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Lesson 4

In preparation for reading Romeo and Juliet, we will use the Theme Reference Guide to familiarize ourselves with the definition of literary themes. We will listen to and annotate the prologue of Romeo and Juliet and use it to determine and summarize the main events of the play.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the central ideas and events found in the prologue of Romeo and Juliet?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare, Folger Shakespeare Library, Simon and Schuster, 2004
  • Multimedia
    • Romeo and Juliet: The Fully Dramatized Audio Edition, William Shakespeare, Folger Shakespeare Library, Simon and Schuster, 2014
  • Digital Access
    • “Why Do We Still Care About Shakespeare?,” Cindy Tumiel, University of Texas at San Antonio, 2013

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Discuss

We will revisit a paragraph from “Why Do We Still Care About Shakespeare?” to establish our understanding of strong reading habits.

Reread the following sentences from Paragraph 21 of “Why Do We Still Care About Shakespeare?”

“The language is so dense, so rich, the first couple plays they read are difficult. Not because the language is archaic, but because it is semantically dense. You have to read the lines over and over,” said Bayer.

Discuss the following questions as a class:

  1. What does the phrase “semantically dense” mean?

  2. What is a good way to approach reading Romeo and Juliet?

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will establish our understanding of the literary term theme by reviewing the theme reference guide.

In the Section Diagnostic, you will explain your understanding of a theme developed in Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet. To prepare for the Section Diagnostic, examine the Theme Reference Guide to establish a precise understanding of the term.

Discuss the following question as a class:

  1. What is the difference between a thematic idea and a theme?

Write down the discussion in your Vocabulary Journal.

Activity 3: Listen – Read

We will listen to and annotate the prologue of Romeo and Juliet.

Listen to the prologue of Romeo and Juliet. As you listen, annotate the text for details about the plot.

Activity 4: Read – Write – Discuss

We will reread the prologue to further unpack its meaning.

Use the following text-specific questions to independently reread and annotate the Prologue, and then write responses in your Learning Log.

  1. Who are the characters?

  2. Where is the setting?

  3. What is the conflict?

  4. Why is there a conflict?

  5. How will the play end? Cite evidence to support your answer.

Then, discuss your responses with a partner.

Activity 5: Read – Discuss – Write

We will deepen our understanding of the prologue by learning key vocabulary words.

Some of the vocabulary words in the prologue do not have enough context to determine their meaning, so your teacher will define them for you.

Add each of the following words and their definitions to your Vocabulary Journal as your teacher introduces them:

  • dignity

  • grudge

  • mutiny

  • piteous

  • strife or strive

With a partner, choose one of the words. Brainstorm and write a real-life example and nonexample that the word applies to.

For example, a situation for the word grudge might be, “My older brother pushed me and took my favorite shirt when I was in fourth grade. I’m still holding a grudge against him.”

A nonexample for the word grudge might be, “My brother surprised me with tickets to see my favorite singer in concert.”

Activity 6: Discuss – Write

We will reread the prologue and use our annotations and Vocabulary Journal to construct a joint summary on the text-theme Note-Taking Tool.

Step 1

A summary is used to highlight the main points of a text. Summaries do not contain a lot of specific facts or trivial information, but they do detail the author’s main claims and important support for those claims. Summaries are written in the writer’s own words and are objective, that is, they provide the information from the text without agreement or disagreement from the summarizer.

A summary is not just a retelling of chronological events. Summaries require you to determine the main points in a text and evaluate which supporting details most strongly support the main points.

Step 2

As a class, construct a joint summary of Romeo and Juliet based on information presented in the prologue. Summarize by doing the following:

  • Determine the central idea.

  • Identify details to support the central idea.

  • Get rid of trivial and redundant information.

  • Write a topic sentence that introduces your summary.

Capture the joint summary on the Text-Theme Note-Taking Tool.

We will return to the prologue in the next lesson to predict what themes might emerge as we read the play.