Shakespeare's Love Sonnet 130

-
Using Shakespeare's works in the EFL classroom may appear risky as we all know how baffling they can be even to the native speakers. However there is no reason why we should deprive our students of the pleasure to experience some of Shakespeare's most famous sonnets especially when they are read by famous actors such as Alan Rickman and David Tennant.

drawing by sandhyaprabhat
The sonnet is a popular classical form of poetry named from the Italian word sonetto, which means “a little sound or song". Traditionally, the sonnet consists of fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter. The English or Shakespearean sonnet is usually end-rhymed following the scheme a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g.
Here is a simple lessson on Shakespeare's sonnet 130 (My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun) with reading comprehension activities and a writing task where students get to write their own poem. Perfect for Valentine's Day!

 Target group: Older teens

 Level B2+.  


If you decide to use this lesson leave me a comment and tell me how it went.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dead Poets Society Worksheets

-
Image
The 21st March is  World Poetry Day  and it is an excellent opportunity to show students a film I am particularly fond of (in fact most teachers are): Dead Poets Society. Dead Poets Society   is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Robin Williams. Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry. There are tons of worksheets out there for both native and EFL students focusing on different aspects of the film. The film itself is very rich in  literature material and can provoke discussions on many issues like poetry, conformity, education, the list goes on.  The following worksheets are inspired by the ones found on the internet so in this sense they are not original. However they are written with my students in mind (ideally 15-18 year olds at B1+ level) and ...
Read more

"Zebra Question" by Shel Silverstein

-
Image
It seems that I have a soft spot for Shel Silverstein's writings.  They are simple yet so rich in meanings and they are always accompanied with straightforward illustrations that make them ideal for children and adults alike. Three years ago I created a short lesson on  The Missing Piece Meets the Big O . This year I made a short video for one of Silverstein's short poems, the  "Zebra Question".  photo by  VIKTOR HANACEK Zebra Question is a poem from the book  A Light in the Attic , published in 1981. It is about a boy who asks a zebra whether it is black with white stripes or white with black stripes. The zebra replies somewhat sassily with an exhaustive list of questions: "Are you good with bad habits? Or are you bad with good habits? Are you noisy with quiet times? Or quiet with noisy times? and on and on and on in a repetitive way. The poem reminds us to look at situations but also at ourselves from different perspectives. Not...
Read more

CEFR and Guided Learning Hours

-
Image
How many guided learning hours are needed for a language learner to progress from one level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) to the next? For more information visit  the official website  for the  Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
Read more