Shakespearean Sonnets

What does the last couplet of Sonnet 18 imply about beauty?

• It fades with time

• It is eternal through poetry

• It is dependent on nature

• It is only temporary

How many syllables are in a line of a sonnet?

• 5

• 7

• 10

• 12

Shakespeare's use of five iambs stringed together is called

• iambic pentameter

• trochaic quadmeter

• spondaic pentameter

• dactylic trimeter

Which of the following poets ends his sonnets with a couplet?

• Ronsard

• Petrarch

• Dante Alighieri

• Shakespeare 

Which of the following is the English Sonnet's Rhyme Scheme?

• a b b a a b b ac d e c d e  

• ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

In Sonnet 130, how does the speaker's mistress compare to such symbols as the sun, coral, and a rose?

• She is more beautiful

• She is as beautiful

• She does not rival their beauty

• She combines them all into her special beauty

The Shakespearean sonnet is organized in ___ quatrains of alternating rhymes plus a group of two lines.

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

How did Shakespeare break tradition when he wrote Sonnet 130?

• He wrote about his pet dog instead of a person to mock tradition. 

• He wrote about someone he hated to show his dislike of typical sonnets. 

• He did not break tradition. He stayed in tradition to show others he could do it. 

• He compared a woman to nature, but said she could not compare to nature's beauty as a way to critique other sonnet's unrealistic comparisons. 

What are English sonnets often called, and why?

• Shakespearean, because he created that sonnet. 

• Shakespearean, because he is the only published poet we have of sonnets.

• Shakespearean, because he is the most well-known sonnet writer. 

• Petrarchan, because he created the sonnet. 

Which of the following is NOT criteria for a sonnet?

• 14 lines

• specific sound devices

• specific rhyme scheme

• specific rhythm