Question

Each question must have a response of 2 complete sentences or more. Correct punctuation, spelling, and grammar is expected. Sentences starters are provided.

1. Compare and contrast Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets. 10 points
Both the Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets are alike in that…
The Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets are different in that…

2. 10 points. Read the sonnet below. What is the central theme of the poem?
The central theme of “Sonnet 28”, by Franceso Petrarca, is…
Where is the volta in this sonnet?

The volta in Sonnet 28 occurs at….

“Sonnet 28” by Francesco Petrarca
Alone, and lost in thought, the desert glade
Measuring I roam with ling’ring steps and slow;
And still a watchful glance around me throw,
Anxious to shun the print of human tread:
No other means I find, no surer aid
From the world’s prying eye to hide my woe:
So well my wild disorder’d gestures show,
And lovelorn looks, the fire within me bred,
That well I deem each mountain, wood and plain,
And river knows, what I from man conceal,
What dreary hues my life’s fond prospects dim.
Yet whate’er wild or savage paths I’ve ta’en,
Where’er I wander, love attends me still,
Soft whisp’ring to my soul, and I to him.


3. 10 points. Read the sonnet below. What is the main idea of the first quatrain?
The main idea of the first quatrain of “Sonnet 30”, by William Shakespeare is….
Where is the volta?

The volta take place….

What happens in the volta?

During the volta….

“Sonnet 30” by William Shakespeare.
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:

Then can I drown an eye, unus'd to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,
And moan th' expense of many a vanish'd sight;

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor'd, and sorrows end.

Answer 1

1. Both the Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets are alike in that they are both 14-line poems written in iambic pentameter. The Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets are different in that the Petrarchan sonnet is typically divided into an octave and a sestet, while the Shakespearean sonnet is divided into three quatrains and a couplet.
   
2. The central theme of “Sonnet 28”, by Francesco Petrarca, is the speaker’s solitary contemplation of his own suffering and his desire for solitude. The volta in Sonnet 28 occurs at the transition between the octave and the sestet, where the speaker moves from describing his own solitary thoughts to addressing his love directly.
   
3. The main idea of the first quatrain of “Sonnet 30”, by William Shakespeare is the speaker’s reflection on the passage of time and his regret for lost opportunities and lost loved ones. The volta takes place at the transition between the third and fourth lines of the second quatrain, where the speaker shifts from expressing regret for the past to expressing hope for the future. In the volta, the speaker begins to focus on the positive effects of thinking about his dear friend.