Vocabulary
What is a sonnet?
A 14-line poem with a set rhyme scheme and rhythm.
What is personification?
Giving human qualities to nonhuman things.
How many lines are in a sonnet?
14
What famous monument does the poem describe?
The Statue of Liberty
The “turn” or shift in thought, tone, or argument.
What is a volta in a sonnet?
Identify the device: “Her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor.”
Personification — the statue’s eyes “command.”
What is the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean (English) sonnet?
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
What shift or volta occurs in “The New Colossus”?
The poem turns from ancient power (conquest) to compassion and welcome.
In “The New Colossus,” the word exiles most nearly means:
(A) Travelers B) people banished from their country C) rulers D) soldiers
B) People banished from their country.
What is allusion, and what does Lazarus allude to in her poem?
A reference to another work or event; she alludes to the Colossus of Rhodes (“the brazen giant of Greek fame”) and the Statue of Liberty.
Where does the volta usually occur in a Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet?
Around line 9 — the poem’s turn in tone or theme
How does Lazarus use the sonnet form to express her message about America?
She redefines the sonnet — instead of romantic love, it celebrates liberty, refuge, and kindness.
The phrase “tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free” suggests a tone of ________ and reveals the connotation of yearning as meaning ________.
Tone = compassion/empathy; Connotation = deep desire or longing for freedom.
“The imprisoned lightning” is an example of what device, and what does it represent?
Metaphor & Personification— compares the torch’s flame to captured lightning, symbolizing power and enlightenment.
Explain one key difference between a Shakespearean and a Petrarchan sonnet.
Shakespearean = 3 quatrains + couplet (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG); Petrarchan = octave + sestet (ABBA ABBA CDE CDE
What is the central theme of The New Colossus, and how does it reflect the values of the speaker?
The poem’s theme is compassion and refuge — America as a welcoming home for the oppressed; greatness shown through empathy, not conquest.