Three Types of Sonnets

*Italian/Petrarchan

*Spenserian

*Shakespearean

SIMILARITIES1. 14 lines

3. Subject = Love4. Speaker = Man to the woman he loves5. Problem/Situation

6. Turn – change in focus, thought, or attitude7. Resolution – solution or acceptance of situation

2. End rhyme – last word/syllable of line

Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet

*Francesco Petrarch (1301-1374)

*dedicated to Laura, woman he loved*ideal of virtue & beauty*proud*unattainable*indifferent to poet

Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet Structure

1 OCTAVE (8 lines)~ describes situation/problem

~ rhyme scheme (abbaabba)

1 SESTET (6 lines)~ turn & resolution~ rhyme scheme (cdecde)

Shakespearean & Spenserian Sonnets

SIMILARITIES 3 Quatrians (4 lines)* Problem/Situation (Q 1-2)* Turn (Q 3)

Concluding Couplet (2 lines)* Resolution

Shakespearean & Spenserian Sonnets

Shakespearean vs. SpenserianWilliam Shakespeare Edmund SpenserRhyme Scheme Rhyme SchemeQuatrain 1 (abab)Quatrain 2 (cdcd)Quatrian 3 (efef)Couplet (gg)

Quatrain 1 (abab)Quatrain 2 (bcbc)Quatrian 3 (cdcd)Couplet (ee)

Quiz - Sonnets

Quiz - Sonnets

1. All of the following elements are characteristic of an English sonnet except

a. introduction of the subject in the first few lines

b. fourteen linesc. free versed. iambic pentameter

Quiz – Sonnets continued

2. The English sonnet forms originated in

a. the plays of Shakespeareb. the Spenserian conceitc. the Italian sonnets of Petrarchd. the Renaissance love songs

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3. What is another name for the Petrarchan sonnet?

a. the Italian sonnetb. the Heptameter sonnetc. the English sonnetd. the Octavian sonnet

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4. The Shakespearean sonnet consists of

a. one octave and one sestetb. three quatrains and one coupletc. two tercets and one cinquaind. one sestet and four couplets

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5. Which of the following is the rhyme scheme of a Petrarchan sonnet?

a. abba, cddc, abba, cddc, ee ffb. abab, cdcd, efef, ggc. abba, cdcd, abba, efef, ffggd. abba, abba, cde, cde

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6. The sonnets of Shakespeare and Spenser can be distinguished from one another by

a. the couplet at the end of Shakespearean sonnets

b. the rhyme schemec. the turn after the first eight linesd. Spenser’s use of iambic pentameter

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7. Which of the following writers was one of the earliest masters of the sonnet?

a. Elizabeth Barrett Browningb. John Keatsc. Edmund Spenserd. Robert Lowell

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8. Which of the following is the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet?

a. abba, abba, cde, cdeb. abba, cdcd, abba, efef, ffggc. abba, cddc, abba, cddc, ee ffd. abab, cdcd, efef, gg

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9. A turn can best be described as

a. the change or shift that occurs after the first eight lines of a sonnet

b. the first quatrain in a Shakespearean sonnet

c. a conceit in a Petrarchan sonnetd. the main idea that is expressed in

the first eight lines of a sonnet

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10. The last group of lines in a sonnet usually

a. has different meter than the rest of the poem

b. comments on the subject of the poem

c. rhymes with the first two lines of the poem

d. introduces a new subject