For this evening's homework, we're looking at this poem:
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red ;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Your Learning Objective is to write a critical analysis of this poem.
That means I'd like you to explain what kind of poem it is (ballad, haiku, limerick, sonnet, epic) and how you know that; I'd like you to explain what the poem is about, and talk about how the poet uses language (think about his use of rhyme and rhythm, and his use of metaphor). Then explain what YOU think of it, and why.
The poem we looked at today was an example of the sort of sonnets that were popular at the time - please explain how Sonnet 130 is different from the mainstream poetic conventions of poems like the one we looked at today.
I have no problem with you using the internet to help you with researching your work, especially since there may be words you don't understand. But I do want whatever you write to reflect YOUR feelings about the poem. Please don't just copy somebody else's ideas with your brain switched off - I don't think any of you would, but I feel I have to say it, just to be on the safe side.
(Copying somebody else's work and passing it off as your own is called plagiarism - you get in ENORMOUS trouble for this in academia. If you do read something somebody else has written, and agree with it, OR DISAGREE WITH IT, that's absolutely fine - you just need to provide a reference or a link and quote them, then explain why you agree (or disagree) with them.
When I read your work, I want to know that you have understood the meaning of the poem. I also want to know what you thought of the poem - whether or not you liked it, and why. Please make comparisons to Sonnet 18 ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day") and to the poem we looked at today. Please remember to back up your points by quoting from the text. I'm expecting about a page of work.
