Shall I Compare . . .?

Lesson Plan by
Barbara Cobb

Shakespeare Sonnet Covered: Sonnet 18

Whats on for Today and Why:

In todays lesson, students will explore Shakepeares Sonnet 18. Students will
recognize the structure of the sonnet: the praise for the subject of the poem, the
contrast of the subject to other lesser things, the clever twist at the end of the
poem that calls attention to the poem as the mode of praise. (Standards covered)

Then students will move to a poetry-writing workshop in which each will create an
original poem loosely based on the Shakespeare sonnet: each will choose two things
to compare and contrast in order to praise the favored thing and to explain why it is
so special to the poems speaker.

This unit covers 4th Grade Reading Literature Standards 1,2,4,5,6, Foundational
Skills 3,4, Writing Standards 1,3, as well as a number of the Language standards.

This lesson may be completed in a traditional classroom setting or in a computer

lab.

This lesson may be completed in a 90-minute class period, with additional time
allotted for revision and peer editing, or it may be divided into several shorter
lessons.

What to Do:

Introducing the Sonnet: Present students with the first line of Sonnet 18, Shall I
compare thee to a summers day? If Shakespeare is new to your students,
introduce Shakespeares Early Modern English (see handout). Have students
brainstorm: what does summer mean?

Terms: Image literally, a picture; in literature, words that create a picture or other
sensory experience in our minds. What images come to mind when you think
summer?

Terms: Symbol something that represents something else. What does summer
represent, when it isnt representing the season summer? And winter? spring?
fall or autumn? (You can expand this lesson to cover the equinoxes, the
solstices, months, etc.)

Reading the sonnet: Work quatrain by quatrain

1st Quatrain (1st 4 lines): What question does the speaker ask? Why does
he/she ask it? What is his/her answer? What is the relationship of lines 3-4 to
lines 1-2? What is the speaker demonstrating here?
 2nd Quatrain (lines 5-8): What does eye of heaven mean? Whose
complexion? What image is created in lines 5-6? to make what point? And
what point does the speaker make in lines 7-8?

Terms: metaphor a word or phrase used to represent something

else; a metaphor implies its meaning either because it is a part of the
thing being described (your day will come: day means time
rather than simply day), or because it is associated with the thing
being described (the White House announced means that the
President or his staff has made a statement, rather than that the
House talks!). (You can expand this lesson to develop a series of
metaphors for a subject of interest.)

3rd Quatrain (lines 9-12): Something different happens here. What word
signals the change? (But). What does the speaker mean by eternal
summer? What are eternal lines? ( Lines of a poem! This poem!)

(Scholars argue over owst: some want it to be ownst, meaning

that the subject of the poem owns his/her fair-ness; others like
owst, since it suggests that fair-ness is something that we dont
get to keep, that we owe or pay back at a certain point. Which do
YOU prefer?)

Couplet (lines 13-14, the last two lines of the poem): How does the couplet
serve to wrap up the poem? What is this in the last line? (eternal lines,
this poem!) In what way is the speaker of the poem correct in his/her
statement that he can make his/her subject eternal? (Were reading this
poem about his/her subject! Still! Today!)

Writing a Poem: Use the graphic organizer (Sonnet 18 handout can be used in a
computer lab OR in a traditional classroom) to brainstorm and to create a poem!
Encourage students to work through several drafts, developing ideas and making
the parts of their original poems fit together.

Differentiation:

Developmental: Students will concentrate on the comparison/contrast

activity, making fine distinctions between similar things.

Advanced: Students will attempt to introduce images and metaphors into

their poems. Some students may be able to incorporate rhyme or structural
elements as well. Encourage students to add these after the initial
brainstorming process, as part of the revision process.

How did it go?

Do students understand the difference between the subject of Sonnet 18 and
summer? Do students understand the theme (main point) of the poem?

Was each student able to produce at least a comparison/contrast? At best a

cohesive thought or set of thoughts (a poem)?