Overview

Internet Resources

Objectives

Instructional Plan

Extensions

Writing Using Character Analysis

"…with patient ears attend"

9 through 12 (some of the suggestions could also be used in 8th grade)

Language Arts, Performing Arts, Social Studies

Acquisition and integration of knowledge,
Extension and refinement of knowledge,
Meaningful use of knowledge,
Productive habits of the mind

The study of any dramatic script is enhanced by the combined approach of close textual analysis and "hands-on" interpretation. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet lends itself particularly well to this treatment for grades 9 through 12. With some teacher guidance from these two perspectives, the structural and linguistic energies of the play become accessible to this age group. Mining the richness of the structure and the intensity of the language provides inspiration for students to want to develop their own interpretations of the dramatic possibilities inherent in the script. Following are suggestions for classroom implementation of the twofold approach of analysis and performance.

Access to computers; VCR; TV

Videotapes of one of the classical ballet performances of Romeo and Juliet and of West Side Story would enhance the study of the play.

Please see our list of WebLinks for a variety of resources that can be used for this lesson.

Dance 9-12 #7
Music 9-12 #6, #8
Theater 9-12 #2, #3
Visual Arts #6

Other Standards relating to this lesson:

Language Arts 9-12
Reading #5, #6, #7
Listening and Speaking #8
History 9-12
Historical Understanding #1, #2

Students will:

- sharpen their understanding of Shakespeare's basic structural design of the narratives of his plays

(Note for students that although Shakespeare, according to scholars, did not divide his plays into acts—the division into acts being made later by others—the scene sequences fall into a pattern of rising action, climax, and denouement.)

- gain insight into and appreciation for the artistic impact of the interplay of dramatic rhythms and tone qualities that Shakespeare builds into the script

- recognize specific ways Shakespeare uses structure, diction, and imagery to develop characterization and foreshadowing

- identify aspects of theme and plot that pull against each other to give the play range, depth, and dramatic force

- appreciate how the ambiguity of aspects of the play allows for different stage interpretations

- gain deepened insight into the damaging implications of "feuding" mentality

- recognize specific aspects of the script that could serve as inspiration to transfer the play into other genres of arts expression

- experience the excitement of creating their own vision of how scenes of the play could be interpreted and staged

- strengthen process skills of reading, writing, and analysis, and exercise oral and collaborative skills through satisfactory completion of a variety of assignments generated in the study of the play.

The curriculum unit could incorporate several methods of instruction: lecture (limited); questioning; discussion; student presentations; oral and written testing; expository and creative writing assignments; collaborative problem-solving projects; viewing; performance activities; research (both print and Web); self, peer, and teacher evaluation. The approach would be primarily inductive and student-centered.

Student Presentations

- Assign a few students to develop a brief class presentation on the cultural outlook of the Renaissance, giving particular attention to the ebullient tone generated by humanism, and the growing interest in science, art, and the study of ancient classics. Provide students with relevant books and materials or allow them to search for resources on the Internet, such as the following:

• Internet Medieval Sourcebook
• Virtual Renaissance: A Journey Through Time
• WebMuseum, Paris: La Renaissance

- Assign a few students to develop a brief presentation on the nature of the Italian city-states and the role of dominant families within the social and political mores of this framework. Provide materials or allow students to search for resources on the Internet, such as the following:

• Backgrounds to the Italian Renaissance
• Decameron Web
• Map of Italian City-States

Lecture and Discussion

- Read aloud, together as a class, the opening "Prologue" sonnet. Discuss the fourteen-line/ three quatrain-couplet pattern of the Shakespearean (English) sonnet. Explicate the "Prologue," defining the statement made in each quatrain and specifically note how the couplet serves as a unifying statement. Note the iambic pentameter, and point out that Shakespearean actors are challenged to study the images and meaning of lines closely to avoid articulating the iambic pentameter in a sing-song manner. Have students also consider where and why Shakespeare moves into prose in some places.

- Ask students to look closely at the lines and images of the "Prologue," examining it for "clues" of what might be encountered in the play. Encourage students to answer such questions as: What, specifically, is the play going to be about? Who are the principal players going to be? What suggestions emerge about the basic nature of the two lovers? What general tone quality is achieved by the fact that the Chorus delivers the "Prologue"? What do images such as "star-crossed" and "death-marked" suggest?

- Call attention to the fact that Greek tragedies used the Chorus (strophe; anti-strophe) to provide background and maintain structural Unities (place, time, theme, and character), to reinforce characterization and theme, and to set up dramatic irony (in which the audience knows what is going to happen) by summing up the narrative of the play in advance. Encourage students who have read selections of Greek tragedies to make connections; also note that Shakespeare often "borrowed" ideas for themes and forms from earlier sources, but transformed them in unique ways.

Small Groups

- Divide the class into five small play-reading groups. Ask them to read the play aloud, sharing roles. (One student could also serve as the director by assigning roles.) Suggestion: to save class time, supplement the activity with homework assignments, encouraging students to read some of the key movements of the play together in the "hands-on" play-reading groups.

- Alert the play-reading groups that each will be assigned analysis and performance responsibilities for one of the five acts of the play; guidelines for completing these responsibilities will be handed out at the completion of the reading of the text.

- Have each play-reading group present to the class the conclusions they have reached in completing the following questions on their assigned act of the play:

1. Identify your assigned act and the number of scenes within the act.

2. Clarify what events happen in the act to move the narrative forward.

3. Assess what your act contributes to the structural development of the play: for instance, is there increased tension in the conflict? a climatic turning point? Do you notice the beginning of a resolution? the denouement (the final resolution?)

