Form

Question 1

What are 5 of the main types of poetic form?

Answer 1

• Sonnet
• Limerick
• Ballad
• Villanelle
• Odes

Question 2

What is a Sonnet, what are its key features & what are the main types of such?

Answer 2

A Sonnet tends to be an argumentative, 14 line poem, usually written in iambic metre.

Subject matter:
- Love, familial, platonic or even romantic
- Specific person or object’
- Particular argument or poetic conceit (often posed as a question, & often exploring sig. philosophical ideas about life, death, existence)
-Because they are such old poems in terms of structure, new poets often employ sonnets to discuss ‘old-fashioned’ ideas.

Types of Sonnet - vary by rhyme scheme:
- Shakespearian
- Petrarchan
- Spenserian

Question 3

Features of a Shakespearean sonnet

Answer 3

• USUALLY structured in a set of 3 quatrains and an ending couplet
• Follows the pattern:
  a,b,a,b/c,d,c,d/e,f,e,f/gg
• If the word ‘Will’ is included within the sonnet, this is usually punning his own name, reinforcing his poetic skill.

Question 4

Features of a Petrarchan Sonnet

Answer 4

• Usually centred around romantic love

Structure:
- an Octave & Sestet with a volta
- divides 1st octave into quatrains & the sestet into 2 tercets

Question 5

Features of a Spenserian Sonnet

Answer 5

• Quite similar to a Shakespearean in terms of structure
• Follows a line split of 3 quatrains & ending in a rhyming couplet.
  The rhyme however follows a couplet link, from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd, as in the ending rhyme of each quatrain becomes the starting rhyme for the following quatrain.

Example:
A,B,A,B/B,C,B,C/C,D,C,D/EE

Question 6

What is a Limerick?

Answer 6

• Usually a 5 line poem
• Usually humorous and has a ‘twist’ at the end

Rhythm:
Rhythm is used to enhance the content of what is being said

Rhyme:
Line 1, 2, 5 rhyme with each other and contain a 3 beat meter. Line 3, 4 rhyme with each other and contain a 2 beat meter.

Question 7

What is an Ode?

Answer 7

• Usually quite ceremonial poems
• Formal lyric poems
• Addresses a person, place, idea or thing
• Classic origins in approx. 17th century, reaching peak popularity at start of 19th c.

Question 8

What is a Ballad?

Answer 8

• Narrative poems
• Usually structured in 4 line stanzas

Question 9

What is a Villanelle?

Answer 9

• Recites lines within the poem
• Usually concerns themes of obsession due to the cyclical structure

Question 10

What is concrete poetry?

Answer 10

• The visual layout of the text reflects the subject matter of the poem.