Sonnet
A 14-line poem in iambic pentameter with specific rhyme schemes. The two major forms are Shakespearean (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG) and Petrarchan (ABBAABBA CDECDE or similar).
Real World
Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 ('Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?') builds its argument across three quatrains before resolving in the couplet: the beloved's beauty will live forever through poetry.
Exam Focus
Identify which sonnet form is used and track how the argument or volta develops across the structural divisions — examiners reward structural awareness.
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