remaining lines be identified?

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May And summer's lease hath all too short a date Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines And often is his gold complexion dimm'd {b,a,b,c,d}

Which line is written in iambic pentameter?

The earth can have but earth, which is his due

Use the poem to complete the sentences.

The first four lines of the poem make up a quatrain The last two lines of the poem make up a couplet

In the first quatrain, the speaker is comparing

his beloved and a summer day.

In one to two sentences, explain the central idea of the final couplet of the poem.

The poem lives as long as people are alive to read the words. The speaker's beloved lives forever in the lines of the poem.

What is the central idea of the first quatrain?

The speaker's beloved is more beautiful than a summer day.

Which qualities of a poem make it easier to memorize? Check all that apply.

a predictable form lines of the same or similar length repeating sounds a regular rhyming pattern

Which statement best expresses the central idea of the third quatrain?

Your beauty will never fade, because you will live forever in the lines of this poem.

Read the second quatrain of the sonnet, and then answer the questions below.

What is the best paraphrase of the first two lines? The sun is sometimes too hot or dim. What is the best paraphrase of the last two lines? Beauty eventually dies.