Mr. Petrucci - Looking at form: Sonnets lyrics

The sonnet has been an important form in the history of English poetry. The most common sonnet forms include the Petrarchan and Shakespearean. A sonnet is a lyric poem that always follows a set structure of fourteen lines. Petrarchan sonnet Petrarchan sonnets are divided into an octave (a stanza of eight lines) and a sestet (a concluding stanza of six lines), and are marked by a pause between them. Shakespeare's sonnet A Shakespearean sonnet is a poem made up of three quatrains in iambic pentameter followed by a concluding couplet. What is a "quatrain"? Four lines of verse with an ABAB rhyme scheme. What about "iambic pentameter"? Iambic pentameter is a form of poetic verse defined by the number of syllables per line. Click on the image to watch John Green, author of "The Fault in Our Stars," explain iambic pentameter! Understanding iambic pentameter When we speak, our syllables are either stressed (stronger emphasis) or unstressed (weaker emphasis). For example, the word "remark" consists of two syllables. "Re-" is the unstressed syllable, with a weaker emphasis, while "mark" is stressed, with a stronger emphasis. In poetry, a group of two or three syllables is referred to as a foot. A specific type of foot is an iamb. A foot is an iamb if it consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, so the word "remark" is an iamb. Penta means five, so a line of iambic pentameter consists of five iambs – five sets of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables. What about words that are not "iambic?" Would you like to know who else uses iambic pentameter in their poetry? Click the image below to find out! Common themes Shakespeare focused on aspects of love. Why write sonnets? Perhaps the question should be: "Why put strict limits on your writing?" And the answer is: "Because it will make you a better writer." Working within a tight structure forces you to be more creative. Writing sonnets requires an "economy of words" that applies to all other types of writing. For example, in your essays. Okay, you've convinced me. How do I write my own sonnet? First, you'll need something to write about.