) "Sonnet 130" by Shakespeare and "Sonnet 23" by Louis Labe both talk about love, as so many sonnets do. Their respective techniques however, differentiate them from each other. Shakespeare uses a rhyme scheme that became known as Shakespearean rhyme scheme or English rhyme. He writes about love in a sarcastic manner though. He is mocking the traditional love poems and the usual expressive manner in which women are often compared to. It is ironic in a way because Shakespeare himself also uses the very techniques in his previous writing when he is writing from a man's point-of-view and describing a woman. But in this sonnet he uses the technique of mocking this exaggerated comparison. Usually women are compared to having skin as white as snow, however, in reality, Shakespeare points out, women don't really fit this description, "If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun."

Louis Labe however, does not use the English rhyme scheme, he instead uses an Italian rhyme scheme, that is also known as the Petrarchan scheme. In this sonnet, Labe actually speaks from the woman's perspective, who is responding to the comments that a man made to her that were also like the comments that Shakespeare was mocking as being unrealistic. She states that all those lies were told to her and now he has left her, waiting for those promises to come true, "Your brutal goal was to make me a slave / beneath the ruse of being served by you." She states that she was told that she was loved, but it was a lie to get her to be his slave. It is this response to this supposed love that makes this piece a unique technique.

Both pieces use a rhyming technique in order to fully disperse their message. Both of these pieces are also talking about love or the expression of love in non-traditional ways. Shakespeare and Labe are known for writing about love in their stereotypical ways, however, in these sonnets, they are in a way making fun of themselves for writing in such a manner and are actually mocking their writing styles in their respective sonnets. Shakespeare is the most effective of the two when it comes to using sarcasm and mockery as a technique. He uses direct comparison to stereotypical compliments that make the readers more aware of what he is writing about and what his point-of-view is on the subject. Although Labe does the same, he is not as passionate about it as Shakespeare is in his sonnet. Both of the techniques in these sonnets are one of mockery, sarcasm, and most straightforward, rhyming.

B.)

In the poem "Fear No More the Heat O' the Sun" line 11 writes, "The scepter, learning, and physic must" all make reference to specific professions. The scepter is referring to the profession of being one of royalty, whether it is a queen or a king. The learning could be referring to a profession that involves either doing the teaching, such as a teacher or a professor, or of being a student who is receiving the knowledge instead of giving it. The physic refers to a scientific field that is referring to medical science such as either a doctor or a scientist. These are all professions that need to be inferred from this line.

6) Composing an Original Sonnet

My love constantly grew with the thought of her face

Knowing that she was so close in mind but faraway

Made my desire to have her here to embrace

Something that was in my thoughts day after day

It has been impossible to not have her near

To not speak to her in close proximity

For losing her is what I most fear

Thinking that she will not be with me eternally

I must resolve to get her close

And never let her escape my arms

Because it is her who I have chose

To forever have me charmed

For now, the stars in the sky is all the hope I have

For they remind me of our times together, and the love we once had

7) Merchant of Venice Act I

a) Famous Phrases (Acts I-V)

"All the glitters is not gold"

"Bated breath"

Before she is even introduced, we read how much Bassanio desires her for her beauty and of course for her money. She has a very controlling father who even after his death still controls who she will marry. Portia however, does not like this at all. She feels trapped by her dead father, and wishes that she at least had the power to choose something in her life. She has so many suitors, but she is not allowed to choose the one she wants because in order to be able to marry her, the suitor must choose a correct casket, in order to follow her father's desires. She is made out to be as a shy, reserved woman, who is not in control of her life. However, that changes very quickly when Bassanio finally picks the correct casket and she marries him. She turns into someone who has regained control of her life and is instead the person who ends up saving Antonio's life. Antonio's relationship with her is a bit complicated, since she is the reason why Antonio might lose Bassanio's affection. But in order to save Antonio from being killed by Shylock, she dresses up as a man in order to be Antonio's lawyer, something that was unheard of for a woman to do. She knows how much Antonio has done for Bassanio and herself, and wants to be able to repay the favor. We then see an intelligent, lawyer-like personality in Portia, who outsmarts Shylock into allowing Antonio to live and in fact making Shylock out to be the person who committed the crime. One last perspective that we are given of Portia is when she outsmarts Bassanio into giving her the ring (while still being disguised as a lawyer). This is where a conniving side comes out since she is in fact testing Bassanio once again to prove that his love is real, which also reveals her true insecurities about being truly loved by someone.
Antonio:

Antonio is a rich merchant who puts up a pound of flesh so that Bassanio (his best friend) can borrow the money he needs from Shylock in order to go woo Portia. He is portrayed as being self-sacrificing and a great friend. He is constantly stating how sad he feels about everything, especially his money being tied up with his investments on merchant ships. His character always seems to be down. Despite everything however, it is his friendship with Bassanio that actually keeps his spirits up, event though because of Bassanio he was almost killed. It seems as if he is constantly, but secretly, battling for Bassanio's love with Portia. He always compares their friendship to the love that Bassanio has for Portia, in an almost jealous manner. But the many times that Portia ends up saving his life, whether directly or indirectly, makes this jealousy a bit less apparent by the end of the play. His ugly side though, comes out when he speaks about Shylock. The Antonio that has been introduced throughout the whole play as a self-sacrificing friend is quickly challenged by his clear bigotry against Jews. The way that he talk about Shylock and the way he mocks him makes it clear that even though Antonio could be a very generous person, he is clearly racist.

Gratiano:

Gratiano seems to be a reflective character of Bassanio. Whatever Bassanio wanted, so did Gratiano. He is Antonio and Bassanio's friend, but is more of Bassanio's sidekick. When Bassanio went to pursue Portia, he tagged along just because he wanted to get out. He however is a party animal which is made reference to by Bassanio many times. While Bassanio was busy trying to woo Portia, Gratiano was also wooing Portia's friend, Nerissa. Although not really a main character, he is important because of his great resemblance to Bassanio. He is also interested in money and only wants to marry for the same reasons as Bassanio. The fact that Nerissa and Gratiano seem to mimic every move that Portia and Bassanio make, further exemplifies the fact that at first, Portia and Bassanio's love and marriage were not truly genuine, just as Gratiano and Nerissa's love is not truly genuine. Gratiano also…