Lesson 9

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare, Folger Shakespeare Library, Simon and Schuster, 2004

• • Romeo and Juliet: The Fully Dramatized Audio Edition, William Shakespeare, Folger Shakespeare Library, Simon and Schuster, 2014

Materials

Tools

• Character Note-Taking Tool

• Mentor Sentence Journal

• Romeo and Juliet: Text-Theme Note-Taking Tool

• Vocabulary Journal

Reference Guides

• Academic Discussion Reference Guide

Question Sets

• Romeo and Juliet: Section 1 Question Set

Editable Google Docs

• Character Note-Taking Tool

• Mentor Sentence Journal

• Romeo and Juliet: Section 1 Question Set

• Romeo and Juliet: Text-Theme Note-Taking Tool

• Vocabulary Journal

Activity 1: Read

We will read and annotate the first part of Act 1, Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet.

Read the following summary of Lines 1-47 of Act 1, Scene 5:

As the Capulet servants are busily preparing the feast, Lord Capulet welcomes his guests to the party.

Read and annotate Lines 48-103 from Act 1, Scene 5. As you read, use the following question to guide your thoughts:

1. What conflict is introduced in this scene?

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Write

We will reread selected lines from Act 1, Scene 5 to deepen our understanding of the characters of Romeo, Tybalt, and lord capulet.

Step 1

Reread the selected lines from Romeo.

ROMEO: Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight,

For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night. (1.5.59-60)

Discuss the corresponding questions as a class. Capture the discussion in your Character Note-Taking Tool for Romeo.

1. What is surprising about these lines?

2. What do they reveal about Romeo’s personality?

Step 2

Reread the selected lines from Lord Capulet.

LORD CAPULET: Content thee, gentle coz. Let him alone.

He bears him like a portly gentleman,

And, to say truth, Verona brags of him

To be a virtuous and well-governed youth.

I would not for the wealth of all this town

Here in my house do him disparagement. (1.5.74-79)

Discuss the corresponding questions as a class. Capture the discussion in your Character Note-Taking Tool for Lord Capulet.

3. What does the word disparagement mean in Line 79?

4. What is surprising about these lines?

5. What do these lines reveal about Lord Capulet’s personality?

Step 3

Reread the selected lines from Tybalt.

TYBALT: I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall

Now seeming sweet convert to bitt’rest gall. (1.5.102-103)

Discuss the corresponding questions as a class. Capture the discussion in your Character Note-Taking Tool for Tybalt.

6. How do these lines confirm what we know about Tybalt’s personality?

7. What do these lines foreshadow?

Activity 3: Read – Write

We will read lines 104–160 of Act 1, Scene 5 in which Romeo and Juliet first meet.

Use the following questions to read and annotate Lines 104-160 from Act 1, Scene 5. Write down your responses in your Learning Log.

1. How do Romeo and Juliet respond when they learn of each other’s identities?

2. How do Romeo’s and Juliet’s interactions and responses develop a thematic idea from Act 1? What lines from the play support this interpretation?

Activity 4: Discuss – Read – Write

We will reread selected lines from Act 1, Scene 5 to deepen our understanding of the characters of Romeo and Juliet.

Step 1

Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting consists of only 19 lines between the two lovers. While short, their exchange is filled with rich, figurative language and sets the tone for their relationship. We will examine these 19 lines in detail.

Shakespeare is known for his use of metaphors. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. They are used to explain an idea or emphasize a comparison.

Reread Lines 104-107 from Act 1, Scene 5 and pay close attention to the metaphors and what they mean.

ROMEO: If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

Discuss your answers to the following questions as a class:

1. What is Romeo comparing Juliet to? What is the significance of this comparison?

2. How does the metaphor of his lips as “two blushing pilgrims” explain his actions in these lines?

Step 2

Reread Lines 108-113 and pay close attention to how Juliet plays off Romeo’s metaphors.

JULIET: Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,

Which mannerly devotion shows in this;

For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.

ROMEO: Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?

JULIET: Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.

Discuss your answers to the following questions as a class. Capture the discussion on your Character Note-Taking Tool for Juliet.

3. According to Juliet, how do pilgrims kiss? What do they use their lips for?

4. What does Juliet’s response illustrate about her personality?

Activity 5: Read – Listen

We will examine the use of iambic pentameter and poetry structure in Romeo and Juliet.

You have likely noticed that Shakespeare uses apostrophes to remove letters from some words, such as ne’er (never), in Line 60. He does this because he wants to maintain a consistent meter. Meter contributes to the rhythm of poetry. In poetry, a meter is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Consider the following lines from Romeo:

ROMEO: Did my heart love till now? Foreswear it, sight,

For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night. (1.5.59-60)

Each line follows a pattern of five unstressed-stressed units for a total of 10 syllables per line. If Shakespeare had used the word never instead of ne’er, he would have thrown off his meter by including an 11th syllable.

Not every line of Romeo and Julietis written in iambic pentameter, but most are. The use of a consistent meter creates a musical quality when reading the lines aloud, emphasizing the romantic nature of the play.

You have also likely noticed how some of the lines in the play rhyme while others do not. Shakespeare uses rhyme to focus the audience’s attention on key events or ideas in this play.

Relisten to Lines 104-122 in Act 1, Scene 5 and notice the musical and rhyming quality of Romeo and Juliet’s dialogue.

Activity 6: Write

For homework, we will prepare for the Section Diagnostic by completing our text-theme Note-Taking Tool for Act 1, Scene 5 and selecting one thematic idea to elaborate on in the Section Diagnostic.

The next lesson contains the Section Diagnostic. For the Section Diagnostic, you will write a one-paragraph response that answers the following questions:

1. What is a theme that is being developed in Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet?

2. How is the theme developed in the play?

To prepare for the Section Diagnostic, complete the following steps:

1. Use the Text-Theme Note-Taking Tool to select a theme and locate evidence to support your claim. Highlight or underline the evidence that you plan to use in your response.

2. Review your Vocabulary Journal. Identify a significant word or words that you would like to use in your response.

3. Review your Mentor Sentence Journal. Select at least one technique that you plan to use when writing your response.