Unit 2 Lesson 7
This lesson is the first in a three-lesson arc that addresses Act 2.2, the balcony scene. Close readings will focus on building student understanding of Romeo and Juliet as they influence each other’s character development, as well as building shared knowledge of some of the most iconic lines in the play.
The reading is split at strategic points in the arc. The first lesson asks students to focus on soliloquies, one for Romeo and one for Juliet. The next lesson shows Romeo and Juliet in conversation with each other. The arc culminates in a writing assignment that comprises the Mid-Unit Assessment and asks students to consider character development across the three-lesson arc. This concentrated exploration halfway through the unit will prepare students to consider cumulative character development in the End-of-Unit Assessment.
Standards
| RL.9-10.5 | Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise. |
| RL.9-10.3 | Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. |
| RL.9-10.4 | Determine the meaning of words or phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). |
Quick Write
Quick Write: Why do you think Shakespeare crafted the scene so that the audience is aware of Romeo’s presence before Juliet is aware?
Vocabulary
- vestal livery (n.) – virginal appearance
- doff (v.) – cast off
- aloft (adv.) – high above
- baptized (v.) – gave a name to
- discourses (v.) – speaks, talks
Agenda
- Standards: RL.9-10.3, RL.9-10.4, RL.9-10.5
- Text: Act 2.2.1–51
- Homework Accountability
- Masterful Reading: Act 2.2.1–52
- Text-Dependent Questions and Activities
- Quick Write
Materials:
- Free Audio Resource: https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/romeo-and-juliet/id384528334
- Alternative Audio: http://www.audiogo.com/us/romeo-and-juliet-bbc-radio-shakespeare-william-shakespeare-gid-21505
Learning Sequence
- share your responses to the homework question: What has Juliet just discovered about Romeo?
- students listen to a masterful reading of 2.2.1–51. Respond: To whom are Romeo and Juliet speaking in this excerpt? How do you know?
- Read Romeo’s lines (1–32) aloud in their groups AND RESPOND: a. To whom is Romeo talking? How do you know? B. What phrase(s) or word(s) in lines 12–14 can help you make meaning of the word discourses? What can you infer about Juliet’s actions from the way Romeo describes her?
- Share your responses with the class.
- Read lines 33–49 aloud in their groups. Consider the following questions while you read: To whom is Juliet speaking? How do you know? Hint: Consider how Romeo’s lines in this passage help support your answer.
- What does the audience know that Juliet does not know?
- Reread lines 33–36 aloud in the groups. Respond: What does Juliet want Romeo to do? Why?
- Reread lines 43–44 aloud in your groups. In these lines, what relationship is Juliet establishing between the name of a thing and the thing itself?
- Reread lines 38–49 aloud in your groups. How does Juliet’s claim about the nature of a rose apply to Romeo? How might Juliet’s soliloquy have been different if she had known Romeo was listening? Hint: Count the number of lines Juliet has in this scene. How does this compare to her earlier speeches?
- Share the responses with the class.
- Finish reading lines 49–51 in the groups. Respond: What course of action has Romeo just taken? How does this affect the scene? Share with the class.
Quick Write: Why do you think Shakespeare crafted the scene so that the audience is aware of Romeo’s presence before Juliet is aware? Remember to use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Homework: Re-read the text from this lesson and respond in writing to the following task: Reread the text from this lesson (2.2.1–51) and choose a specific line from both Romeo and Juliet that demonstrates the emotion Shakespeare is crafting in this scene. Use evidence from the text to support your choice.