Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In this lesson, we will explore Shakespeare's use of language in 'Sonnet 18' and see how it develops the theme of love.

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7 Questions

What have you learned this lesson?
Q2.
What is a line of poetry with five pairs of syllables known as?
Free Verse
Correct answer: Iambic Pentameter
Iambic Tetrameter
Rhyming Couplets
Q3.
What rhyme scheme does a Shakespearean sonnet follow?
AABB with a rhyming couplet at the end
Correct answer: ABAB with a rhyming couplet at the end
ABCABC with a rhyming couplet at the end
There is no rhyme scheme, it is blank verse.
Q4.
How many lines does a Shakespearean Sonnet have?
10 lines
12 lines
Correct answer: 14 lines
5 lines
Q5.
How many works do we know Shakespeare wrote in his lifetime?
Correct answer: 154 sonnets and 38 plays
192 poems
38 sonnets and 154 plays
Over 250 sonnets and over 50 plays.
Q6.
What is the main theme of Shakespearean sonnets?
Death
Desire
Hate
Correct answer: Love
Q7.
Who does the speaker in 'Sonnet 18' most likely address?
Correct answer: A young man
Shakespeare
Shakespeare's wife
The 'dark lady'

8 Questions

Reviewing your learning
Q2.
Iambic Pentameter is when...
A line of poetry has fifteen pairs of syllables
Correct answer: A line of poetry has five pairs of syllables
A line of poetry has ten pairs of syllables
Lines of poetry have a range of syllables
Q3.
An ABAB rhyme scheme is when ...
All of the lines have the same rhyme at the end
Correct answer: Alternate lines rhyme with each other
Pairs of adjacent lines rhyme
The poem has no set rhyme structure
What have you learned this lesson?
Q5.
When a phrase or image is used to mean something other than its literal meaning, this is called ...
Correct answer: Figurative Language
Heroic Couplets
Iambic Pentameter
Literal Language
Q6.
In 'Sonnet 18' Shakespeare presents summer as being ...
Beautiful and almost perfect
Beautiful and never ending
Beautiful and perfect
Correct answer: Beautiful but imperfect
Q7.
What does the speaker mean when he says, "But thy eternal summer shall not fade"?
That his lover is almost perfect, like the summer
That his lover is dead
That his lover's beauty is fading
Correct answer: That his lover's beauty will not fade, unlike the summer
Q8.
Why does the speaker compare the young man to a summer's day?
Summer is something that everyone can relate to, so it is a good comparison
They are both beautiful, but the summer is better than the young man as it is perfect while he is imperfect
Correct answer: They are both beautiful, but the young man is better than summer as he is perfect while summer is imperfect
They are both fleeting and end too soon

Lesson appears in

UnitEnglish / The sonnet through time: 'Sonnet 18', Shakespeare

English