Introduction
Good day grade 9! I hope you are all well and coping under our current circumstances.
In today's lesson we will be looking at poetry - Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare to be specific. This sonnet is one of Shakespeare's most famous poems because it addresses something that humans fear very much: our death and that we will likely be forgotten someday.
Task
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to annotate a poem, identify and interpret the figures of speech found in a poem and complete the activities provided.
I have provided you with a copy of the poem on WhatsApp along with a copy of the modern text and a link to a YouTube video of a reading of the poem. These are also provided in this lesson.
To complete the activities in this lesson, you are required to:
- Watch the video.
- Read the poem twice.
- Annotate the poems.
The worksheet and creative writing activity must be completed individually.
Link to YouTube video: https://youtu.be/05waZXoMUcg
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Process
Pre-reading Phase:
You are required to watch the video in the link provided in this lesson and on WhatsApp. Once you have watched the video:
- Divide yourselves into groups of four.
- Discuss the reading in the video.
Reading Phase:
Read the poem. One person in the group can do this.
Cope of poem:
Copy of modern text:
- Discuss the poem.
- Annotate the poem by making notes and writing down any comments and/or questions that your group has about the poem.
Look at the following questions and discuss them in your groups.
- Why does the poem start with a rhetorical question?
- What is the meaning of "fair" in the poem?
- In line 12 the speaker mentions "eternal lines". What do these lines refer to?
Focused Re-reading Phase:
- Read the poem individually and answer the questions in the worksheet provided.
Answer the following the questions in the literature section of your book.
Answer in full sentences unless stated otherwise.
Questions:
1. Why, do you think, does the poem start with a rhetorical question? (2)
2. Identify two figures of speech found in the poem. (2)
3. Choose the correct answer below: Which negative characteristic does the speaker / writer observe about summer?
A. The days can be too hot.
B. The days can be too short.
C. The days can be very cloudy.
D. All of the above (1)
4. In table format, identify the symbols of youth and beauty in one column and life and death in another column. (8)
5. In line 5, what does “the eye of heaven” refer to and what figure of speech is this? (2)
6. Explain, in your own words, what line 7 means. (2)
7. In line 12, the speaker mentions “eternal lines’. What are these lines? (1)
8. The speaker differentiates his beloved from summer in the last two lines of the poem. What is different between his beloved and summer? (2)
TOTAL: 20 Marks
Evaluation
Creative writing:
Write a poem about a person you love and/or admire. Your poem must include at least two figures of speech and the word love.
The creative writing activity must be completed before our next lesson and sent to me on WhatsApp.
Conclusion
We have come to the end of today's lesson. Please remember to complete the creative writing activity and send to me on WhatsApp.
In our next lesson, I will provide the answers to the worksheet. We will then move on to Sonnet 63.
Have a great day and stay safe.
