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Lesson 5

We will read Act 2, Scene 3 of Romeo and Juliet and get to know the character Friar Laurence. We will read summaries of Act 2, Scenes 4 and 5 to understand the context for later events in the play, and we will read the entirety of Act 2, Scene 6. We will deepen our understanding of the themes found in the play.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I determine how a theme is developed within Act 2 of Romeo and Juliet?

  • Can I recognize and interpret important relationships among key details and characters in Act 2 of Romeo and Juliet?

  • Can I evaluate the effects of figurative language in Act 2, Scene 6 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

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read

We will read Act 2, Scene 3 of Romeo and Juliet and get to know the character friar laurence.

Reference the character list to identify the role of Friar Laurence.

In Lines 1-31 of Act 2, Scene 3, Friar Laurence is outside collecting plants and herbs to make various medicines and remedies.

As you read and annotate Lines 32-101 of Act 2, Scene 3, pay attention to Friar Laurence’s reaction to Romeo’s request.

Read and annotate Lines 32-101 of Act 2, Scene 3.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Write

We will deepen our understanding of Act 2, Scene 3 to determine the meaning of Unknown words.

Respond to the following questions about Act 2, Scene 3 in your Learning Log and discuss your answers with a partner:

  1. What is the precise meaning of the word alliance in Line 98?

  2. What does the word rancor mean in Line 99?

  3. What vocabulary strategy did you use to determine the meaning of the words?

Write down the words and their definitions in your Vocabulary Journal.

With your partner, choose one of the words and write an example and a nonexample sentence using the word in your Learning Log.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss – Write

We will analyze specific lines from the play to deepen our understanding of a theme and character motivation in the play.

Step 1

Reread the following lines from Act 2, Scene 3.

FRIAR LAURENCE: Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!

Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,

So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies

Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes. (2.3.69-72)

Respond to the following questions about Act 2, Scene 3 in your Learning Log:

  1. What does Friar Laurence’s reaction reveal about his relationship with Romeo?

  2. How do these lines connect to a thematic idea of the play?

Discuss your responses with a partner.

Step 2

Reread the following lines from Act 2, Scene 3.

FRIAR LAURENCE: In one respect I’ll thy assistant be,

For this alliance may so happy prove

To turn your households’ rancor to pure love. (2.3.97-99)

Respond to the following questions about Act 2, Scene 3 in your Learning Log:

  1. What does Friar Laurence decide about Romeo’s request?

  2. What is his rationale?

  3. What does Friar Laurence’s motivation reveal about his personality?

Discuss your responses with a partner.

Capture the discussion on your Character Note-Taking Tool for Friar Laurence and your Text-Theme Note-Taking Tool for Act 2, Scene 3.

Activity 4: Listen – Discuss

We will read summaries of Act 2, Scene 4 and 5.

Listen as your teacher summarizes Act 2, Scenes 4 and 5.

Respond to the following questions about Act 2, Scene 4 and 5 in your Learning Log:

  1. Why do you think the Nurse agrees to help Juliet secretly marry Romeo?

  2. What consequences might she face?

Discuss your responses with a partner.

Activity 5: Read

We will read Act 2, Scene 6 of Romeo and Juliet.

As you read and annotate Act 2, Scene 6, pay attention to the advice Friar Laurence gives Romeo and Juliet.

Read and annotate Act 2, Scene 6 of Romeo and Juliet.

Activity 6: Read – Discuss – Write

We will gain a deeper understanding of the themes being developed in Act 2, Scene 6 by rereading and analyzing specific lines from the scene.

Reread Lines 9-15 from Act 2, Scene 6 more closely.

FRIAR: These violent delights have violent ends

And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,

Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey

Is loathsome in his own deliciousness

And in the taste confounds the appetite.

Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so.

Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.

Respond to the following questions about Act 2, Scene 6 in your Learning Log:

  1. What is Friar Lawrence saying in these lines?

  2. What advice does the Friar give?

  3. What do the lines, “The sweetest honey is loathsome in his own deliciousness / And in the taste confounds the appetite” mean?

  4. What parallel structure is found in these lines? How does it impact the reader’s understanding?

  5. What figurative language is found in these lines? How does it connect to a theme in the play?

  6. How does it connect to previous Lines 124-127 spoken by Juliet in Act 2, Scene 2 (“I have no joy of this contract tonight. / It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden, / Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be. / Ere one can say ‘It lightens.’”)

Discuss your responses with a partner. Capture the discussion in your Text-Theme Note-Taking Tool.