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Lesson 8

We will read the final lines of Act 5, Scene 3 and discuss the resolution of the play. We will work in small groups to complete Part 1 of a gallery walk.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I determine and explain how a theme is developed during the five acts of Romeo and Juliet?

  • Can I evaluate the effects of figurative language in 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 – Discuss

We will read lines 176–321 of Act 5, Scene 3 of Romeo and Juliet and explore the resolution of the play’s plot.

As you read the final lines of the play, pay attention to how the resolution of the play addresses the Montague-Capulet feud.

Read and annotate Lines 176-321 of Act 5, Scene 3.

As a class, respond to the following questions about Act 5, Scene 3:

  1. What other loss has Lord Montague recently experienced?

  2. Why might the events of this scene inflict more grief upon the Capulets?

  3. What loss has the prince experienced?

  4. What responsibility, if any, does Friar Laurence bear for the outcome of the play?

  5. What action does Lord Capulet perform that signals his desire to end the feud?

  6. What does Lord Montague promise that signals his desire to end the feud?

Activity 2: Read – Write

We will reread selected lines from the final scene of Romeo and Juliet more closely and examine the effect of Shakespeare’s language on the scene.

Reread the Lines 316-321 from Act 5, Scene 3.

PRINCE: A glooming peace this morning with it brings.

The sun for sorrow will not show his head.

Go hence to have more talk of these sad things.

Some shall be pardoned, and some punishèd.

For never was a story of more woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

Independently, respond to the following questions about Act 5, Scene 3 in your Learning Log:

  1. What effect does the use of personification have on the scene?

  2. What effect does the use of rhyme have on the scene?

  3. Who do you think will be pardoned? Who do you think will be punished?

Activity 3: Discuss – Write

We will participate in part 1 of a gallery walk activity.

For this activity, you will work with a partner or a small group. Your teacher will assign you one of the thematic ideas your class identified in the prologue of the play.

Using the notes on your Text-Theme Note-Taking Tool, you will work with your partner or group to compose a one-paragraph claim that responds to the following prompt questions:

  1. What theme is developed in Romeo and Juliet?

  2. How is that theme developed during the course of the entire play? Cite textual evidence to support your answer.

Use your responses on the previous Section Diagnostics as models. Capture your responses on a piece of chart paper. We will return to your paragraph in the next lesson.