Romeo & Juliet
Weekly assignments
WEEK 15 - January 15
READ Act 1, Scenes 1-2. You may read any combination of the modern and original text. As you read annotate the following: plot summary, funny insults and opposites/ pairs.
Make short plot summaries at the top of every 2 pages.
Look for and mark funny insults as you read. This is play is an odd combination of tragedy AND comedy. What short symbol will you use for funny parts? (A joker? smiling face? Haha?)
Look for and pairs and opposites: love & hate/violence, love & infatuation, light & darkness, age & youth, sickness & health, fate and agency/free will, haste & patience, dreams & reality, friends & enemies. What symbol or phrase will you use for opposites?
WEEK 16 - January 22
READ the rest of Act 1 . You may read any combination of the modern and original text. As you read annotate the following: plot summary, funny insults and opposites/ pairs.
Make short plot summaries at the top of every 2 pages.
Look for and mark funny insults as you read. This is play is an odd combination of tragedy AND comedy. What short symbol will you use for funny parts? (A joker? smiling face? Haha?)
Look for and pairs and opposites: love & hate/violence, love & infatuation, light & darkness, age & youth, sickness & health, fate and agency/free will, haste & patience, dreams & reality, friends & enemies. What symbol or phrase will you use for opposites?
WEEK 17 - January 29
READ Act 2 Scenes 1-4. You may read any combination of the modern and original text. As you read annotate the following: plot summary, funny insults and opposites/ pairs.
Make short plot summaries at the top of every 2 pages.
Look for and mark funny insults as you read. This is play is an odd combination of tragedy AND comedy. What short symbol will you use for funny parts? (A joker? smiling face? Haha?)
Look for and pairs and opposites: love & hate/violence, love & infatuation, light & darkness, age & youth, sickness & health, fate and agency/free will, haste & patience, dreams & reality, friends & enemies. What symbol or phrase will you use for opposites?
Plot Summaries & Modern Versions
Quick plot summary of the entire play and act by act summaries by Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Another summary by PlayShakespeare.com
Older students may want to watch West Side Story with your parents (not suitable for younger students). This musical is a modern retelling of Romeo & Juliet set in New York with warring gangs instead of feuding families. The dancing and music are phenomenal. Not appropriate for younger students as there is violence and sexual inuendo.
A line-by-line graphic novel in contemporary speech by SparkNotes
Novel-version of Romeo & Juliet, scene by scene with lots of added description which reads like a teen novel by No Sweat Shakespeare.
WEEK 18 - February 5
READ Act II, Scene 5 and Act III Scene 1.
Find two quotations (in the original text) that show word play/puns, or similes/metaphors, alliteration, or opposites such as love & hate/violence, love & infatuation, light & darkness, age & youth, sickness & health, fate and agency/free will, haste & patience, dreams & reality, friends & enemies.
Illustrate these two quotations. Include the quotation on the art work.
Go back to Act 1 and look at the lines your character has. Do you have a favorite? (Cael you are Romeo, Roman you are Lord Capulet). If you are an announcer, find your favorite line in all of Act 1.
READ the rest of Act II, Scene 5 and Act III Scene 1. You may read any combination of the modern and original text. As you read annotate the following: plot summary, funny insults and character traits of the main characters.
Make short plot summaries at the top of every 2 pages.
Look for word play as you read. Words with double meanings and puns.
Look for clues to traits the main characters have. Are they fearful? rash? brave?
WEEK 19 - February 12
READ Act III Scene 2-3
Find two quotations (in the original text) that show word play/puns, or similes/metaphors, alliteration, or opposites such as love & hate/violence, love & infatuation, light & darkness, age & youth, sickness & health, fate and agency/free will, haste & patience, dreams & reality, friends & enemies.
Illustrate these two quotations. Include the quotation on the art work.
READ Act III Scene 2-3. You may read any combination of the modern and original text. As you read annotate the following: plot summary, funny insults and character traits of the main characters.
Make short plot summaries at the top of every 2 pages.
Look for word play as you read. Words with double meanings and puns.
Look for clues to traits the main characters have. Are they fearful? rash? brave?
WEEK 20 - February 26
READ Act III Scene 4-5, Act IV Scene 1
Respond to these scenes in one of the following three ways (choose 1)
As you read look for examples of purposeful miscommunication (lies or hiding the truth ) as well as accidental miscommunication. List a few examples.
Examine Juliet’s choices in these scenes. What are we learning about her character? She is only 13 and lives in a culture that says parents, especially fathers, are in charge. What is she doing that surprises you given what her culture expects of her?
Find a metaphor or opposites. Write it down and explain it.