Hyperbole. A hyperbole is an exaggeration made for rhetorical effect. As you read “Song,” look for an example of hyperbole.
Metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken or written about as if it were another.
Sonnet and Rhyme Scheme. A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem, usually in iambic pentameter, that follows one of a number of different rhyme schemes. A rhyme scheme is a pattern of end rhymes, or rhymes at the ends of lines of verse. The rhyme scheme of a poem is designated by letters, with matching letters signifying matching sounds. Before you read Holy Sonnet 10, figure out its rhyme scheme.
Paradox. A paradox is a seemingly contradictory statement, idea, or event. As you read “Holy Sonnet 10,” look for two examples of paradox.
Personification. Personification is a figure of speech in which an idea, animal, or thing is described as if it were a person.
Metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken or written about as if it were another. This figure of speech invites the reader to make a comparison between two things. The two “things” involved are the writer’s actual subject, the tenor of the metaphor, and another thing to which the subject is likened, the vehicle of the metaphor.
Analogy. An analogy is a comparison of two things that are alike in some respects. As you read “Meditation 17,” pay attention to Donne’s use of analogies to develop his theme.
Theme. A theme is a central idea in a literary work.
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Donne once described himself as a dual character—Jack Donne, the writer of ironic, worldly verse; and Dr. Donne, the writer of fervent religious poems. Whatever his character, Donne, in the intensely personal and immediate tone of his poetry, made a keen break from the decorative style of most Elizabethan verse. Song (“Go and catch a falling star . . .”) is one of Donne’s early love poems and shows his playful and worldly skepticism about finding true and faithful love. The selection also shows Donne’s fondness for unusual comparisons and for diction that imitates ordinary speech. Holy Sonnet 10 (“Death, be not proud . . .”) is among the most famous of Donne’s later religious poems. The selection shows Donne’s bold use of paradox, unexpected use of a traditional form, and refusal to accept conventional ideas about death. Meditation 17 (“Perchance he for whom this bell tolls . . .”) is taken from Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, published in 1624, a series of meditations on the themes of sickness and mortality.
As you read Song, make a cluster chart listing the things in stanza 1 that the speaker compares to finding a mate who is true and fair. One example has been done for you.
As you read, make a chart listing examples of how death is personified in the poem Holy Sonnet 10.
As you read, make a cluster chart listing main ideas in Donne’s Meditation 17.
What are the two most important qualities you would like to find in a mate?
If death were a person, what characteristics would describe it?
Explain what “no man is an island” means to you.
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