Jamie Alvey
May 10, 2007
Eng 145
Final Project
Romeo and Juliet Unit Plan
Rationale
This play is the most widely taught play by William Shakespeare to high school students. Students can relate to most of the themes in the play such as young and hasty love, lust, hate, marriage, family conflict, loyalty, or rivalry. This play seems to be a great way to get students interested in Shakespeare. I tried to choose lesson plans that made the play fun and engaging for students. These kinds of activities make the play come alive in the classroom and keep kids on their toes. Fun engaging activities make the play exciting and more approachable.
As an introductory option I included showing a clip from the special features of Baz Luhrman’s 1997 film version. Showing the commentary of Luhrman’s choices in directing is important to show students. He says some things about how Shakespeare, today, would be sexy, urban, and funky. This is great to show students because it also emphasis interpretation. Also, it shows how Shakespeare could have been viewed during his time.
Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be seen not read. Having students stand in front of their peers, read aloud, and roughly act out scenes for every class helps make the text become a play. They are not all stationary with their noses in the book or falling asleep; they have something to watch and keep them engaged.
I included an activity that lets student become the director of a scene. Student directing a scene from the play shows them that the play is open to different perspectives. This also helps give them a better understanding of what is going on in the specific scene, since they will have to look at it closely.
I chose to include an activity that connects language to visuals. Imagery in language creates picture in our heads. I debated whether or not to include music in an option for the activity. I ultimately chose to keep it out because imagery text creates pictures in our minds, because I wanted to emphasize the visual aspect. However, if I had a student that excelled in music I may make and exception, because imagery can also evoke feeling and emotion much like music.
I put in an activity that lets students bring Shakespeare into their own lives and make a connection. Relating their music to themes in the play will help students get a better understanding of what the themes are and what they are saying about the play.
I have given an option to extend the unit into another Shakespeare play. A Midsummer Night’s Dream mirrors Romeo and Juliet, having similar themes. A Midsummer Night’s Dream starts with chaos and ends in order, while Romeo and Juliet does the opposite. The themes they share include hasty love, young love, lust, nature, and rebellious daughters. They have similar themes, but have different endings. Students can learn to make these kinds of connection between texts.
I stayed away from too much depth in the language because it might be too much at once; this play is usually taught to freshmen classes. The main idea is to get the students interested in Shakespeare at all and to make it an enjoyable experience, rather that torturous. Maybe I would get into more depth with the symbolism and puns if studied in an advanced class.
Many of these lesson ideas are ones I have taken from online sources, but some I have created on my own.
Lesson Plans
Launching the Unit
Show students paintings that were inspired by the play. This can give them and idea of the tone of the play. Students can also make observations based on what they already know about the play whether they know it or not. This also shows them another perspective and interpretation of the play.
Website for art work:
<http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/Shakespeare_Illustrated/R&JPaintings.html>
Watch a scene from Baz Luhrman’s 1997 Romeo + Juliet. Also, on the DVD, there is a section in the Special Feature where Luhrman comments on his choices for directing the movie.
Give a brief overview of Shakespeare’s life and give historical background. Putting the play in context with the time period will help students understand the values of the characters.
Read love poems by Shakespeare. Have students explicate poems if you have already had a poetry unit; if not then just discuss them in class.
Examples:
Sonnet 18
Sonnet 116
Sonnet 130
<http://www.bartleby.com/70/index1.html>
Give students a list of social offenses. Then have them rank the options from most serious to least serious. These are all issues that come up in the play. A discussion about when it might be acceptable to commit any of these offenses could follow the activity. A follow up on this activity might be to have them re-rank these once they have read the play to see if they have changed their opinions.
· Intentionally deceiving someone
· Lying to parents
· Killing someone for revenge
· Advising someone to marry for money
· Hating someone because of the person’s association (gang, ethnicity, family, and so forth)
· Selling drugs
· Killing someone by mistake while fighting
· Committing suicide
· Crashing a party
· Marrying against parents' wishes
· Picking a fight
· Calling someone names
Through the Unit
Journal entries should be written at the beginning of every class meeting to get students in an academic mind set and help them to focus on the scene for that day.
Example questions:
What are your opinions on love and marriage?
Is there such a thing as “love at first sight?”
In addition to having students read outside of class, the scenes should be gone over each class meeting. Have the students read the scenes aloud in class, a student for each character. Have different students read every day. Choose volunteers the day before. Or have a sign up sheet at the beginning of the unit. Students can choose to memorize their lines if they like, but this should be required. They should stand up and act it out, like a cold read. They are also directing themselves by making choices about their use of gestures and actions, and also how they deliver the lines. A discussion should follow the performance of the scene.
