Sonnets 103

Sonnets are among the most beautiful of all poetic forms. When one thinks of a sonnet, one naturally thinks of Shakespeare's love sonnets. However, there are also other sonnet forms, including the Petrarchan (Italian) and Spencerian forms. This course will focus on these three sonnet forms. The class will have a strong focus on writing. After all, the best way to learn a poetic form is to write in that form.

Students need not have prior knowledge of writing in sonnet forms.

Students should have at least an entry level proficiency in writing with iambic pentameter.

All classes will involve reading sonnets from various poets in order to learn 'how they did it' as well as come to understand the elements of the forms, including meter, rhyme patterns, theme development, the all-important turn and the closing couplets. Also, students will be provided an opportunity to listen to poems read by leading actors as a way of learning the form by hearing it spoken. Finally, the course has a heavy emphasis on writing.

Class discussion is an important feature of the class as are the peer reviews from other students in the class. Thus, we have discussions and not lectures.

The class will use the Chatwee classroom protocol since the TeamSpeak classroom protocol is unfriendly to Mac computers. I have learned through experience that Chatwee works with Safari and Explorer, but it seems to work best with FireFox. FireFox can be downloaded for free as an alternative internet browser.

Class dates are as follows:

Week 1: Sunday, 25 June
Week 2: Sunday, 2 July
Week 3: Sunday, 9 July
Week 4: Sunday, 16 July

Meeting times would be somewhere between 4 pm - 9 pm Eastern time. However, the exact time will be determined after input is received from students.

Week 1: Sonnet Background and Shakespearean (English) Sonnet

We will study the historical basis for these three sonnet forms as well as focus on the Shakespearean Sonnet. Included in the writing assignments will be an opportunity to learn how to write a Shakespearean Sonnet Sequence. There will be pre-class assignments for scanning and listening. We will also study how Shakespeare used metrical substitution for dramatic effect in his sonnets and how to utilize it in our writings. Assignments will be made for week 2.

Week 2: Shakespearean Sonnet continued and Spenserian Sonnet
We will wrap up our study of the Shakespearean sonnet and begin discussion on the Spenserian Sonnet form. We will also review the writing assignments from the prior class.

Week 3: Spenserian Sonnet continued and Petrarchan Sonnet:
We will wrap up our study of the Spenserian Sonnet and begin discussion on the Petrarchan sonnet form. We will also review the writing assignments from the prior class.

Week 4: All Sonnets' Writing and Review
This class will focus on the writing of one sonnet theme as expressed in each of the three sonnet forms we have studied. Students will be surprised how each form will vary the thrust of a sonnet theme. Thus, students will write a three-sonnet sequence using each of the three sonnet forms studied in the class.


Instructor: Ray Griffin

About The Instructor: Ray earned his BA, with honors in a double major in history and political science and a minor in German (4 hours short of a third major) from Atlantic Christian College, now Barton. He earned his MA in public administration with a minor in city and regional planning, with honors, from North Carolina State University. He has also taken post-graduate work at the University of Virginia and University of Oklahoma-Norman in high performance organization results and economic development; respectively.

After graduation, and during his tenure in local government management, he served as an adjunct professor of Political Science at Webster University and University of North Carolina-Pembroke.

Ray has been writing poetry for many decades as well as specialized, technical writing. He has written three comprehensive genealogy/family history books and has had senryu published in Prune Juice, an on-line poetry magazine. He has also published many Chap Books featuring his favorite poetry. Ray writes extensively in blank verse, tanka and Shakespearean sonnet poetic forms. These are his favorite poetic forms in which to write, particularly blank verse. Ray has been an active member, poet and member of FanStory since 2009.