Shakespearean sonnet 18

1. Students: Professor: Ryan
Naima Sellam
Nadia Bat
Soumia
Mohamed Akharraz



Class level: advanced
Time required: one hour
Materials needed: handouts, white interactive board or data show, computer,
Skills targeted: reading, vocabulary, listening, speaking and writing.
Literary work: Shakespearean sonnet 18
Number of students: 24
Date: 1/2/2013

Goal:

By the end of the lesson, student will have known more about the main aspects of
Shakespearean sonnet in terms of form and ideas.

Purpose:

To teach some archaic diction ( wander’st, dimm’d and grow’st …etc)
To boost students’ cultural literacy about seasons
To teach comparatives (compare seasons with love)
To paraphrase and summarize the whole poem using contemporary English


Steps of the lesson


Warm up: (8 m)

Before the students see the poem, ask them to think about nature and single out some
elements they see pertinent to describe a person they adore so much. With a suitable pair, the
teacher can encourage an improvisation. (E.g. sun, moon, flower …etc)

Ask students what type of poems they know. Elicit some answers and write them on the
board. (Answers might be elegy, lyrics, odes , sonnet …etc). Then ask them if they know the
difference between these categories of them in form. More focus will be on the sonnet as the
targeted type.

Inform students that they are going to learn more about one of the poetry genre which is
sonnet, through which they will learn more words and boost their cultural literacy.


Listening and vocabulary (12m)

2. 1- Students listen to the poem and fill in the blanks with the appropriate verbs in the box.
Use this youtube link ( activity one)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geWkR7nFZ4c

2- Provide students with the poems in hard paper to check their answers using peer
correction.

3- In pairs, students read the poem attentively and match the words to their meaning.
The context should be taken into consideration while matching. ( look at the activity
four)

Reading (15m)

1- At this stage of the lesson, the teacher should explain that Shakespearean sonnet, in
terms of form, is divided into four parts. The first three parts are each four lines long,
and are known as quatrains, rhymed ABAB, CDCD, EFEF respectively; the fourth
part is called the couplet, and is rhymed CC. Afterwards, students read the poem and
divide it into four parts and rhyme it. Then write the main idea for each part. (
activity 3)


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 ow'st; f
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, e
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: f

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, c
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. c


2- After the division, naming, rhyming processes, students write the main ideas of each
quatrain and the couplet.

Sample:


The first quatrain: explains that summer is intemperate, too windy, and too short, neither of
which fits the object of the poem (not a lover, by the way, but the person you give this to
doesn't need to know this). The off rhyme of "temperate" in line 2 and "date" in line 4 draws

3. attention to the notion that summer is finite, which contrasted with the eternal nature of
poetry, highlights the poem's theme that love/friendship is eternal.
The second quatrain: assert that summer is "Sometime too hot" and causes a decline in
appearance, something that does not suit the object of the poet's admiration.
The third quatrain: This incongruity between summer and "thee" is explained in the next
four lines: "thy eternal summer shall not fade / Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest."
The couplet: the poem's final couplet erases any doubt the reader may have about the eternal
nature of the tribute, explaining that "as long as men can breathe or have eyes to see, So long
lives this (Sonnet 18) and this gives life to thee."

Speaking (15 m)

1- Students read the whole poem again and stress the use of seasons. Teacher draws
students’ attention to the first line and explains the rhetorical questions.
2- You can ask these questions to check and boost the students’ cultural literacy about
seasons:
a – Think about seasons. What is the most preferable season in your culture? (Winter)
b - Is summer viewed negatively or positively? (Answers might vary)
c- In which season the nature flourishes and looks beautiful and lovely? (Spring)
Right after these questions, ask students to find out the attitude of the poet towards
summer season. (You can open a class discussion about that).
During the class discussion, remember to let the students know that summer is the
period of the year in which nature flourishes and looks eye-catching/beautiful. Which
is to say: albeit its beauty, Shakespeare views it as weak/ ephemeral and CANNOT be
compared to his mistress whose eternal beauty will be attained through this sonnet.

Writing (10 m)
After you make sure that students understood the poem, ask them to "paraphrase" the
sonnet line by line.


The sample
OOOOH Baby I think I shall compare you to a summer day
But, you know, you're prettier and even better, even calm
Because sometimes it gets windy and the buds on the trees get shaken off

4. And sometimes summer doesn't last very long
Sometimes it's too hot
And everything gorgeous loses its looks
By getting hit by a truck Or just because everyone and everything gets old and ugly and
shabby
BUT (and here's the turn) you're going to keep your looks for ever
Your beauty will last for ever
I'm going to make sure that you never lose your good looks
And that nasty old Death can never brag about owning you
Because I shall write this poem about you
As long as men can breathe (are you breathing?)
As long as men can see (are you looking at this poem?)
Then this poem lives, and it gives life and memory to your beauty.

























References

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/homework-help-literature/62831-shakespeare-sonnet-18-
analysis/

http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/language/lessonplan.htm