Which two elements determine the classifications of the sonnet?

• A. Theme and Meter
• B. Structure and Rhyme Scheme
• C. Meter and Length
• D. Lineation and Rhythm

Answer: (B)

The way a sonnet is classified hinges on two formal features: its structure and its rhyme pattern. Structure means how the poem’s lines are organized into sections—an octave and sestet in the Petrarchan form, or three quatrains plus a final couplet in the Shakespearean form, with the Spenserian form using interlocking rhymes among quatrains and a concluding couplet. The rhyme scheme is the specific pattern of end rhymes that accompanies that structure—Petrarchan typically starts with an octave of ABBA ABBA and a varying sestet, Shakespearean follows ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, and Spenserian uses the interlocking ABAB BCBC CDCD EE. Meter and length, while important features of sonnets, do not define the main classifications in the same way, since most sonnets share iambic pentameter and a standard fourteen-line length. So, how the poem is built across lines and how those lines rhyme is what primarily determines the standard classifications.