E. Quinson

Room D-201

9H, period 5

 

Monday, March 30, 2009 –begin Romeo and Juliet Or do that on Monday?  Discuss the idea that this is exposition only. 

Mr. Andresen will come back soon to talk to the kids about Shakespeare on Wednesday.  Come early to class on Wednesday!!!

SWBAT:  introduce themselves to the bard by reading some of the most lovely poetry known.

DO NOW:  Write an entry:  what do you know about Shakespeare?  About Romeo and Juliet?

DEVELOPMENT: 

  1. Review/discuss DO NOW.
  2. Explain that actually most people know what will happen in a Shakespeare play, that in fact, Shakespeare was copying or rewriting/reworking old tales.  So?  Why would any one be interested?
  3. Actually, Shakespeare even lays out, at the very beginning of the play what the whole story will be about.  The point is not to have any kind of a surprise ending as we have in the last couple of works we have read. 
  4. Discuss history of Chorus – from Greek and Roman drama.
  5. Then, Read the prologue aloud, changing speakers at the end of each line. Remind the students of the basic sonnet form and address any vocabulary questions.
  6. Sonnets have fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, which we will review more and more about as we read together.  Basically Ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, like a heartbeat. 
  7. Divide students into pairs and give each student a copy of the Prologue handout below. Assign each student a task. One student should underline any words that have to do with love while the other underlines words that refer to fighting. (If possible, have students underline references to love in one color, and fighting in another.) Then, have the students discuss: Are there more words about love or fighting? Why do they think that is?
  8. Reconvene the class and project the prologue text on an overhead. With your students' guidance, mark the words that have to do with love and those that have to do with fighting. (Again, color-coding the references will help emphasize the point that Shakespeare's prologue about star-crossed lovers has far more words about fighting than about love.) What do the students make of the emphasis on violence? How does this alter their expectations for the play?
  9. Now, circle every example of the word "two" in the prologue. Why is this word--the very first word of the play--so important here? Help your students to see the importance of pairs in love and battle.
  10. Discuss sonnet form:
  11. Teach iambic pentameter. 
    1. Sonnets have fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, which we will review more and more about as we read together.  Basically Ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, like a heartbeat. 
    2. Shakespearean sonnets have three quatrains and one couplet.  A quatrain is four lines of poetry that go together. A couplet is two lines of poetry that go together.  Generally in Shakespeare, there is a change beginning with the third quatrain and then a complete split or change of tone on the couplet.
  12. Review/summarize.  How have our expectations of this play changed or not, based on today’s class period?

H.W.:  1.  Read Act I, scene i.  2. Complete Cyberjourney worksheet.  3.  No blog.  Just this once.  4.  Come early for class on Wednesday.  Come at least 15 minutes early, or just bring your lunch and eat here, so we can have more time with Mr. Andresen.

 

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 –SWBAT:  read and analyze dialectic motifs in Act I of Romeo and Juliet.

DO NOW:  Turn in cyberjourney worksheets, distribute Romeo & Julet Notes, with Act I, scene i, ask students to complete:

  • paraphrase l. 34, Let’s take the law of our sides.
  • What does the Prince decree?
  • Find examples of light and dark in lines 123-133

DEVELOPMENT:

    1. Review Act I, scene i.
    2. Prologue previews the whole play, but we need to fill in.
      • Actually, Shakespeare is all about filling in!  The devil is in the details.
      • Themes to keep in mind: 
        • Individual v. Society
        • Fate
        • Power of Love
        • Love leads to violence
      • Motif:  opposites existing at the same time: dialectic:
        • Hot v. cold
        • Day v. night
        • Love v. hate
        • Light v. Dark
        • Good v. evil
    3. Read aloud Act I in class.  Explain that in very great measure, Act I is the exposition.  We are learning about our characters and their situations.    
      • Was anyone surprised that Romeo is in love with Rosaline and not Juliet to begin with?  What does this show about him?  About young love in general?  Discuss the Petrarchan ideal of love.
      • Stop to add information to sheets, as appropriate.
      • If we get far enough, notice that the pilgrim scene is also a sonnet!  A sonnet told in two voices.
    4. Review and summarize: this play is all about opposites! Dialectic motifs.
    5. Read and complete quotation analysis for homework.

