Sonnets: Poem Analysis, Quizzes, Writing | Shakespeare to the Harlem Renaissance
This 45-page EDITABLE unit tracks the development of the sonnet from Shakespeare's day through by Harlem Renaissance. How are traditional sonnets written by English poets like Shakespeare and Keats similar to and/or different from modern sonnets written by Harlem Renaissance poets like Claude McKay and Countee Cullen? This unit invites students to compare traditional sonnets focused on love with modern sonnets focused on socioeconomic equality....
The twelve poems are divided into two reading packets, with the first packet focusing on early sonnets about romantic love, and the second packet focusing on modern sonnets about the black experience. Each reading packets is followed by a classwork packet that contains a quiz on literary devices, discussion questions for two poems, and quick writes. Finally, a third packet features a writing assignment, sample student paper, and glossary of literary devices.
Here's a detailed account of what you'll find in this 45-page curriculum:
• Homework Packets with Poems: The two homework packets contain a total of 12 love poems by award-winning poets such as William Shakespeare, Christina Rossetti, John Keats, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others. While the first packet focuses on traditional love poetry, the second packet focuses on modern love poetry. Thus, the two packets will set you up to facilitate fascinating discussions about how the sonnet has been put to different uses over the centuries! (12 pages)
• Literary Devices Glossary: A glossary with definitions and examples of the various types of figurative language, imagery, sound devices, and syntactic devices. Many teachers already have a glossary of literary devices, but I'm providing this in case you need one. (2 pages)
• Literary Devices Quizzes: Open each class with a quiz of 10 questions to assess whether students can accurately identify the literary devices found in poems from the packet: metaphor, personification, symbolism, imagery, alliteration, etc. Answer keys included. (4 pages).
• Discussion Questions: This unit features a list of discussion questions for two poems in each of the two homework packets. The discussion questions will ensure that each class discussion is focused and productive. Every discussion question is grounded in concrete textual details and challenges students to arrive at lucid interpretive insights! The questions lend themselves to a range of different pedagogical uses: 1) to focus students’ thinking prior to beginning a discussion, 2) to prompt in-class writing, 3) to assign written reflections for homework, etc. Guaranteed to elicit student engagement and foster deep thinking! Answer keys included. (16 pages)
• Quick Writes: The quick writes give students an opportunity to capture and refine the best ideas generated in the discussion. Quick writes can also help reticent students to gather their thoughts so they'll feel ready and eager to contribute. (4 pages)
• Analytical Writing Assignment: Challenge students to take their interpretations one step further by writing an analytical paper on a poem of their choice. The assignment sheet contains detailed instructions for how to generate a formalist analysis of a poem (analyzing how the poem's formal features contribute to its meaning). This kind of formalist analysis is exactly what students are asked to generate on the AP Literature exam! Sample paper included. (3 pages)
This entire 45-page unit will come to you in two separate formats: Word *and* PDF. Because the Word doc is fully editable, you'll be able to customize the materials to suit the skill levels of your students — year after year! If you don't have Microsoft Word, you'll still be able to access all of the materials as a PDF — which is easy to navigate and quick to print!
My store is called “Rigorous Resources” because all of the resources contain rigorous content that will motivate students to engage in thought-provoking and productive discussions. Thank you for choosing “Rigorous Resources”!!
Happy teaching!
Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.
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