Read either "America" by Claude McKay or "Another Sonnet for Stephan" by Alan Lawrence Sitomer. Each of these poems is a Shakespearean Sonnet which has a very specific structure.
Class activity:
In groups, read the poem aloud at least 2 times. Annotate it.
Group 1: What does the poem make you think, feel, and know? What do you know about the speaker? What is the overall message and purpose of the poem?
Group 2: What literary devices are used? What do they mean?
Group 3: Determine the specific elements of this structure. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- How many lines:
- How many syllables per line:
- Which syllables are stressed:
- How many beats or stresses per line:
- What is the rhyme scheme:
- How is the content organized? What happens in the beginning, middle, and end of the poem?
* Present your conclusions to the class.
Practice writing:
Practice writing:
Write a sentence in iambic pentameter (10 syllables, following the pattern of unstressed stressed).
Ex: We danced /and danced / across / the bril/liant stage.
(Here, the / divides the pairs of unstressed-stressed syllables; the stressed syllables are in bold.)
HOMEWORK: Write a sonnet on any topic. 1st draft due Wed. 2/20. See blog post on sonnet writing.
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