How to write a Shakespearean sonnet

How to Write a Shakespearean Sonnet

Sonnets are one of the most recognizable of all the poetic forms, and they may look complicated, but they have a very clear pattern that makes them much easier to write than you might expect. Just follow these steps!

Requirements for a sonnet:

• ·         Must have 14 lines.
• ·         Must be written in iambic pentameter which means that the pattern the words make should be like this: duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH. Something like shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmers DAY. It’s not far off how people talk, and if you write a lot of sonnets, you’ll start thinking in iambic pentameter! Usually, there are ten syllables in each line, five soft and five hard.
• ·         Must follow a specific rhyme pattern. In this case, the pattern is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. That means the first four lines, the first and third line rhyme and the second and fourth line rhyme, then the next four lines and the four after that have different rhyming words, but also rhyme one and three / two and four, and then the poem ends with two lines that rhyme with each other.
• ·         Must have a turn. That means that the last two lines, the couplet, bring a new meaning to what the previous lines were talking about.

·          

Here’s an example, William Shakespeare’s “Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day”, also called “Sonnet #18”, with the rhyme pattern in parentheses:

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 oft' 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 owest; (F)

Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,(E)

When in eternal lines to time thou growest: (F)

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, (G)

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. (G)

Now, you try! Just fill in the blanks:

A:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

B:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

A:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

B:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

C:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

D:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
C:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

D:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
E:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

F:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

E:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

F:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

G:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

G:___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Quiz / Trivia Questions

Three questions for a horror movie quiz:

Real people aren't usually killed or mauled while filming movies. What was used for the blood in Night of the Living Dead?
a. Real blood
b. Chocolate syrup
c. Food coloring
d. CGI

Horror movies are as old as movies themselves. What is the first notable horror movie ever filmed?
a. Frankenstein
b. The Girl From The Dead Room
c. Nosferatu
d. The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Lots of horror movies are pretty gross, but what was the goriest movie ever made?
a. Friday the Thirteenth
b. House of a Thousand Corpses
c. Jesus Christ, Vampire Killer
d. Dead Alive