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Question: Read “To My Books”, a sonnet by Caroline Norton (1808-77). Write a critical analysis of the poem in 300-400 words, paying particular attention to form, imagery and voice.
Answer: The sonnet is an extremely powerful and well-constructed form of poetry with several defining features: a strong rhyme scheme, the progression of ideas through its fourteen lines and the appealing voice of a dramatised speaker. Caroline Norton’s poem, “To My Books”, exemplifies the major attributes of the sonnet form.
In poetry ‘form’ is the structure and arrangement of words, and in the sonnet this is of particular importance. “To My Books” takes on the format of a Shakespearean sonnet; most of its lines being ten syllable iambic pentameter, divided into three quatrains and a rhyming couplet....(short extract)
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Details: Mark: 70% | Subject: English Literature | Course: English Literature | Level: A-Level | Year: Not applicable | Document type: Essay* | Words: 500 | References: No | Date written: March, 2003 | Date submitted: January 26, 2009 | Essay ID: 342
