Shakespeare's Sonnets | Create WebQuest

Introduction

You're happy. You're sad. You're angry. You're in love. You're bursting with emotion and you need to empty your heart onto the page. To whom do you turn for inspiration? None other than the Bard himself: good ol' Bill Shakespeare.

So get your pen in hand...before your heart begins to burst!

This website is intended to give students an interactive opportunity to analyze Shakespeare's sonnets. There are 3 sonnets, and for each sonnet there is a corresponding video. I hope that the students will grasp Shakespeare's sonnets better by reading the sonnets and watching the"youtube" videos.

Grade Level: 9-12
Curriculum: English / Language Arts

Each student will read 3 Shakespeare sonnets, watch a "youtube" video on each sonnet, make annotations pre and post- video regarding their thoughts on the sonnets, and finally analyze several sonnets. Students will closely analyze a Shakespearean Sonnet's form and structure. This will then culminate in the students writing their own Shakespearean Sonnet with a modern twist.

Task

Your task is to first research the form and structure of a Shakespearean (Shakespeare's real genius!) Sonnet in the hopes it will help you to write a Shakespearean Sonnet of your own.

Engaging in a close analysis of a piece's form and structure helps with understanding the author's style as well as meaning.

Did Shakespeare do all of this on purpose??

Process

Please follow these steps:

** Be sure the answers to these questions are in your notes:

1. How many sonnets did Shakespeare write??

2. When did he supposedly write the sonnets??

3. When were his sonnets published? How were they published?
What's the interesting story about how they were published??

4. What are 4 major thematic ideas his sonnets explore???

5. Who are the 3 characters that Shakespeare supposedly wrote his sonnets to?
What are the nicknames of these characters? Find 1 REAL person for each character.

** Define the key terms in your notes: couplet, form / structure, quatrain, rhyme scheme, sonnet, stanza

1. Read Sonnet 130.

2. Annotate anything you notice about Sonnet 130 onto your handout.

2. Watch the video included for Sonnet 130.

https://youtu.be/p2Ja0Paz04s?si=st1x8wPURhAKqWJd

3. Go back and re-examine Sonnet 130.

- annotate any observations you make about the way in which a Shakespearean Sonnet is built. How is it physically constructed?

**NOTE: we are not worried about the meaning of the sonnets at all...yet.

4. Research the form and structure of a Shakespearean sonnet:

http://shakespeare.about.com/od/thesonnets/a/what_is_a_sonnet.htm

5. Now go back and label and diagram the form and structure for Sonnets 130 directly onto the handout.

Evaluation

Were you able to correctly label the following components of a Shakespearean Sonnet's form and structure?

This includes:

1. Number of lines

2. Rhyme Scheme

3. Quatrains

4. Couplet

5. Iambic Pentameter

*** When you finish labeling and diagramming the sonnet's form and structure complete a paraphrase of the sonnet 130 on loose-leaf or your iPad.

Paraphrase means - to put in your own words. So modernize the language and put it into simple wording.

*** Remember, the paraphrase should be done line by line (14 lines total).

William Shakespeare memes - Bing Images

Conclusion

By the end of this, you will now be able to answer this question: What makes a sonnet a Shakespearean Sonnet? You have explored Sonnet 130, the way it is built and have put it into your own words line by line. You also know what a quatrain is, what we mean by rhyme scheme and might even be able to explain a volta. Shakespeare's sonnets will no longer seem daunting: you will have conquered all your fears and nobly progressed into territory you never dreamed you'd visit. You will be proud of what you have accomplished, and I will be proud of you, too.

Credits

Pictures accessed 11/1/12 from the following websites:

http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/tsminteractive.com/files/2012/05/shakespeare-sonnets.jpg

http://images.elfwood.com/art/c/m/cmccarty/shakespeare.jpg

http://www.parsonsnose.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Cartoon-Shakespeare001.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YUZDZPmjihw/TN9-w-AP43I/AAAAAAAACFs/y08ux4mqh4U/s1600/Pg-02-shakespeare-g_175920s.jpg

Teacher Page

Shakespeare's sonnets can be a difficult topic to tackle with high school students. The language is dated and foreign, and its poetic character too often renders it inaccessible to many capable students. This activity is designed to help students gain access to the language, meaning, and form of the sonnets by allowing them to create their own. Engaging in creative writing inspires analytic thinking and personal reflection, enabling students to think more profoundly about Shakespeare's poetry.

This project is recommended for students at or above a 9th grade reading level. If you feel your students are not yet ready for Shakespeare, you may want to scaffold this activity with a preliminary lesson on poetry, concentrating specifically on the sonnet form. If you are teaching a unit on Romeo and Juliet, you could have them read the prologue to Romeo and Juliet before diving into the sonnets.