Sonnet Writing: Revision techniques

Writing a Shakespearean Sonnet

Revision techniques and ideas:

I. To maintain iambic pentameter:

1. Add syllables:

• add adjectives before nouns. Ex. the sun (2 syllables); the golden sun (4 syllables)
• add adverbs before adjectives or verbs. Ex. I walked to school (4 syllables); I briskly walked to school (6 syllables).
• replace words with more specific details or with synonyms. Ex. I briskly walked to MS 51 (10 syllables; iambic pentameter).
• use synonyms for words. Ex. glad (1 syllable) = happy (2 s's) = exultant (3 s's).

2. Subtract syllables:

• take out words that don't have a lot of meaning. Ex. articles (the, a, an), prepositions (under, on, in, etc.), and conjunctions (f.a.n.b.o.y.s.).
• use contractions: do not = don't; until = 'til; except = 'cept; Shakespeare contractions: never = ne'er; it is = 'tis; ever = e'er

II. To keep with rhyme scheme

• use a rhyming dictionary: http://www.rhymezone.com/
• use near or slant rhymes. Ex. chair - mayor; glut - insult; veer - computer.

III. Meaning and sense

• narrative structure: your sonnet should have a clear topic and a main idea or message on that topic; follow the beginning, middle, and end format of a sonnet
• brainstorm ideas and details to include in your sonnet
• get inspiration from the sonnets we've read in class; reread them, and use them as mentor texts
• consider line breaks - 1) either end the line where there is a natural pause, or 2) use enjambment where the idea in 1 line carries to the next: Ex. "I should not cry aloud, I could not cry / Aloud, or wring my hands in such a place." (Edna St. Vincent Millay "Renascence").
• add literary devices: metaphors, similes, personification, allusion, onomatopoeia, etc.
• be creative and have fun!

Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damasked, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

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.

Source: The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Vol