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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Superb Sonnets

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify and compare the characteristics of both Italian and English sonnets. They read examples of each, then write an original sonnet in either the Italian or English style.
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Handout
Pittford Schools

Literary Devices, Techniques, and Elements

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
What's the difference between a speaker and an author? What's an example of anthropomorphism? Clarify the meanings of literary devices, elements, and techniques with a comprehensive glossary of terms.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

10 Things I Hate about Shakespeare

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students look at the works of Shakespeare to describe and explain relationships among some of the different texts. The writing of the learners has the intent of increasing comprehension, interpretation, and critical analysis skills.
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Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Why Shakespeare Loved Iambic Pentameter

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Shakespeare sometimes gets a bad rap in high schools for his complex plots and antiquated language. But a quick peek into the rhythm of his words reveals a poet deeply rooted in the way people spoke in his time- and still speak today....
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Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Iambic Pentameter

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This encyclopedia entry for iambic pentameter provides examples of poetry and explanations of the meter's purpose.
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Handout
Other

University of Northern Iowa: Blank Verse

For Students 9th - 10th
Very clear and detailed explanation of blank verse, including related terms such as iambic pentameter and other forms of meter in poetry. Also includes a "How to and Examples," section that discusses the difficulties of writing in blank...
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Handout
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University

Purdue University Owl: Meter & Scansion

For Students 9th - 10th
Handout from the Purdue University writing lab that explains poetic meter and scansion. Explains several terms, including the following: syllabic, accentual, accentual-syllabic, quantitative, scansion, accented, unaccented, poetic foot,...
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Unknown Type
Other

Western Michigan University: Interactive Quiz on Meter

For Students 9th - 10th
This 10-question interactive quiz in prosody tests you with lines of poetry in iambic pentameter, trochaic tetrameter, and other meters.
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Website
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: The Heroic Couplet: Its Rhyme and Reason

For Students 9th - 10th
Lengthy academic essay that argues that traditional poetry, including the heroic couplet, is still relevant in the modern world. While this is discussed, the history of the heroic couplet is provided. A good definition of the term with...
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Handout
Rutgers University

Rutgers University: Glossary of Literary and Rhetorical Terms: Heroic Couplets

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A short definition of the term Heroic Couplet along with a short example from a piece of poetry from Pope's Essay on Criticism.
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Handout
Other

Rgs: Rhythm, Meter, and Scansion Made Easy

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This page was created by a 5th and 6th-grade teacher "As a quick reference for [his] students when studying rhythm," although older students could easily use it too. The following terms are defined: rhythm, meter, scansion, iamb,...
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Article
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Shakespeare:blank Verse

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This discussion of blank verse is taken from a larger article on Shakespeare and the Globe Theater. It defines the term and discusses its importance in the history of British poetry.
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Handout
University of Victoria (Canada)

The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Heroic Couplet

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site provides a short definition of the term Heroic Couplet along with a short example from a piece of poetry by Pope.
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Handout
University of Victoria (Canada)

The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Blank Verse

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This brief site provides a definition of the term blank verse, a short description of its history, and an example of its use from a poem.
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: The Craft of Poetry: Structure of the Sonnet

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Using a sonnnet grid, students write original Shakespearean sonnets and present them in digital slideshow format.
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Handout
Other

Cummings Study Guides: How Shakespeare Prepared Manuscripts

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Learn many of the elements which Shakespeare used, or took into consideration, as he wrote the original manuscripts of his plays. How did he shape the English language with new words, how did he evoke settings when plays used few or no...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs: Language Arts: Lesson Plans: Language Arts: Shakespeare's Sonnets

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
The purpose of this lesson is to help young scholars cope with unfamiliar language in Shakespeare's sonnets and to help them understand and appreciate both what he says and how he says it.
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Sounds of the Sonnet

For Teachers 9th - 10th
"Sound Experiments" drive this lesson plan. Sonnet analysis is accompanied by readings based on specific emotions. At this website, there are several links full-text sonnets by such authors as Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Longfellow, and...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Sounds of the Sonnet

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
This resource presents a lesson in which students learn to study the form, sounds, and meanings of sonnets (particularly those by Shakespeare) in an interesting and interactive way.