[Solved] English English poetry assignment pt 2

Assignment Prompt & Instructions

Sonnet 29 poem

1. Read up (again) on William Shakespeare, his dates. Refresh your memory of sonnets.

2. In other words, you should copy and paste the poem from Poetry Foundation:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45090/sonnet-29-when-in-disgrace-with-

fortune-and-mens-eyes

3. Chart a rhyme scheme to determine if this is a Shakespearean (hahaha) sonnet or a

Petrarchan sonnet…or even a Spencerian sonnet!

4. Count syllables in all lines. Don’t rush! You are looking for discrepancies, and trust me,

there are a few lines that break the traditional syllable count for a sonnet. Find them andscan them. Find the “problem word or words” in each line. Speculate why Shakespeare

would be willing to disrupt the rhythm for these words.

5. Look for lines that break with iambic pentameter, the required meter for a sonnet. Think

back to “If We Must Die.” Recall that McKay breaks with iambic pentameter at the

opening of three lines. Does Shakespeare do anything of that kind? To what effect?

6. Shakespeare repeats the word “like” three times in the second quatrain. What is the

effect of his doing this?

7. Shakespeare repeats the word “state” three times in the poem, and its meaning varies

from beginning to end. Can you find at least 2 meanings to the word?

8. Shakespeare is the master of metaphor. Find the powerful metaphor (an example of

personification) in the first quatrain of the sonnet. What does it mean?

9. There’s a beautiful metaphor towards the end of the poem, too. Find it. Hint: It became

the title of a movie about 30 years ago. What does this metaphor mean?

10. Paraphrase the poem. If you come upon any words that you don’t know, such as

“bootless,” look them up. Search for archaic or antiquated meanings of unfamiliar words.

11. Ah, your favorite thing to do! Find one good example of alliteration, one super knock-

out example of consonance (towards the end), and one example of assonance. When

searching for alliteration, stay away from words like “this” and “then.” Pick important

words, and remember that the words must fall within 4 lines of each other. Put the line

number after the word (7) to let me know where you found it. Don’t confuse repetition

with alliteration, assonance or consonance.