The Sonnet Man: Hip-Hop Shakespeare

The Sonnet Man: Hip-Hop Shakespeare

--What is a Sonnet? A poem with 14 lines

--Along with his famous plays, Shakespeare was known for his sonnets.

--He wrote 154 sonnets, 151 of them were in the same format (Elizabethan).

Elements of an Elizabethan Sonnet

--It’s broken down in 4 parts

—->3 Quatrains (a verse with 4 lines, were the odd-numbered lines rhyme and the even-numbered lines rhyme)

—->1 Couplet (2 lines where the ending rhymes)

—It’s Written in Iambic Pentameter

—->A line in Iambic Pentameter consists of 10 syllables, the odd syllables are stressed and the even syllable are un stressed (similar to a heartbeat…da-DUM-da-DUM-da-DUM-da-DUM-da-DUM)

The Rhyme Scheme

A

B

A

B

C

D

C

D

E

F

E

F

G

G

**since line 1 and 2 both are A lines, those endings have to match. Thus, the lines that rhyme with each other are {1,3}, {2,4}, {5,7}, {6,8}, {9,11}, {10,12}, {13,14}.

Notable literary devices Shakespeare uses in his Sonnets

-Metaphor

-Simile

-Alliteration

-Assonance

-Personification

-Onomatopoeia

Sonnet 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks,

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go,

My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare.

What is Sonnet 130 about?

-describing his "mistress". Outer appearance isn't the most ideal.

-Despite her flaws, he still loves her (Line 13--"And yet..." = "However...")

-it's in the 3rd person

Sonnet 18

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 dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed.

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,

Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

What is Sonnet 18 about?

-in the 1st person

-Metaphor comparing someone's look to a Summer's Day (pleasant looking)

-the summer doesn't last=your looks will change through time

-these words will be used as an portrait. This look will last forever.

**ACTIVITY**

Option A) Provide your own breakdown of Sonnet 18 (in couplet form, or in Elizabethan Sonnet form)---Modernized Sonnet 18 in your own words.

Option B) Pick a topic to write a metaphor about. Write a metaphor about that topic. (Must be written in Elizabethan Sonnet form)