Sample Unit
Exploring Love and Loyalty: Romeo and Juliet (Grade 9)
Prologue and Act I: Introduction to Romeo and Juliet
Pre-reading: Role Play
- Have volunteers read and discuss the following role play sketch, then decide how they will act out the scene. Some improvisation will be necessary following the initial actions. (This role play activity helps students to make connections between their personal prior experiences and the action of the play.)
| Scene: | The school soccer field just prior to a scheduled soccer practice. |
| Characters: | Trevor, Andy, Mark, Lucien, several other students, coach. |
| Action: | Trevor and Andy are best friends, as are Mark and Lucien. Trevor and Andy have a long standing grudge against Mark and Lucien. The four meet on the school soccer field and a loud, shoving match provoked by Trevor and Andy begins. Suddenly other students join in the disagreement, taking one side or the other. When the coach arrives, his attempts to find out who started it fail as each side blames the other. The coach then gives the two sides a warning about what will happen if they fight in the future. |
- Explain to students that a disagreement of a similar nature happens at the beginning of the play, Romeo and Juliet, because of a long-standing feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, two old families of Verona, Italy.
Possible Mini-lesson Topic
- Explain and model role play. (See the Speaking and Listening section of this curriculum guide for information about role play.)
Prologue and Act I, Scene I
Pre-reading
- Explain the purpose of a prologue and the use of a chorus in Shakespeare's plays. The prologue explains the situation of the play and prepares the audience for what is to come. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, one person appears on stage and fulfils the function of a chorus. That person is outside of the action and communicates with the audience.
Reading
- Have students read along as they listen to an audio recording of the Prologue. This will give them a flavour for the language of Shakespeare's time and will provide the background and setting for the play.
- Discuss the "unhappy ending" predicted by the chorus and compare it to the "happy ending" of the video recording, Same Differences, that students previously viewed.
Viewing
- Provide a video recording of Scene I for students to watch so that they can get a flavour of the time period through the actors' costumes and actions and through the scenery.
Post-reading: Reader Response and Discussion
- Have students return to their copies of the play and, in pairs or groups of three, discuss the action and the characters. Have them complete a chart, such as the one that follows, identifying the characters who are loyal to the Capulets and those who are loyal to the Montagues, as well as any other characters they encounter. (Remind students to add to their charts as they encounter new characters during the reading of the play.)
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Loyal to Capulets |
Loyal to Montagues |
Other Characters |
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- In Scene I readers meet Romeo, one of the main characters of the play. Have students work in small groups to discuss the following questions. Instruct students to identify the lines that support their responses.
- What are the concerns expressed regarding Romeo by Lady Montague and her husband? To whom do they express these concerns? Why to that character?
- What is Romeo's state of mind?
- What emotions does Romeo express? About whom?
- What advice does Benvolio give Romeo?
- Have individual students write in their Response Journals to respond to the following questions:
- Do you agree with Benvolio's advice to Romeo? Why or why not?
- What advice would you give your best friend if he/she loved someone who did not return his/her love?
- Ask volunteers to share their responses with the entire class. Encourage discussion about differing responses.
- Explain to students that they must keep a running record of the play's action and events. Their record should be in the form of written summaries. Tell them that at times they will read and listen to scenes, at times they will view scenes, and at times you will provide them with oral or written summaries of scenes.
Possible Mini-lesson Topics
Literary Device - Oxymoron
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An oxymoron is created when two apparently incongruous or contradictory terms are combined to create a particular effect for the reader (e.g., deafening silence). |
- Draw students' attention to Romeo's speech (lines 174-180) in which he describes how love feels to him. Have them identify several oxymorons.
- Discuss the effect that these oxymorons create and help students to discover how Shakespeare's use of oxymorons illustrates Romeo's "lovesick" condition and the superficial nature of the love that Romeo has for Rosaline.
- Review Reader Response and the procedure for use of Response Journals throughout the unit. (See the Reading section of this curriculum guide for information about Reader Response.)
