Unit 2 Lesson 13: Chagall’s Painting of Romeo and Juliet

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Unit 2 Lesson 13

Introduction

This lesson is a close reading of Act 3.2.1–31, Juliet’s speech while she waits for Romeo, before she has found out that Romeo killed her cousin Tybalt. The lesson will ask students to draw a comparison between a close reading of this passage and Marc Chagall’s painting Romeo and Juliet (link in the Materials box), with a focus on structural choices and the effects they create.

Students will engage in rich discussion in small groups and with the whole class before completing a short, evidence-based writing assignment at the end of class. For homework, students will continue to read their Accountable Independent Reading texts.

Standards

RL.9-10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment.
RL.9-10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).

Assessment

  • Stylistic Choices Tool: Marc Chagall’s Romeo and Juliet
  • Quick Write: In 3.2.1–31 and Chagall’s painting Romeo and Juliet, both author and artist structure their work with intention. What aspects of Romeo and Juliet do Chagall and Shakespeare choose to emphasize and to leave absent? What effect do these choices create when you consider them in context of the events of the play? Use evidence from the text and the painting to support your claim.

Vocabulary

  • apace (adv.) – quickly
  • steeds (n.) – horses
  • Pheobus (n.) – Apollo, god of the Sun, the sun personified
  • Phaeton (n.) – son of Apollo
  • bating (v.) – coursing, running through

Materials

Agenda

  • Homework Accountability
  • Opening Activity
  • Introduction of RL.9-10.7
  • Text-Dependent Questions and Activities
  • Stylistic Choices Tool: Marc Chagall’s Romeo and Juliet
  • Quick Write

Aim:  What aspects of Romeo and Juliet do Chagall and Shakespeare choose to emphasize and to leave absent? What effect do these choices create when you consider them in context of the events of the play?

Learning Sequence

  1. Clarify the requirements for AIR logs
  2. Review the new CC Standards. Underline the key words in each standard and paraphrase them. Considering- a. 1. What clues in this standard can help you to determine the meaning of mediums in this context? B. Why might an artist choose to emphasize or leave absent certain details when representing a subject or a scene? C. . How might the comparison of two representations of the same subject/scene enrich our understanding of this subject/scene?
  3. Discuss: Why has the Prince banished Romeo?
  4. listen to a masterful reading of 3.2.1–31 (http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/201/romeo-and-juliet/4345/act-3-scene-2/). Use the Think-Pair-Share to share thoughts on  the TBQs-a. What desire is Juliet expressing through her use of imagery in these lines1-7? B. What relationship is being established between Juliet and the night? 8-16 c. What desire is being expressed through this repetition? What does Juliet want to happen? (17-25) d. What imagery does Juliet create to talk about Romeo? What can you infer about Juliet’s feelings for Romeo based on this imagery? E. What does Juliet compare herself to? What can this comparison reveal about how she is feeling?(lines 26-31)
  5. Discuss questions that address Shakespeare’s structural choices and the context surrounding this passage. A. What does the audience know that Juliet does not yet know? Consider what key plot points immediately precede this scene. b. What effect does Shakespeare create by ordering the events in this way? Consider how your knowledge of what has just happened influences the way you understand this passage. This is an example of dramatic irony. This is irony that is inherent in the structure and events of the play; the meaning is understood by the audience but not by the characters.
  6. Look closely at a copy of Marc Chagall’s Romeo and Juliet. Use the Stylistic Choices Tool to record your observations. Work through the tool in your groups, discussing each question and recording their observations. The tool will be collected at the end of the lesson to assess your comprehension.

Quick Write

After you  have had time to complete their Stylistic Choices Tool, you will independently respond in writing to the following question:

In 3.2.1–31 and Chagall’s painting Romeo and Juliet, both author and artist structure their work with intention. What aspects of Romeo and Juliet do Chagall and Shakespeare choose to emphasize and to leave absent? What effect do these choices create when you consider them in context of the events of the play?

 Homework: should continue to read their Accountable Independent Reading through the lens of their focus standard and prepare for a 3–5 minute discussion of their text based on that standard.

Stylistic Choices Tool: Marc Chagall’s Romeo and Juliet

Name:

 

  1. What are the predominant colors in the painting? What is the quality of the color (e.g., bright, muted, or dark)?
  2. Identify the figures. Who are they? What do you notice about how they are represented? Is their representation realistic?
  3. What other symbols or imagery can you identify in the painting?
  4. What is the emotion of the painting? How do you know?
  5. Where are Romeo and Juliet in relation to the city? What can you infer from their position in the painting?
    Hint: Recall what is happening inside the city.
  6. What has Chagall chosen not to represent in this painting? Consider what you know about the events of the play thus far.
  7. How does your knowledge of what Chagall chose not to represent influence your understanding of the painting?

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