English

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gAives life to thee.

Shakespeare’s sonnet XVIII serves as our investigative example. Note the pattern of rhyme within the fourteen iambic lines. The rhyming patterns form three parts with four lines each called quatrains followed by a rhyming couplet. Each quatrain tends to present a separate image and the concluding couplet provides a comment or summary of the meaning of the images presented. The sequence utilized is referenced as an ababcdcdefefgg sequence.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? (a) Thou art more lovely and more temperate: (b) Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (a) And summer's lease hath all too short a date: (b) Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, (c) And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; (d) And every fair from fair sometime declines, (c) By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; (d) But thy eternal summer shall not fade (e) Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; (f) Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, (e) When in eternal lines to time thou growest: (f) So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, (g) So long lives this and this gives life to thee. (g)

(A)

Refer to Shakespeare’s Sonnett XVIII and answer the following questions.

1. What does this pattern indicate? What matches up and defines the ababcdcdefefgg sequence?

2. Interpreters of sonnets need to identify the clues the author provides. Count the syllables in each line and mark each individual foot. Remember a foot consists of two syllables; the first unstressed the second stressed.

ie. But SOFT / what LIGHT / through YON / der WIN / dow BREAKS

3. What notes does the author provide you? Do you have clues on how to pronounce certain words? Share your discoveries.

4. Does punctuation help? How?

5. Look up and define words which may be familiar but had different meanings in the past.

temperate darling buds lease

fair course owest brag

Overemphasizing the stressed syllables of the sonnet, read the poem out loud in this singsong pattern.

This requires stressing the second syllable strongly; the first syllable is short the second syllable long

6. How does this exaggerated reading affect the images of the poem?

7. How does the exaggerated reading affect the meaning of the poem?

8. Where do the pauses fall? Which kind of pause should be longest: semicolon, or comma?

9. In which line does the syntax run over? What does this mean in terms of saying the line?

REREAD THE SONNET OUT LOUD, CONSIDER THE RHYTHM BUT DO NOT HIT THE STRESSED SYLLABLES SO STRONGLY AS WITH THE SING SONG.

10. Does the poem make more sense? How is the experience different?

(B)

iS A ONE PAGE "AUTOBIOGRAPHY" FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD.  IN IT YOU ARE TO TELL ME ABOUT ANY SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MAY IMPACT UPON YOUR GRADE IN THIS COURSE (SEE LECTURE SCHEDULE FOR POINT VALUE).. FOR EXAMPLE, STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES WHOM WILL BE TAKING THEIR EXAMS AT THE LEARNING CENTER SHOULD TELL ME THAT HERE AND NOW SO THAT I MAKE SURE TO GET THE EXAMS OVER THERE.  STUDENTS WITH DELICATE OR CHRONIC MEDICAL CONDITIONS WHICH MIGHT AFFECT YOUR ATTENDANCE SHOULD INFORM ME OF THAT FACT HERE.  STUDENTS WHO MAY NEED TO LEAVE THIS LATE NIGHT CLASS AT 9:20PM IN ORDER TO CATCH THE BUS SHOULD INFORM ME HERE (PLEASE, BE HONEST ABOUT THIS!).  IM ONLY INTERESTED IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MAY AFFECT YOUR GRADE,  I DO NOT NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ANY HIGHLY PERSONAL PRIVATE MATTERS, PLEASE!!! ONLY THINGS WHICH AFFECT YOUR GRADE!!!  THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST BE SUBMITTED HERE AT THE ETUDES SITE.