H.W.:  1.  Finish Act I scenes ii and iii, if we have not done so in class.  2.  Blog it!  What do you think we are supposed to learn about the character of Romeo?  Of Juliet?  Based on how they behave, what they say, how they react to other character’s behavior and speech?   Be specific.  3.  Come early for class tomorrow, at least 15 minutes early, or just bring your lunch and we can eat together?  That way we’ll have as much time as we can with Mr. Andresen.

 

Wednesday, April 1, 2009  --  Mr. Andresen is coming back in!!!

H.W.:  Blog it!  No additional reading, but there will be a couple of quotations to analyze.  You are required to analyze both! and comment on the others’ interpretations.  Do not write volumes.  One or two serious paragraphs analyzing the probable meaning (straight our translation or paraphrase if one of your classmates has not already don so and then discuss the significance of these quotations in terms of characterization or  plot development, etc., will do!    Two quotations are:

Juliet:  But no more will I endart mine eye/Than your consent gives me strength to fly. Act I, scene iii.

Tybalt:  What, drawn, and talk of peace?  I hate the word/As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee./Have at thee, coward! Act I, scene i.

 

Thursday, April 2, 2009

SWBAT:  read, discuss, and analyze Act I, scenes ii and iii begin reading and performing scenes iv and v.

DO NOW:   Write a paragraph:  how are Romeo and Juliet similar to one another at this point in the play.  Consider their knowledge of the world. Their behaviors toward friends, servants, parents, and others.  What does their language say about them?

DEVELOPMENT:

  1. Review and summarize Act I, ii and iii
  2. Begin read aloud, acting out of scenes iv and v. 
  3. Discuss how silly the boys are being.  The way they make fun of each other.
  4. Discuss Mercutio’s odd behavior.
  5. The great Queen Mab speech.
  6. Leave time for the Capulet ball and be sure to act out the pilgrim scene.
  7. Analyze the pilgrim sonnet. 
  8. Begin read aloud of Act II in class.
    1. This needs to be acted out.  It may seem silly, but we need to get into this.
    2. Notice the light and dark imagery.  Also, Romeo and Juliet are happiest at night, not by the bright light of the sun.  Why?
  9. Review/summarize.  What could possibly go wrong?  I hate the rest of the play, because this is so beautiful, I don’t want it to end!  But it is only Act II, and we have five acts and we all know it’s a tragedy, soooooo.

H.W.:  1.  Finish Act I, if we have not done so in class.  2. Blog it!  Students will be expected to complete two quotation analyses and comment on the quotation analyses of the other two.  The quotations will be as follows: 

1.      True, I talk of dreams;/Which are children of an idle brain,/Begot of nothing but vain fantasy;/Which is as thin of substance as the air,…

2.      I fear, too early; for my mind misgives/Some consequence yet hanging in the stars…/With this night’s revels and expire the term/Of a despised life, closed in my breast, By some vile forfeit of untimely death./But he that hath the steerage of my course/Direct my sail!

3.      If I profane with my unworthiest hand/This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:/My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand/To smooth that rough touch with a kiss.

4.      Go ask his name – if he is married,/My grave is like to be my wedding bed…../My only love sprung from my only hate!/Too early seen unknown, and is known too late!/Prodigious birth of love it is to me/That I must love a loathed enemy.

 

Friday, April 2, 2009

SWBAT:  review the events of Act I and begin reading Act II, scenes i and ii. 

DO NOW:   Complete Theme paragraph for Act I.