4. Who are the principal characters in your act? Draw from specific textual references—particularly the diction, images and tone of their speech—to define their personalities. What are some of the specific episodes in their interrelationships that contribute to your perception of their personalities? In what specific ways do their interactions add dramatic force to the play? (For instance, do the words of one character cause another to hesitate in following through on a plan or spur him or her on to action?)

5. Assess the interplay of tone and tempos between and among the scenes of your act and the scenes immediately preceding and following your act. For instance, do the scenes change from light-hearted to serious? Is there a change from a crowd scene to an intimate scene? Does the rhythm of narrative change from a fast-paced tempo to a slow, more deliberate one? What do you think Shakespeare achieves artistically through this interplay of tempos?

6. What segment (or segments) of your assigned act do you feel has the most compelling dramatic force? Why the choice(s)?

7. Select a short scene or part of a scene to dramatize for the class. In preparing your dramatization, give careful thought to the way you are going to interpret the scene and the characters involved. Be prepared to defend your interpretation of the scene and characters with specific evidence from the text. Also, give thought to how you would mount the scene on stage, including spatial relations, and aspects of technical theater (lighting, props, etc.).

Suggestion: To help prepare for your presentation, jot down a list of words that come to mind when you think about the individual characters, and another list of words that describe one or more of the encounters of the characters.

Please see Extensions, below, for a list of problem-solving assignments.

Instruments such as rubrics used for assessment of achievement levels in the process skills of reading, writing, collaboration, and speaking would apply to assignments in this curriculum unit. Additional components of assessment would be students' level of engagement in class study of the play and related activities, and the quality of creative endeavors initiating from the study of the play.

Following is a suggested list of general problem-solving assignments that could be used for class discussion, oral or written testing, formal presentations, collaborative projects, in-class or outside writing assignments, and performing arts activities.

- Act I presents Shakespeare's skillful handling of contrasts in building the dramatic structure of Romeo and Juliet. The formality of the opening "Prologue" is followed by a bantering exchange between the servants of the feuding families. Trace specific ways that Shakespeare moves the play from what, at first, seems a somewhat comic street brawl toward what will eventually become a tragic encounter. In addition to the movement of plot, give close consideration to the interplay of language. Note, for instance, the lyrical language of "love" played against the commanding tone of "authority". Notice, also, how the language forcibly underscores the tensions between youth and age, the varying levels of emotional involvement in the feud, and the diverse perceptions about Juliet's readiness for marriage.

- Research some background on the Italian"mask" (masquerade ball) as a social event in the time period in which the play is set. Some students, particularly ninth grade, might be interested in making masks and or developing a brief presentation of a vignette from Act I; scenes iv or v.

- Closely examine the "Prologue" (sonnet) at the beginning of Act II. What do you think is its dramatic purpose? Develop an argument explaining what you think it contributes to the play or why you think it could be deleted. Draw specifics from the text to support your point of view.

- Act II; scene ii is one of the best-known and oft-quoted love scenes in literature. What are some of the compelling aspects that make it so? Develop a close analysis in which you define, with specific references, aspects of the text that are key elements in building artistic power. Give particular attention to such aspects as contrast in images (light-dark), fluctuation in tone qualities, declarations of love in tension with embedded images of foreboding.

- Much of the power of the play comes from Shakespeare's ingenious development of ambiguity in the personalities of the characters, giving them a complexity that adds verisimilitude and depth to the narrative. Build a specific (textual) analysis of how Shakespeare builds ambiguity in one of the following: Mercutio; Capulet (Juliet's father); the Nurse; the Friar; Romeo; Juliet.

- Consider the basic movement of the play from the point of view of "If only…". Make a list of incidents that, if a different decision had been made, would have averted the tragic ending. In sharing ideas on the list, consider whether or not Shakespeare designed the "What if's" as a structural force that would contribute to the building of one of his main "messages" of the play.

- A love story that scholars believe Shakespeare was undoubtedly familiar with is Chaucer's Troilus and Cressida. This story is drawn from still another love story, that of Helen of Troy and the Trojan War. Paris is the name of a key figure in the story of Helen and the Trojan War. As a special project, review the story of the Trojan War, read vignettes of Chaucer's Troilus and Cressida, then develop a comparison of similarities and differences with the events and characterizations found in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Ponder, especially, if there is any implication in Shakespeare's naming Juliet's intended husband "Paris."

- Many successful derivatives of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet have been developed in diverse genres of performing arts. Some of the most notable are: classical ballet choreographed by Leonid Lavrovsky (Bolshoi) and Kenneth MacMillian (Royal Ballet); and the musical versions, Fantastiks, and West Side Story. If you were going to develop a "take-off" of the play, what would you highlight? What would be the opening movement, for instance, in your dance-drama? Which scene(s) would, in your perception, be the most inspirational for transfer into dance expression? Would you build your presentation in traditional idiom or more abstract modern/postmodern idiom? Consider, as a special project, developing your vision of a choreographic design of part (or all) of the play.

- Students with a background in dance might be interested in researching the performance history of Nina Ananiashvili and Andrei Uvarov, the two principal dancers in the Bolshoi's recent choreography of Romeo and Juliet.

- If you were a director casting the role of Juliet, what basic directions would you give her concerning the interpretation of her role? After careful consideration of the script, analyzing her interaction with other characters, construct a formal statement of "advice" concerning the general interpretation of her character. Instruct her, also, on the way she should deliver the lines and her body language for a particular scene. Act I, scene iii and Act II, scene ii would offer good opportunities for analysis in developing Juliet's profile.

- Consider making a sketch of Juliet, or of a scene from the play. Another project could be costume sketches for some members of the cast.

- Develop a formal argument, supporting with textual evidence what you consider to be the primary statement of the play. (For instance, an attack on arranged marriages? The destructive force of feuding? Fate versus free will?) In thinking through your position, give close attention to the closing lines of the play.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

© ARTSEDGE, 2000