English with Mrs. Lamp

As AP Literature teachers, we’ve all been there: standing in front of a classroom of teenagers, about to introduce Renaissance poetry. Are they going to resist this from the jump? How much are they going to complain? How much skepticism and/or fear should I brace myself to feel coming off these kids? The mere mention of Shakespeare, sonnets, or metaphysical conceits might just send your students’ eyes rolling. I can hear the whining starting now: “But that stuff is so HARD. It’s so BORING. We already did Shakespeare in 9th grade!”

But here’s the truth I want to bring you today: teaching Renaissance poetry doesn’t have to feel like the hardest part of your AP Lit school year. In fact, there are things we can do to make this a unit the kids LOVE (and one we love teaching).

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Why Renaissance Poetry Matters (Even in 2025) for High School Students

The AP Literature exam consistently features Renaissance poetry in its questions, and for good reason. These poems are the best of the best, rich in literary devices, complex argumentation, and sophisticated wordplay. When students crack the code of one of John Donne or George Herbert’s metaphysical conceits or unravel the layers of a Shakespearean sonnet, they’re developing the reading skills & critical thinking skills they need for future success.

But there’s something even more magical that happens if we can get students to truly engage with Renaissance poetry: they’re going to discover that human emotions—love, fear, ambition, doubt—haven’t changed much in 400 years. Suddenly, that “ancient” poem becomes startlingly relevant. Often, the kids realize that this poetry is not actually that hard. In fact, the ideas and emotions that make these poems come to life are actually super relevant, relatable, and engaging for students today!

Breaking Down the Barriers: Scaffold Your Renaissance Poetry Unit

The secret to teaching Renaissance poetry successfully? Scaffolding, scaffolding, scaffolding. Here’s what I’ve learned works best:

1. Start with Historical Context Instead of diving straight into “Holy Sonnet 10” or “Fear No More the Heat o’ the Sun,” give students the cultural foundation they need. Understanding the Renaissance worldview—with its emphasis on classical learning, courtly love, and religious upheaval—helps students make sense of these complex texts. They probably studied this period a bit in 9th grade with Romeo and Juliet and a few Shakespearean sonnets, but they’re going to need a refresher. Go over what they already know with some type of KWL discussion, and then give them a context reading that’s brief enough not to lose their attention & that gets into what’s most important and cuts out the fat. (Textbook intros are often TOO much. I made my own, with headings and bullet points to help kids stay on track, and we also do active notetaking with it and a “main ideas” word web when we’re done.) The intro activities are part of the unit bundle, here, if you’d rather not make your own.
2. Build a Poetry Analysis Toolkit Teach students to approach each poem systematically. Show them how to break it down (analysis means breaking something down, actually)! Give them a routine way to go over what the poem is doing, what literary devices the poet’s using, and how the poet’s choices are building up to a larger theme (message, lesson, point). What’s the form? What patterns do they notice? What words seem strange or significant? Give them the literary terminology they need, but more importantly, show them how to use these tools to unlock meaning. Go from “what does the poem do?” to “what does the poem mean?” My unit has all of my poetry analysis questions, which are designed to do just this, as are the modified TPCASTT worksheets that come with the unit, which give them a graphic organizer to help them analyze more easily. If you’re building your own unit, think about HOW you’re going to get them to “break down” the poems & then go from that to figuring out the larger theme.
3. Make It Relevant Help students see the connections between Renaissance themes and their own lives. A carpe diem poem isn’t just about seizing the day in 1600—it’s about the same FOMO your students experience when scrolling through social media. It relates really well to the YOLO meme they’re all familiar with, too! Keep coming back to universal themes like carpe diem, memento mori, love, God & spirituality, and unrequited love, and the kids will start noticing them THEMSELVES as they get further into the unit & encounter poems with similar themes cropping up again. (My unit does this on purpose, cycling through poems with similar themes as we go; it makes the students feel SO SMART when they start seeing the themes before I tell them what they are!)

