Intro to William Shakespeare
Aim: Who likes Shakespeare why or why not?
Procedure: Teacher will give students handout and read aloud Sonnet 18.
Do Now: Students will read along and annotate.
Answer the following questions on the handout.
Homework Task : Research the Following on William Shakespeare, note it in your notebooks, and remember to cite your sources:
William Shakespeare
Procedure: Teacher will give students handout and read aloud Sonnet 18.
Do Now: Students will read along and annotate.
Answer the following questions on the handout.
Comprehension Check:
What is being described in the sonnet?
Critical thinking:
What is this sonnet about?
Based on the comprehension and critical thinking questions: Write your defintion of a sonnet:
What is being described in the sonnet?
The speaker is describing/comparing a lady (possibly) to the season of summer and how the lady is better than summer.
Identify literary techniques or devices?
Metaphors, Consistent Rhyme Scheme, First Person, Characterization, Theme, Symbolism, Mood and Imagery.
What is the rhyme scheme of the sonnet? Indicate the rhyme scheme at the end of each line.
1. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? A
2. Thou are more lovely and more temperate :B
3. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, A
4. And summer's lease hath all too short a date: B
5. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, C
6. And often is his gold complexion dimmed, D
7. And every fair from fair sometime declines, C
8. By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed D
9. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, E
10. Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, F
11. Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, E
12. When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, F
13. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G
14. So long lives this, and this gives life to thee G
How many lines are in this sonnet?2. Thou are more lovely and more temperate :B
3. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, A
4. And summer's lease hath all too short a date: B
5. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, C
6. And often is his gold complexion dimmed, D
7. And every fair from fair sometime declines, C
8. By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed D
9. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, E
10. Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, F
11. Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, E
12. When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, F
13. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G
14. So long lives this, and this gives life to thee G
There are 14 lines in the sonnet.
Critical thinking:
What is this sonnet about?
The speaker is trying to describe his/her passion and love for someone else by comparing them to a universal beauty (summer).
What is the theme of this sonnet?
The speakere is trying to say that their love is more beautiful than a summer day, but that their love does not possess any of the negative aspects of summer
Paraphrase the sonnet line by line as you would to a friend. You can paraphrase it using slangs, spanglish, abbreviated spellings etc.
| 1. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? | Can you be more beautiful than a summer's day? |
| 2. Thou are more lovely and more temperate | Nothing can compare to your beauty |
| 3. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, | The winds shake up fragile things of summer |
| 4. And summer's lease hath all too short a date: | There is not enough time to be with you; Summer is too short |
| 5. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, | Sometimes it is too hot. |
| 6. And often is his gold complexion dimmed, | Sometimes it is not always sunny. |
| 7. And every fair from fair sometime declines, | Not always is everything beautiful 100% of the time. |
| 8. By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed | It is just how nature works. |
| 9. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, | Your beauty, unlike summer, never fades. |
| 10. Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, | You do not lose your character or charm |
| 11. Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, | You do not have a depressed or deathly attitude. (As when plants die and shrug when there is no light.) |
| 12. When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, | You, like time, last forever. |
| 13. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, | As long as there will be life on this earth. |
| 14. So long lives this, and this gives life to thee | So long as my passion for you stays strong, you will always be number one. |
Based on the comprehension and critical thinking questions: Write your defintion of a sonnet:
A sonnet is a collection of thoughts, organized into a ryhming poem, that focuses around a certain point or theme.
Homework Task : Research the Following on William Shakespeare, note it in your notebooks, and remember to cite your sources:
• Birth
• Birthplace
• Education
• Died
• Research the Elizabethan Period : What was going on during that period. Highlight what you think the main points are of the period.
• What are his famous works or most famous work.
• Birthplace
• Education
• Died
• Research the Elizabethan Period : What was going on during that period. Highlight what you think the main points are of the period.
• What are his famous works or most famous work.
William Shakespeare
Born:
Some date in April 1564. Traditionally it is celebrated on the 23rd of April, St. George’s Day. There is no birth record for William, however he was baptized on the 26th of April in 1564. His parents were John Shakespeare, a glover and alderman, and Mary Arden.Place of Birth:
He was born in the “market town” of Stratford-upon-Avon in south Warwicksure, England.Education:
Although there are no records from that period that have survived, most biographers state that William had attended the free school “Kings New School” in Stratford.Death:
William died on the 23rd of April in the year 1616. In his will, he left a large amount of his estate to his eldest daughter Susanna. However she must pass it down intact to her first son of her body. Shakespeare was buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church only two days after his death.Elizabethan Period:
The Elizabethan Period is associated with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. This period is from 1558 to 1603. This was the height of the English Renaissance, as William Shakespeare and other playwrights “broke free of England’s past styles of plays and theatre.”1 During this time period, England had a strong, centralized and well organized form of government, mainly due to the reforms of Henry VII and Henry VIII. England also grew economically as well due to the increase of it’s trans-Atlantic trade. The only discourse that took place during this time period was the Anglo-Spanish war of 1585-1604. England famously won one battle, but miserably lost the rest of the battles. This hurt both the economy and treasury that Queen Elizabeth had meticulously built up.Famous Works:
• Romeo And Juliet (1591-1595)Sources:
• Julius Caesar (1599)
• Macbeth (1603-1606)
• Hamlet (1599-1601)
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1594-1596)
• William Shakespeare Via Wikipedia
• Stratford-upon-Avon Via Wikipedia
• 1 - Elizabethan Era Via Wikipedia
• Romeo and Juliet Via Wikipedia
• Julius Caesar Via Wikipedia
• Macbeth Via Wikipedia
• Hamlet Via Wikipedia
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream Via Wikipedia