1a. What is the speaker's opening question?
2a. What shall not fade?
3a. How long will the subject of this poem "live"?
4a. List the ways in which the subject compares to a summer's day.
5a. Judge whether the speaker speaks the truth in the couplet.
1b. Why might the speaker suggest a comparison such as the one in line 1?
2b. In lines 5–10, do you think the speaker is referring only to physical beauty? Why, or why not?
3b. What has the speaker done with this sonnet?
4b. What, overall, is the speaker saying about the subject of this sonnet?
5b. In what other ways can people be immortalized?
1a. According to the opening lines, with whom is the speaker in disgrace?
2a. For what does the speaker wish in lines 5–7?
3a. What happens when the speaker thinks of the subject of this sonnet?
4a. Identify the kinds of wealth identified in this sonnet.
5a. Evaluate the speaker's change of mood. Explain whether you think it is realistic.
1b. What specific feelings do you think the speaker is experiencing in the opening lines?
2b. In the end, are the things for which the speaker wishes the key to his happiness? If not, what is?
3b. What does the speaker's reaction suggest about the power of love?
4b. What kind of wealth does the speaker have? How does this kind of wealth compare with other kinds of wealth?
5b. What turns things around for you when you are in a bad mood?
1a. What does the speaker say about the woman's eyes and lips?
2a. How does the speaker feel about the woman's voice?
3a. What does the speaker think of his love?
4a. What ideal characteristics does the speaker say his mistress does not have?
5a. Does the speaker of the poem truly love the woman? Explain.
1b. What do all of the characteristics that the woman does not possess have in common?
2b. Why might the speaker still love to hear his beloved's voice?
3b. On what is the speaker's love based? On what is it not based?
4b. Why does the speaker point out the short-comings of his mistress in this regard?
5b. In what way does the description of the woman in sonnet 130 differ from the description of the woman in sonnet 18.
Shakespearean Sonnet. A Shakespearean or Elizabethan sonnet is a fourteen-line poem, usually in iambic pentameter, that follows the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg. The sonnet is broken into three quatrains and a final couplet. For each sonnet, identify the theme expressed by the three quatrains and the main idea that the couplet highlights.
Sonnet 18;
Sonnet 29;
Sonnet 130;
Speaker. Describe the speakers in Sonnets 18, 29, and 130. How are the speakers similar to one another? Do any of them seem to have a sense of humor? Do you find each of the speakers likable? Are they equally likable? Why, or why not?
1. Write a thank you note for the things in your life that would make you "scorn to change [your] state with kings."
2. Write a description of someone you know. Use the technique of saying what the person is not like to show what he or she is like.
3. Write a sonnet. Choose any subject you like. Think about the main idea you want to express. Make sure this idea is clear in the final couplet. Use the other 12 lines to express your feelings further.
Agreement of Pronouns and Antecedents. Rewrite and complete each of the sentences below by adding the correct pronoun.
1. The woman wore black hair in a French knot, as usually did.
2. The man who is the speaker changes attitude in the last lines of the poem.
3. Although the woman is not perfect, is loved by the speaker.
4. William Shakespeare and other lyric poets use imaginations.
5. Sara and I read Sonnet 130 aloud; then wrote about it.
Visualizing. Improving your ability to visualize will help your creative writing. Try to visualize a room in your home or in your school. Make a list of twenty items in the room. Use reasoning to help you think of items you may have overlooked. Write an asterisk next to items on your list that you remembered through reasoning.
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