From Confusion to Confidence

The most rewarding moment in teaching Renaissance poetry is the same as it is in teaching anything: it’s when you see that light bulb moment—when a student who was rolling her eyes and whining at the start, or struggling with archaic language (not just “thee” and “thou,” but stuff like “ere,” “dost,” and “wherefore,”), or asking you what metaphors and personification have to do with anything–when that student suddenly raises her hand to point out how Marvell’s imagery reinforces his argument in “To His Coy Mistress,” or shouts out “This one’s another carpe diem poem, isn’t it?”, and you get to smile big, high five, and give her that over-the-top teacher encouragement that makes the kids beam… That’s what it’s all about, right?

As of 2025, I’ve spent 13 years of refining my approach to teaching Renaissance poetry. What I have now is a comprehensive 4-week unit that takes students from intimidated novices (who are often also “too cool” for poetry or hoping that whining will make me change my mind & do campfire crafts with them for a month…) to confident poetry analysts who feel smart, insightful, and like they can really “cook” on the AP exam if they get a Renaissance poem thrown their way! This bundle includes everything I wish I’d had when I first started teaching AP Lit:

• A carefully curated selection of 17 Renaissance poems with 120 scaffolded analysis questions. You’ll do “I do, we do, you do,” and then incorporate small group discussions, Gallery Walks, Socratic Seminars, and Fishbowl Discussions, so these poems don’t get bland & class doesn’t get boring!
• Student-friendly vocabulary lists that demystify archaic language for every single poem (and remind them about key lit terms).
• Engaging discussion activities that get students talking about complex texts, all listed in the unit calendar so you know which teaching modalities are going to be best for which poem, and when to start loosening the reins as the kids work through the 12 main poems (and 5 bonus poems).
• A fun & pedagogically sound TPCASTT graphic organizer that’ll help kids show what they’ve learned in their first formative assessment for the unit.
• Step-by-step guidance for writing poetry explication essays (a 20-page packet)
• A complete AP Literary Terms study packet (31-pages of handouts kids can use as a reference packet; includes mini-lessons on hard stuff, like tone, diction, rhythm, and meter, too!)
• Two versions of the summative assessment (final unit test) that use AP-Style multiple choice & free-response questions, so they’ll be ready for the exam in May!
• A great intro/background reading that’s challenging, but not too hard or boring for 11th & 12th graders (I added headings and bullet points to help them follow along.)
• A full unit calendar, plus teacher notes for ALL of the materials
• A study guide (for use with students who have accommodations, or give it to the whole class, or use it yourself to stay focused on what’ll be on the test)

What makes this unit special isn’t just the materials, although I did spend a TON of time creating and improving all this—it’s the methodology. Each component builds upon the last, so I’m gradually releasing responsibility to students as their confidence grows, and they’re starting to recognize common themes as they pop up again and again. By the end of the unit, students who once feared poetry are telling me it’s “not so bad” and that they are “definitely ready for the AP test.” That’s a win!

Beyond the AP Exam

Yes, this unit will help your students succeed on the AP Literature exam. But more importantly, it will help them develop skills they’ll use long after test day, things like empathy, close reading, analytical thinking, and the ability to engage with complex texts.

Teaching Renaissance poetry might seem daunting, especially if you’ve never really taught poetry before or you feel like poetry was WAY under-covered in your own 9-12 or university experience. (Does anyone even teach poetry anymore??) However, with the right approach and great materials, this unit really can become one of the most rewarding units you teach.

Your students might enter the classroom thinking Renaissance poetry is irrelevant to their lives, boring, or too hard. But they’ll leave understanding that these centuries-old verses still have the power to move, challenge, and inspire. They’ll also see that they CAN read and understand hard things, and that they are smart, insightful, and amazing people who have cool things to say about poetry, too!!

Ready to transform your Renaissance poetry unit? Check out my comprehensive bundle and give your students the tools they need to master these timeless texts.

PS: If you already have a good lit terms packet & don’t want to do a final essay, but you do want the rest of the unit, you can grab that smaller package here.

Do you love teaching Renaissance poetry? What are your favorite poems to teach? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!