Sonnets and "Oh Captain! My Captain!"

In our two-week trek through poetry, we decided to “kick it old school” by looking at sonnets.  Though there are two different types of sonnets, the English and Italian, we focused on three of Shakespeare’s most notable sonnets: #30, #33, and #73.

As we discussed these three sonnets, the students constructed a Circle Map to describe this form of poetry.

We then switched gears and looked at Walt Whitman’s iconic poem “O Captain! My Captain!”  As I read stanza by stanza, I then asked the students to analyze what was being said in each stanza.  Once we finished the poem I showed them a rap version that brought this post-Civil War elegy to life with a modern twist.

Homework:

PowerPoint:

 

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