Lessons in the history of the sonnet
The history of the sonnet, an Italian poetic form whose name means ‘little song’, provides many lessons for developing readers and writers of poetry. This course will focus on the sonnet in English, which arrived in England during the Renaissance. We will read examples of the first ever English sonnets, before examining the features of Shakespeare’s innovative and infamous Sonnets. We will also explore the form’s central theme, love, how the sonnet got its bad reputation as a vehicle for cringey language, and the fate of the sonnet in the 20th century.
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| James Ruse AHS | 46 | 10 |
| North Sydney Girls HS | 19 | 5 |
| Baulkham Hills HS | 35 | 17 |
| North Sydney Boys HS | 21 | 4 |
| Normanhurst Boys HS | 15 | 7 |
| Sydney Boys HS | 23 | 9 |
| Hornsby Girls HS | 15 | 5 |
| Sydney Girls HS | 14 | 1 |
| Fort Street HS | 9 | 3 |
| Penrith Selective HS | 4 | 1 |
| Girraween HS | 5 | 1 |
| NBSC Manly Campus | 3 | 1 |
| St George Girls HS | 2 | 1 |
| Hurlstone Agriculture HS | 15 | 1 |
| Others | 14+ |
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| Beecroft Public School | 9 | 6 |
| North Rocks Public School | 8 | 5 |
| Ermington Public School | 7 | 3 |
| Artarmon Public School | 7 | 2 |
| Matthew Pearce Public School | 6 | 4 |
| Dural Public School | 7 | 1 |
| Waitara Public School | 4 | 1 |
| Hurstville Public School | 3 | 2 |
| Ryde Public School | 4 | 1 |
| Ironbark Ridge Public School | 6 | 4 |
| Chatswood Public School | 7 | 3 |
| Woollahra Public School | 5 | 0 |
| Neutral Bay Public School | 6 | 0 |
| Others | 25+ |
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| James Ruese AHS | 7 | 1 |
| Baulkham Hills HS | 5 | 1 |
| North Sydney Girls HS | 4 | 2 |
| North Sydney Boys HS | 1 | 1 |
| Hornsby Girls HS | 3 | |
| Normanhurst Boys HS | 5 | 2 |
| Sydney Boys HS | 4 | |
| Sydney Girls HS | 3 | 2 |
| Penrith Selective HS | 1 | |
| Girraween HS | 2 | |
| NBSC Manly Campus | 3 | |
| Fort Street HS | 1 | |
| Others | 3 |