ÒO how I faint when I of you do writeÓ: Analyzing Shakespearean Sonnets
Using SOAPSTone and Performance
Adapted from the
classroom strategy posted under ÒTeaching StrategiesÓ Facing HistoryÕs
website: www.facing.org. Performance technique is borrowed from Caleen Jennings and
Michael TolaydoÕs instruction at the Teaching Shakespeare Institute 2006.
Cathlin Goulding teaches
Sophomore English and Poetry at Newark Memorial High School, a
socio-economically diverse public school in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Plays/Scenes Covered:
This lesson can be used
with any of the Shakespearean sonnets; in this lesson, the modeling of this
analytical technique uses Sonnet 133. Suggested sonnets for this activity include: 3, 9, 11,
16, 22, 25, 27, 42, 51, 57 97, 102, 126, 127, 131, 133, 138, 143.
NCTE Standards
Covered:
Standards 2, 4, 6
WhatÕs On For Today
and Why:
Today, students will
learn how to use SOAPSToneÑa strategy that helps students break down a text for
point of view and audienceÑin order to analyze ShakespeareÕs sonnets. After analyzing the sonnets,
students will ÒphysicalizeÓ the audience and point of view through a dramatic
performance. This lesson is
not intended to teach or introduce the sonnet form; therefore, students may
need a brief introduction to sonnet structure before this lesson. This lesson will take three to four
50-minute class periods.
What To Do:
Part One:
1. Introducing SOAPSTone: (Day One): Put a transparency of a photograph on the
overheadÑyou can use a range of photographs; current news photographs work
quite well with this activity.
Ask
students to identify, the subject, occasion, audience, purpose, speaker, and
tone for the photograph, briefly defining each term as you discuss (see SOAPSTone
Definitions handout below). Have
each of the SOAPSTone elements charted on the board; a student can make notes
on the board as the students volunteer responses.
2. Putting SOAPSTone to Work (Day One): Pass out copies of SOAPSTone Definitions and
copies/overhead of Sonnet 133.
Tell students they will each analyze a Shakespearean Sonnet for the
elements they just applied to the photograph.
Do
a Òread-aroundÓ of the sonnet in which each student takes a line. Ask students to circle words they
arenÕt familiar with and to underline parts of the text where they see someone
being addressed or spoken to.
Debrief
the sonnet first for comprehension: what words are confusing (have The
Shakespeare Glossary or a copy of
Folger Edition of The Sonnets
available)? Have student
volunteers look up the words and define them for the class.
Then,
ask students: What do you know about the speaker of the poem? How does he/she feel? Who is he/she talking to? What specific parts of the play made
the students think this? Why is
he/she writing the poem? What
occasion inspired the writing of this poemÑwho is Òthe friendÓ? What is going
on between the speakerÕs lover and the friend? What is the feeling you get when
reading the poem? Does the speaker
seem angry, sad, upset?
Again,
have a student volunteer writing responses up on the board under SOAPSTone
Chart.
3. Practicing SOAPSTone with a partner (Day Two): Break students into pairs. Give each pair a sonnet; each pair in
the class should have a different sonnet to analyze and perform.
Pairs
will read their sonnet aloud, circling words they do not know, underlining
parts of the text where they find out information about the audience or
speaker. Pairs should read their
sonnet several times over and look up any unfamiliar words.
As
students are busily reading their sonnet, pass out the ÒSOAPSTone Graphic
OrganizerÓ (see below) on which students will take notes to more fully digest
the sonnet. They will determine
the SOAPSTone for the poem, and note specific lines or words that led them to
their conclusions.
Encourage
students to think outside the box, to imagine the life of the speaker and the
person he/she addresses: how old are they, where do they live, what are their
professions?
Tell
students to leave the very right-hand ÒMovementÓ column blank for now.
4. ÒMirroringÓ A Shakespearean Sonnet (Day Two): After students have analyzed their sonnet for
SOAPSTone, check off or stamp their work. They can now begin to plan a ÒphysicalizationÓ of the
sonnet, meaning that the students will use movement and voice to create a
dramatic scene. One student will take on the role of ÒSpeakerÓ and the other
student will play the ÒAudience,Ó or the person to whom they determined the
poem was written.
The
ÒSpeakerÓ will read the sonnet aloud, using dramatic movement, gestures, and
voice to represent their character, their tone, and occasion. For example, if the speaker says, ÒÓO
how I faint,Ó then the speaker should find a gesture to represent this
action. You may want to try a few
practice physicalizations with students, reading aloud lines and asking all
students in the class to mime the action together.
The
ÒAudience,Ó in turn, must ÒmirrorÓ the words of the sonnetÕs speaker,
non-verbally reacting in kind to each line/word using only movement, facial
expression, etc. Students may use
props, entrance/exits, and music to enhance their performance.
To
prepare for the mirroring, students should block the performance on their copy
of the sonnet, as well as take notes on appropriate movements on their graphic
organizers. By the end of the
period, students should be on their feet, practicing their movements and
reading.
5. Performances (Day Three): Have a sign up sheet ready for students to pick their performance
slots. Each pair will perform their mirror. After each performance, encourage thunderous applause! Quickly debrief what the students
noticed about who the speaker was, the occasion, the tone, the audience to whom
the poem was written. When all are
finished, collect their Graphic Organizers and their copies of the poem that
they blocked.
What You Need:
- SOAPSTone Graphic Organizer
- Overhead of a current news photograph (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3044865/site/newsweek/)
- SOAPSTone Definitions
- Copies or overhead of Sonnet 133
- 2 copies each of 15 different Shakespearean
Sonnets (adjust according to class size).
How Did It Go?
Did each pairing have a
unique way of presenting each sonnet? Was it clear, through their performances, that
students understood the nature of the speaker and the audience, the tone of the
poem? At the end of the
performance day, have each student to complete an Òexit cardÓ in which they
write a short paragraph about which performance they liked the best and why, or
which pair best showed the relationship between speaker and audience. Collect these cards as their Òticket
out of the door.Ó Exit cards help
us to see how much or what each individual student took from the assignment.
