English Literature / Unit 1 ENL 0029 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Volta
Captions available
The idea
The volta is the turn in a poem, a shift in thought or feeling. In the Petrarchan sonnet it usually comes at line nine, where the sestet begins; in the Shakespearean, often at the couplet. Find the turn and you usually find the question.
In practice
Line nine, or the couplet.
Where people slip
The word is new; the device is old.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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