90 likes | 265 Views
How to write a Sonnet. Valentine’s Day 2012. Select a subject. Select the subject matter for your sonnet. Themes have often focused on love or philosophy, but modern sonnets can cover almost any topic. Dividing your ideas.
E N D
How to write a Sonnet Valentine’s Day 2012
Select a subject • Select the subject matter for your sonnet. Themes have often focused on love or philosophy, but modern sonnets can cover almost any topic.
Dividing your ideas • Divide the theme of your sonnet into two sections. In the first section you will present the situation or thought to the reader; in the second section you can present some sort of conclusion or climax.
Composition • Compose your first section as three quatrains - that is, three stanzas of four lines each. • Write the three quatrains with an a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f rhyme scheme, where each letter stands for a line of the sonnet and the last words of all lines with the same letter rhyme with each other.
Finishing your sonnet • Compose the last section as a couplet - two rhyming lines of poetry. This time, use a g-g rhyme scheme, where the last words of the two lines rhyme with each other.
How to write a Sonnet • First quatrain: An exposition of the main theme and main metaphor. • Second quatrain: Theme and metaphor extended or complicated; often, some imaginative example is given. • Third quatrain: Peripeteia (a twist or conflict), often introduced by a "but" (very often leading off the ninth line). • Couplet: Summarizes and leaves the reader with a new, concluding image.