Anthony Duong, Aryan Ghadia, 

and Ethan Chap 

Sonnet Creation & Oration  

A Shakespearean sonnet has a specific argumentative structure 

First quatrain = Introduce the main theme/main metaphor. 
Second quatrain = Extend or complicate the theme/metaphor; often, an imaginative 
example is given. 
Third quatrain = Peripeteia (a twist or conflict); often introduced by a ​but ​or ​yet​ in line 9 
Couplet = Summarizes and leaves the reader with a new, concluding image 

Structure: 14 Lines    Iambic: unstressed, stressed pattern 

Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG  (duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh- 
MUST   OPTIONAL  DUH-duh-DUH) 
Pentameter: 10 Syllables Per Line 
HAVES  EXTRAS  Structure: Argument 
Subject: Holiday Season 
Consumerism 
 
Your poem is to be done and presented on Friday 12/21 in class! 

A  Christmas Shoppers invading the toy store 

B  Buying up the objects that are inside 

A  Grabbing all things in sight, but they want more 

B  Their excuse for buying is that they tried 

C  The spirit of Christmas is lost in plight 

D  All they want to do is buy all the merch  

C  They wrap all the gifts through their evil spite 

D  And on Christmas day, they gather in church 

E  Singing all the familiar hymns galore 

F  We all will come together to rejoice  

 E  And after church we head to the toy store 

F  And I use my cash to buy a Rolls Royce 

G  Oh, Christmas shoppers are always the worst 

G  They will do anything to be the first 

Much like haikus, poets are attracted by the grace, concentration, and, es, sheer difficulty 
of sonnets. You may never write another sonnet in your life, but this exercise is more 
than just busywork. It does all the following: