U6 L3 Sonnets: Spenser, Shakespeare, and Donne

Question 1

Who was the successor to Chaucer in the development of English poetry?

Answer 1

Edmund Spenser

Question 2

Where did Edmund Spenser graduate from?

Answer 2

Cambridge

Question 3

What did Edmund Spenser do after his graduation from Cambridge?

Answer 3

spent 4 years in household of Earl of Leicester, Philip Sidney’s uncle and favorite courtier of Queen Elizabeth

Question 4

What was Spenser’s most famous work?

Answer 4

The Faerie Queen

Question 5

What was the longest poem in the English language?

Answer 5

The Faerie Queen

Question 6

Who is the ‘Faerie Queen’ in Spenser’s The Faerie Queen?

Answer 6

Gloriana, symbol of Queen Elizabeth, dedicated poem to her

Question 7

What is the name of Spenser’s sonnet sequence?

Answer 7

Amoretti (Little Loves)

Question 8

Who was Edmund Spenser’s wife?

Answer 8

Elizabeth Boyle

Question 9

What does archaic mean?

Answer 9

belonging to an earlier period, antiquated

Question 10

What language did Spenser write in?

Answer 10

quaint and archaic

Question 11

In Elizabethan spelling, the letter ‘u’ was used as what letter?

Answer 11

w or v

Question 12

What did Spenser use to develop Sonnet XXXIV?

Answer 12

simile

Question 13

What is simile?

Answer 13

• figure of speech

- expresses similarity between two objects with ‘like’ or ‘as’

Question 14

What is metaphor?

Answer 14

• figure of speech

- not use like/as to compare two objects

Question 15

What is the Italian sonnet also known as?

Answer 15

Petrarchan sonnet

Question 16

How does the Spenserian Sonnet differ from the Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet?

Answer 16

• thought is developed through 3 sets of rhyme
• abab bcbc cdcd ee
• last two lines introduce different idea

Question 17

In Spenser’s Sonnet XXXIV, who guides the ship?

Answer 17

Helice, guiding star

Question 18

How many sonnets did William Shakespeare write?

Answer 18

154

Question 19

What are the two groups Shakespeare’s sonnets can be divided into?

Answer 19

S 1-126: addressed to friend, man of noble birth
S 126-152: addressed to unkind “Dark Lady” whom the poet loves

last two don’t belong to either

Question 20

What are the general themes of Shakespeare’s Sonnets?

Answer 20

friendship and love

Question 21

How many sentences do Petrarchan sonnets generally have?

Answer 21

two long sentences (one for oct, one for ses)

Question 22

How many sentences do Shakespearean sonnets have?

Answer 22

3-4, with a period before the final couplet

Question 23

Is there a ‘perfect sonnet’?

Answer 23

no

Question 24

In Shakespeare’s Sonnet XVIII, what reasons does the narrator give for why all fair things decline?

Answer 24

nature and chance

Question 25

In Shakespeare’s Sonnet XVIII, what is the rhyming scheme?

Answer 25

abab cdcd efef gg

Question 26

In Shakespeare’s Sonnet CXVI, what is it seeking to define?

Answer 26

love

Question 27

What did John Donne’s early poetry reflect/show?

Answer 27

youthful quest for worldly pleasures

Question 28

What did John Donne’s later poetry reflect/show?

Answer 28

his search for spiritual satisfaction