How do students see the conventions of dramatic monologue and theater working together, or diverging, in other such monologues? Why might Barrett Browning have relied so heavily on theatrical conventions in this sonnet? Finally, have students put on miniature productions of this sonnet. Discuss this sonnet in the context of the Victorian vogue for dramatic monologue, generating discussion about the characteristics of the form by looking at other examples. As Stephen Burt notes in his poem guide, Barrett Browning’s sonnet draws on resources of the theater, including props and stage directions.(Use the Poetry Foundation glossary or a handbook like the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics to model this kind of definition.) As a final assignment, ask students to write a glossary entry for “Sonnet sequence,” including examples they’ve discovered. What kinds of subject matter do such sequences address? Who writes them and why? Based on this sonnet, what predictions can they make about Barrett Browning’s sequence? After discussion or pair work, have students read the first and last sonnets in Sonnets from the Portuguese. What story is Barrett Browning telling? How is she doing so? You might ask students to compare her sonnets to other famous sequences, George Meredith’s Modern Love, Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella, or Petrarch’s. Gauge students’ prior knowledge of Barrett Browning’s sequence, and sonnet sequences as a whole. Sonnet 28 is part of the most famous sonnet sequence in English.Try writing a sonnet that describes some other kind of progress or progression-examples might include the end of a love affair, a course of study, the life of someone or something. This sonnet narrates the sequence of a love affair, from friendship to impassioned declarations of love.Choose an object that seems similarly affective-capable of creating or transmitting emotions-and describe the process by which it comes to life. Barrett Browning animates what seems to be “dead paper,” suggesting that certain objects are “alive” because of the emotions they contain (from the beloved) and generate (in the lover).

Pay attention to the physical and psychological responses generated by looking and reading like Barrett Browning, play with deixis, punctuation, and citation to recreate sensations and bring readers to your scene. Describe a scene of reading (or viewing) personal communications-emails, texts, social media posts-without revealing the content of the communiqués.

Try writing an update to Barrett Browning’s sonnet, putting her speaker in the context of a networked age.

Eb browning sonnets from the portuguese