Sonnet Assignment

Mr. Kennedy
AP English Lit.

Sonnet Assignment

Your task is to write your own original sonnet.
It is due on Wednesday, February 20.
You must show me your subject and plan for your shift at the beginning of class on Friday, February 15.
It must be written in iambic pentameter.
Decide whether it will be structured as an octave and a sestet, or structured with three quatrains and a couplet.

Here is the format I would like you to follow in presenting your sonnet.

ü The Poem.

ü A scanned line of your choosing that charts the feet and the meter.
ü Ex. To str’ive,/ to se’ek, /to fi’nd, /and n’ot /to yie’ld./

ü The subject of your sonnet as a single word.

ü The theme of your sonnet.

ü The volta of your sonnet and a brief explanation of the shift you are trying to depict.

ü Chart your rhyme scheme and your structure (ie. Octave and sestet, or three quatrains and a couplet).

ü Examples of figurative devices- similes, metaphors, apostrophes, personifications, synecdoche, metonymy.


If you meet these requirements you will receive 35 points.
If you recite it in front of the class you will add 10 points.
Reciting it by memory will add 5 points.