Final answer:
A sonnet is a poem consisting of fourteen lines with a specific rhyme scheme and structure. The two most common types of sonnets are the Italian sonnet and the Shakespearean sonnet.
Step-by-step explanation:
A sonnet is a poem consisting of fourteen lines and has a specific rhyme scheme and structure. The most common types of sonnets are the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet and the Shakespearean sonnet. The Italian sonnet has an octave and a sestet, with a rhyme scheme of abbaabba in the octave and various rhyme schemes in the sestet. The Shakespearean sonnet is composed of three quatrains (four-line stanzas) with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef, followed by a final couplet with a rhyme scheme of gg. The volta, or turn in thought, can be found either between lines eight and nine or between lines twelve and thirteen.