- Compare insulting language in the past and today (e.g., lines 44-55). Discuss that it is often nonverbal actions and how something is said rather than the actual words used that make it an insult.
- Explain the aside as a literary device (e.g., lines 49-51).
Assessment Suggestions
- Use a checklist of pre-established criteria to observe and record data regarding students' discussion abilities.
- Review students' charts to determine their abilities to identify the main characters and the relationships of these characters.
Act I, Scene II
Pre-reading
- Have students discuss the following questions regarding youth and society today:
- Where do young people meet potential marriage partners?
- At what age is it considered appropriate for young people to marry?
- How do young people choose whom they will marry?
- Do parents have a say in choosing the marriage partner?
- Do young people ever "crash" parties (sneak in uninvited)? Do they get away with it? If so, how? What are the consequences?
- Have them compare their responses with those that people would make in Romeo and Juliet's day. They may wish to construct a chart or Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences between the two times.
Reading
- Summarize lines 1-44, making the following points:
- Paris asks Capulet for permission to marry Juliet. Paris speaks only of marriage, not of love.
- Capulet's response to Paris makes him appear to be a loving father. He says that Juliet is too young to marry (14 years) and that he would prefer to give his consent to someone that Juliet chooses.
- Capulet agrees to have a party so that Paris and Juliet may meet.
- Read aloud and discuss lines 8-11 and 13-19.
- Summarize lines 45-101, making the following points:
- Capulet has dispatched a servant who cannot read to invite the party guests. The servant happens upon Romeo and Benvolio who help him read the guest list and learn of the party.
- Benvolio convinces Romeo that they should "crash" the party. He thinks that Romeo will then meet someone to replace Rosaline, who does not love him in return.
- Read aloud and discuss lines 86-87 and 92-93.
Act I, Scene III
Pre-reading
- Ask students to tell a partner how they would react if their parents decided that they should marry a certain person, especially if they were in love with someone else. Would they even consider their parents' suggestion?
Reading
- Summarize this brief scene for the students, making the following points:
- Mention of the possibility of Juliet's marriage leads the Nurse to reminisce about Juliet's childhood, for she has raised Juliet from infancy. The Nurse expresses her fondness for Juliet. If appropriate, help students to understand the Nurse's character by drawing their attention to her bawdy sense of humour and her coarse comments regarding the physical nature of love (e.g., lines 42-43).
- Lady Capulet treats the marriage suit as a business transaction and describes the qualities she believes make Paris a suitable husband.
- Although Juliet is reluctant, the Nurse and Lady Capulet finally convince her to attend the party and meet Paris. Read aloud and discuss lines 97-99.
Post-reading
- Have students write in the Response Journals regarding the treatment of Juliet by her mother and Nurse, and Juliet's response to their treatment.
- Ask students to tell a partner how they feel about what Lady Capulet and the Nurse are planning. Does it seem like "parental" love motivates either of them? Why does Juliet consent to go to the party? Is it out of loyalty and obedience to her mother and Nurse, or does she consent for other reasons?
Act I, Scene IV
Pre-reading
- Ask students each to write a personal definition of "love". Prompt them with questions such as: What does it look like? Feel like? How do people in love act?
- Have several volunteers read their definitions aloud to the class. Discuss these if appropriate and ask students to revise their definitions based upon the discussion.
- Have students view a video recording of this scene so that they get a flavour for the excitement and festivity that occurs prior to the party.
Reading
- Provide students with a brief oral or written summary of the scene.
- Read aloud lines 25-26 and discuss Romeo's definition of "love". Do any students agree with him? Why or why not? What causes Romeo to define love in this way? Discuss Mercutio's response to Romeo, lines 27-28. What is Mercutio advising Romeo to do? Do students agree with Mercutio's advice?
Possible Mini-lesson Topic
- Explain the pun as a literary device (e.g., Romeo's play on the words "sole" and "soul" in lines 14-16).
Act I, Scene V
Possible Mini-lesson Topic
- Explain the process of Readers Theatre to students. Have them read several previously prepared examples and experiment with the performance of one or two. If possible, model one of the examples for them. (See the Speaking and Listening section of this curriculum guide for information about Readers Theatre.)