Students can direct a scene. This can either be done in small groups or alone. They should block the scene making use of space and gestures. They should also show interpretations of the words by how the lines are delivered. Another variation can be to have the students act out a scene in modern dialogue. They do not have to translate line fore line, but show the overall tone of the scene, while still showing their direction.
Scenes:
Lovers meet
Balcony scene
Tybalt’s death
Tomb scene
Have each student perform a monologue from the play. Only allow so many students per monologue to avoid hearing every person give the balcony speech. Students can also elect to memorize and recite a Shakespeare sonnet.
Discuss the secondary characters and their roles in the play. Have students find a passage that is general representation of that character. Ask students who they would cast under their direction. This can be a group activity.
Secondary characters:
Nurse
Mercutio
Friar Laurence
Paris
Keep a running list of vocabulary words that students come across while reading the play. They can bring them to class and add to the list after each assigned reading. There should also be a list of vocabulary words chosen by the teacher in advance that can be used to fill in what students may have left out. The list can be used for a test at the end of the play, or can be broken down into quizzes for each week.
Example vocabulary list for Act One:
Adversaries
Esteem
Languish
Rapier
Transgression
Valiant
Chaste
Grievance
Purge
Solemnity
Extending the Unit
Watch A Midsummer Night’s Dream movie version (or have them read the play) and have students discuss, either in class or in an essay, what the similarities in themes are and how the two stories mirror each other.
Have students watch a film version of the play, either Luhrman’s or Zefferelli’s, or see a live performance and write a critical review of what they saw compared to the text read in class.
Have students make greeting cards with Shakespearean quotes. They will search for quotes online. They should choose a quote and translate it into their own modern words. They will write put the direct quote on the front of the card and the translated quote on the inside.
Concluding Activities
Have students find examples in the music they enjoy that relate to themes or issues in the play. Give students some time to think about this assignment and time to assess their musical libraries. Give them a heads up to keep their ears open for any themes that they are reading about. This may be a fun ongoing activity to do throughout the unit. By the end of the play, they can submit at least one set of song lyrics and an explanation of their connections.
Themes: young and hasty love, lust, hate, family conflict, loyalty, or rivalry.
Have the students rewrite the ending of the play and give their reason or justification in an essay for their choice in changes.
Have students research views from both sides of the debate about Shakespeare’s authorship and have them write a paper giving both view point. At the end of the paper they should make a statement about their opinion on the debate.
Have students produce some kind of artwork that incorporates the imagery used in the play. They can focus on one image, one scene, one act, or any combination. They can paint, sculpt, draw, make a collage, take a photograph, create a movie montage, or even choreograph a dance, anything that is a visual art that expresses imagery found in the play. They should, of course, turn in a written rationale with their project.
Works Cited
Bishop, B. Vocabulary and Fact vs. Opinion: Romeo and Juliet. GeorgiaStandards.org. 9 May 2007 <http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/BuilderV03/LPTools/LPShared/lpdisplay.asp?LPID=32330>.
Cln.org. Community Learning Network. 9 May 2007 <http://www.cln.org/themes/romeo_juliet.html>.
Craig, W.J. Complete Works of William Shakespeare. London: Oxford University Press. The Oxford Shakespeare. 2000. Bartley.com. 9 May 2007 <http://www.bartleby.com/70/index1.html>.
Intel Education. Romeo and Juliet: Insight into Ourselves. Intel Corporation. 9 May 2007 <http://www97.intel.com/en/ProjectDesign/UnitPlanIndex/RomeoAndJuliet/>.
Pbs.org. The Shakespeare Mystery. 1995. Public Broadcasting Service. 9 May 2007 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shakespeare/index.html>.
Roth, Eileen and Jean Burdett. Shakespeare cards. March 1997. The Educator’s Reference Desk. 9 May 2007 <http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Language_Arts/Literature/LIT0007.html>.
Rusche, Harry. Shakespeare Illustrated. English.emory.com Emory University. 9 May 2007 <http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/Shakespeare_Illustrated/Shakespeare.html>.
Schwanfelder, Kathy. Lesson #53. Teachers.net. 9 May 2007 <http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts/53.html>.
Works Consulted
Coogan, Phil. Violent Delight & Violent Ends: Romeo and Juliet. 21 Feb 2007. English Online. 9 May 2007 <http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/romeo_juliet/home.html>.
Glc.k12.ga.us. Ninth Grade Literature. 1999. Georgia Department of Education. 9 May 2007 <http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/seqlps/sudspres.asp?SUID=195&SSUID=192&SSTitle=Ninth+Grade+Literature++>.