Task 40: A Tale of Two Sonnets

Welcome to the NEW wordvoodoo!

Please don't be confused by the fact that this task is called Task 40. There were 39 tasks on wordvoodoo in the past two years - and it will just confuse the blog TOO much if I go back to calling this Task 1. :)

If you have read this weekend's newsletter you will be well aware that tasks will become even more challenging now - and my expectations of your work will increase commensurately too. The stakes are high: the George Mitchell students will not want to be outdone by students from Connaught, Leytonstone or Norlington; and the Connaught, Leytonstone and Norlington students will want to outdo each other AND the George Mitchell students. I am hoping that a bit of healthy competition will inject a certain chemistry into the tasks - to everyone's benefit!

With Task 40, we return to that most perfect and yet elusive of poetic forms: the SONNET.

So, before I go any further, let me remind you all of the rules of sonnet writing...

1. A sonnet should have 14 lines
2. Each line should be written in iambic pentameter (i.e. 5 iambic feet) - dee-DUM
   
3. I am looking for the following rhyme scheme: ababcdcd efefgg
4. Ideally, there will be a subtle change of mood/theme between the octave (lines 1-8) and the sestet (lines 9-14)
5. Not all lines should be end-stopped - and enjambement is recommended, as is the use of caesura within some lines

Have a look at the following tasks to remind you how to go about this:

• Task 5
• Task 19
• Task 30
• Task 31
• Task 32

As well as the tasks themselves, you would do well to read some of the attempts by the students blogging at those times - and the comments they received too.

Make no mistake - I shall be looking for pretty perfect iambic pentameter from ALL of you this week; and some very inventive caesura and enjambement from those of you with a real flair for this sort of stuff.

But Task 40 isn't just to write a sonnet. ANY wordvoodoo blogger worth anything can do that!

Task 40 requires you to write TWO sonnets; and the SECOND sonnet should be a direct response to the FIRST sonnet...

The world is full of binary opposition - conflicting ideas which are diametrically opposed to each other: love and hate; truth and deceit; peace and war; childhood and adulthood; hope and despair; the city and the countryside; Arsenal and Spurs; comedy and tragedy; vegetarianism and carnivorousness; faith and atheism... The list could go on forever.

You need to choose a pair of opposites - either from the list above (if you want) or completely of your own choice.

Then your FIRST sonnet needs to be written in the 1st person, from the point of view of one of your conflicting ideas. Subsequently, your SECOND sonnet should respond, also in the 1st person, to the first sonnet.

Kind of like 'answer poems', I guess: Ralegh's "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" to Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love". Or even 'answer songs': The Pirates' "You should really know" to Mario Winans' "I don't wanna know" or Sporty Thievz's "No Pigeons" to TLC's "No Scrubs".

You have two weeks to complete this task - and the deadline is midnight on Saturday 4th July. (So those of you with me on the residential need to make sure they do not leave it until the last minute!)

As always, I shall post an exemplar shortly, which will give you an idea of what I am looking for, and how to lay it out too.

And remember, this is wordvoodoo; so I am looking for:

• flawless adherence to the rules above
• freshness and originality (with a healthy dose of risktaking and experimentation thrown in for good measure!)
  
• accessibility coupled with complexity - so that it works on more than one level
  
• control over rhyme and form (rather than letting rhyme and form control you!)

If you get stuck, or want any help at all - just email me. Seriously.

Good luck!