My Mistress eyes are nothing like sun-"HELP"

[Janan]

Dear all

I am an ESL undergraduate student. Currently i am taking literature classes. For me making analysis of a poem is like going to hell. Are there an easy guidelines or techniques to be followed in analysing a poem. Any book regarding teaching how to analyse a poem?

Futhermore, i have to make presentation of one the Shakespear' sonnet"My Mistress eyes are nothing like sun" to the class.I have no idea how to present it. Any idea or pictures for background.This is urgent.I need your urgent HELP

Thanks for your help.

[grace86]

First off, that sonnet is a very unconventional love poem. I take it you have also read Petrarch's sonnets? His are quite different. This sonnet is not something most females would like to get in a Valentine.

What do you think of the sonnet first off? What are your first impressions?

[lavendar1]

Don't get so shook up. Remember: When you analyze something, you look at its parts and see how they relate to the whole.

I'm sure you've been given some instruction on this -- have you talked about how the Shakespearean sonnet has a definite form? Each sonnet has 14 lines: three quatrains (3 'chunks,' if it's easier for you to see it that way) that have 4 lines each, and a couplet -- a 2-liner that "wraps things up."

Shakespeare's sonnets follow a particular rhyme scheme. That simply means that there's a pattern in the way the words rhyme. The Shakespearean sonnet uses iambic pentameter -- Read the sonnet outloud to understand this. The emphasis will be on every other syllable (it's called light/heavy), and you will find 5 such groupings in each line.

Another thing to consider: Each of those quatrains gives a slightly different perspective or viewpoint on a single theme. And as I said, the last couplet "wraps things up" --it summarizes.

Don't let all this form make you lose the beauty of Shakespeare's language. Read the sonnet aloud more than once. And think about what he's saying. If you don't know a word's meaning, look it up.

And Grace, I'm not so sure about your comment that a woman wouldn't be fattered or appreciate this poetry: I think it speaks of acceptance -- that love is love -- it goes beyond the mere physical attributes of the beloved.

And when you present, know what you're talking about. Don't worry about razzle-dazzle.

Good luck!

Try this: www.shakespeare-sonnets.com

[byquist]

This is one where Shakespeare's sense of humor was in full force; and saying, "love is in the eye of the beholder."

[grace86]

This sonnet is not something most females would like to get in a Valentine.

I was just saying it is easy to overlook the meaning...not that a female wouldn't appreciate it at all. I think someone who could see into the meaning or depth of the poem would find it very flattering and even comical. But to be honest, I don't know of too many women who would read into it much further than what is literally written.

[ennison]

Get youself a 'mistress'. That's the best preparation. Be aware that 'mistress' to the Elizabethans did not have the connotations of adultery that it does to us. It just means 'girlfriend'.
You could consider it as a series of negatives to accentuate a positive. He's taking a comic swipe at those soppy overdone love poems of his day (and ours). Basically he's saying the uniqueness of a woman is not in the obvious physical features but in something else ...... but I guess you don't need help beyond that.

[Redzeppelin]

Sonnets are often understood through their structure - 3 quatrains (4 lines) and a couplet (2 lines). The quatrains generally develop and idea and the couplet is the resolution/answer/overall comment on the issue brought up and amplified by the quatrains.

At issue in this sonnet is the idea of beauty - what is it and is it the same for everybody?