For Monday: Shakespeare, The Sonnets, Nos.42-72 & Paper #2 assignment

NOTE: As always, I don't necessarily expect you to read every sonnet in this sequence, though you never know when a magical sonnet will strike you! But read every other sonnet, or every third one if you like. But be sure to read enough so you can see more of the possibilities of these amazing poems, and get more ideas for your Paper #2 assignment! (I've pasted that below these questions) 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Discuss a poem that seems to be a 'throwback' to an earlier poem or series of poems. Why do you think Shakespeare reverts back to an earlier topic or style? Do you think this poem belongs with the earlier sonnet(s)? Or is it revising the earlier theme or style from a new perspective? 

Q2: Discuss a series of sonnets where the pronoun of the lover switches from thee to you, or you to thee. What do you think happened between these sonnets? Does the second one give any indication? Or is the second sonnet somehow an 'answer' to the first?

Q3: Discuss a sonnet that seems to particularly call attention to itself in terms of poetics: either a strange use of language, constant repetition, an odd metaphor, or some other striking turn of phrase. How does this formal structure aid in the meaning or the emotion of the poem? 

Q4: Based on the story outline I shared with you earlier (in the post below this one), where does the story change or shift in this series of sonnets? Where is the relationship at this point? Do they reconcile? Break up? Become enemies? Discuss where you see a new 'Act' occurring in this sequence. 

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Intro to Literary Study

Paper #2: The Sonnet Drama

“…poems work like conversation, even if they get no direct answer…they make a demand on the interpreter to imagine who would say this to whom, and in what situation. Speech is a social activity: what one says depends on whom one speaks to and in what context” (Magnusson 630).

INTRO: As we’ve discussed in class, The Sonnets explore the inner workings of a poet’s mind as he pursues a beautiful young man into the labyrinth of Elizabethan society, encountering love, hope, confusion, and betrayal at every turn. Even the story itself is murky, and it really depends on who we think is speaking from sonnet to sonnet, who they’re speaking to, and how the social context around each sonnet changes to create drama and conflict. Like a play, each line could be a piece of monologue, a scrap of dialogue, or even a haunting chorus. No one has definitely explained what it all means yet…well, not until this paper!

PROMPT: I want you to choose 10-12 sonnets to put together into a mini “Sonnet drama” that functions as a kind of play that could be acted or read aloud. The sonnets can come from anywhere in the sequence, and you should put them together to tell the story that you see, spoken by anywhere from 2 to 4 characters (but more than one—that’s the challenge). You don’t have to write the play, just pick the sonnets and imagine who would speak each one, or how you might divide one sonnet between two speakers, etc. It could be a play between two lovers, or a love triangle, or a love quadrangle!

ASSIGNMENT: The paper is in two parts: ONE, you’re going to list your 10-12 sonnets and the characters that speak each one. This requires no writing, just a list like a “cast of characters.” Then, TWO, you’re going to write an essay explaining the THEORY of your play by close reading from several of the sonnets, and highlighting why a certain character would speak these lines, and what they say about this character and this part of the story. I want you to use at least TWO outside sources to help you explain and explore your ideas, and these could include: Culler’s book, Magnusson’s essay, Sappho’s poetry, books about the Sonnets in our library, or articles on-line. The goal in this assignment is simply to show us why your ‘theory’ of The Sonnets is interesting and could shed light on many of the secrets of these poems. You don’t have to be ‘right’ or get someone to agree with you—it’s just an attempt to make these old poems speak in a new language, and tell a new story.

REQUIREMENTS

• Use 10-12 Sonnets to fashion a rough “Sonnet Drama” (you DO NOT have to write the script)
• Write a paper that explains your theory, performs some close reading, and uses at least TWO sources to help you discuss the poems
• Be sure to introduce all poems and sources and cite them according to MLA guidelines. Include a Works Cited page, too, of course.
• DUE in two weeks, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1^st BY 5pm (no class that day)