Pre-viewing
- Ask students to consider the idea of love at first sight. Is it possible? Likely?
- Have students pair up (one male and one female, if possible) and ask them to plan a short Readers Theatre in which they meet for the first time and are immediately attracted to each other. Give each pair one of the following scenarios for their encounter. Explain that students must write a minimum of 20 lines of dialogue but that they can decide between them who will do what proportion of the speaking. Discuss the various "tones" students may take: serious, comedic, satirical, poetic, etc.
Love at First Sight Scenarios
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at a bus stop |
in the school hallway |
at a dance |
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on a holiday |
in a park |
at a party |
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in a local cafe |
in a shopping mall |
at the beach |
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at an art exhibit |
at work |
at a gas station |
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around a campfire |
on a ride at the fair |
at a grocery store |
- Have each pair write and present their Readers Theatre. Follow up with discussion when all presentations are complete. Discuss the possibility or likelihood that there is "love at first sight", as happened for Romeo and Juliet at the Capulet party.
- Watch a video recording of Act I, Scene V.
Post-viewing
- Discuss the events of Scene V (e.g., What happens? Is it love at first sight between Romeo and Juliet? What is the result of Romeo and Benvolio crashing the party? What loyalties emerge?).
- Ask students to predict what might happen next.
- Instruct students to develop interview questions for Romeo or Juliet following their meeting at the party. Questions could be keyed to specific lines of their speech or they could be general questions regarding their feelings and plans. (E.g., Students may ask Romeo to explain how he could love Rosaline so much one minute, then change his mind when he meets Juliet. Or, they might ask Juliet if she believes in love at first sight or how she thinks that her parents will respond to her love for a Montague.) Have students pair up to conduct their interviews.
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- Have students imagine that they are gossip columnists for a local paper. They have been assigned to cover the Capulet party. Instruct them to write a newspaper column in which they name guests, describe their clothes and their interactions, and quote them. Encourage students to include details about the party that will interest their readers.
- Allow students time to use the writing process to prepare polished newspaper articles.
Possible Mini-lesson Topics
- Review the writing process, stages, and procedures. (See the Writing section of this curriculum guide for details about the writing process).
- Develop criteria for a newspaper column.
Assessment Suggestions
- Use a checklist to monitor student's written and oral abilities in Readers Theatre.
- Have students complete self-assessment checklists to assess their interview techniques. (See the Speaking and Listening section of this curriculum guide for information about conducting interviews.)
- Observe students during their writing processes and assess the final drafts of their newspaper columns according to known criteria.
Extending Activity: What is Love?
- Have students form small groups of three to five. Request that each group bring to class the lyrics of a love song from any era of time. Alternatively, assign a different era to each group and have them find the lyrics to a love song from their particular time period (e.g., 1920s, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s). Students may also wish to bring audio recordings of their songs and share these if time permits.
- Ask each group to consider the question "What is love according to the song?" and to analyze their songs using the questions below.
- How is love portrayed in the song (e.g., extremely important or relatively unimportant, exciting and joyful or terrible and painful, lasting forever or a fleeting feeling)?
- List the words and images used to describe love. Identify any similes, metaphors, or imagery.
- List the words used to describe the person who is loved. Identify any comparisons.
- Explain how someone in love acts and feels, according to the song.
- Explain how someone who is loved acts and feels, according to the song.
- Have groups compare their answers to the question "What is love?" in the songs from each era.
- Instruct each group to compare the concept of love in the song with their own definition of love and with Romeo's definition of love (Act I, Scene IV, lines 25-26).
- Instruct each student to write an expository paragraph to answer the question "What is love?" They might consider that an alien being has arrived on earth and they have been assigned to provide the visitor with a detailed definition of love from their individual perspectives.
- Have students use a writing process approach to revise their expository paragraphs.
Possible Mini-lesson Topic
- Review the structure of an expository paragraph. Provide examples for use as models.
Assessment Suggestion
- Assess students' completed expository paragraphs according to pre-established criteria.