DEVELOPMENT:

  1. Review and summarize Act I – especially the Capulet ball if we haven’t already done so. 
  2. Analyze the pilgrim sonnet. 
  3. Begin read aloud of Act II in class.
    1. Stop to add information to sheets as appropriate.
    2. This needs to be acted out.  It may seem silly, but we need to get into this.
    3. Notice the light and dark imagery.  Also, Romeo and Juliet are happiest at night, not by the bright light of the sun.  Why?
  4. Review/summarize.  What could possibly go wrong?  I hate the rest of the play, because this is so beautiful, I don’t want it to end!  But it is only Act II, and we have five acts and we all know it’s a tragedy, soooooo.

H.W.:  1.  Finish reading through Act II, scene iii, if we have not done so in class.  2. Blog it!  Do you think Friar Lawrence is wise to agree to marry Romeo and Juliet?  Explain.  What weakness in Romeo does the Friar point out before agreeing to help?  Compare and contrast:  how do the Friar’s motives differ from the couples own motives?

 

Monday, April 5, 2009

FINISH ACT II

 

Tuesday, April 6, 2009

SWBAT:  read, discuss, and analyze soliloquy, aside, and monologue

DO NOW:   Complete Theme paragraph

DEVELOPMENT:

  1. Review and summarize Act II. 
  2. Begin read aloud of Act III in class.
    1. Stop to add information to sheets as appropriate.
    2. What is the difference between a soliloquy, an aside, and a monologue? 

                                                               i.      Soliloquy – a person talking to himself, sometimes in film done with a voice over to imply that the person is thinking the lines.

                                                             ii.      An aside is spoken by one character, in a stage whisper, to be heard only by the audience or another character, but not everyone on stage.

                                                            iii.      A monologue is a longer speech heard and understood by all characters taking part in the scene

  1. Review/summarize.  Things are beginning to go wrong.  Was any of this avoidable or are they indeed star-crossed?

H.W.:  1.  Finish Act III, if we have not done so in class.  Fill in notes pages, questions, etc. on study guide if we did not finish in class.  These notes are for your reference.  They become your study guide for our test.  If you are concerned about good answers and want to check them, come to extra help.  2.  Complete  Quotation analysis.

 

Thursday, March 13, 2008

SWBAT:  read, discuss, and analyze dramatic irony

DO NOW:   Complete Theme paragraph

DEVELOPMENT:

  1. Review and summarize Act III. 
  2. Introduce the term:  dramatic irony: a contradiction between what the character thinks and what the audience knows.  How is this related to suspense?  In a way, this relates to the whole question we had about why read Shakespeare if we already know what will happen.
  3. Begin read aloud of Act IV in class.
    1. Stop to discuss and add information to sheets as appropriate.
  4. Review/summarize.  Things are going from bad to worse.  What life lessons can we learn that apply to our own lives?  Do we still believe they are victims of fate?

H.W.:  1.  Finish Act IV, if we have not done so in class.  Fill in notes pages, questions, etc. on study guide if we did not finish in class.  These notes are for your reference.  They become your study guide for our test.  If you are concerned about good answers and want to check them, come to extra help.  2.  Complete  Quotation analysis, as far as you are able. This sheet covers both Acts IV and V, so some may be from the last act.

 

Friday, March 14, 2007

SWBAT:  read, discuss, and analyze tragedy

DO NOW:   Complete Theme paragraph

DEVELOPMENT:

  1. Review and summarize Act III. 
  2. Introduce the term:  tragedy:  a drama in which a central character, who is usually of noble stature, meets with disaster or great misfortune.  The tragic hero’s downfall is usually the fault of fate or his own character flaw or a combination of both. 
  3. Begin read aloud of Act V in class.
    1. Stop to discuss and add information to sheets as appropriate.
  4. Review/summarize.  Things are going from bad to worse.  What life lessons can we learn that apply to our own lives?  Do we still believe they are victims of fate?

H.W.:  1.  Finish Act V, if we have not done so in class.  Fill in notes pages, questions, etc. on study guide if we did not finish in class.  These notes are for your reference.  They become your study guide for our test.  If you are concerned about good answers and want to check them, come to extra help.  2.  Complete Quotation analysis.

 

 

 

 

 

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