How can a student effectively write a sonnet following the English format?

Though the Shakespearean sonnet form is one of the most well known poetic forms, writing one can definitely be a challenge. Thank you for including the image of your assignment. It looks like your teacher is concentrating primarily on the rhyme scheme and number of syllables.

It must have 14 lines and it must follow the rhyme scheme listed. Each letter represents the last word of the line, and that word must rhyme with the last word of the line with the corresponding letter. Let me show you, since that may sound a little confusing.

Here is the format of the rhyming lines:

A

B

A

B

C

D

C

D

E

F

E

F

G

G

Whatever word you use last in the first line A must rhyme with the last word in the second line A, and the last words in the B lines must also rhyme. The last two lines, called a couplet, rhyme with each other.

Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet 18 is a great example of this. Here is the first stanza, the ABAB format:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

It does take some drafting and adjusting of words to get the rhyme scheme straight. Try to keep the end words simple so there are many rhyming choices, and keep a rhyming dictionary open on your computer.

There are a few other conventions that go with the Shakespearean sonnet, but it appears that your assignment is geared toward appreciating the format. However, let me share them in case you need to know.

The subject of each section of the sonnet has a special purpose. The first stanza introduces the main idea of the poem. The second stanza expands that theme, and often uses another creative example to support the theme.

In the third stanza, the writer throws in a twist, or conflict, usually with the word “but.”

The final two lines, the couplet, sum everything up with another new image.

Do not let all this overwhelm you. Looking closely into the true complexity of the sonnet shows Shakespeare’s amazing writing skill in a way that is not obvious at a first reading.