Name____________________________________
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
Reading Guide
Expectations:
• Use this packet to successfully understand and analyze The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
• Listen attentively in class and complete this packet as it is assigned.
• Answer the reading guide questions as you read.
• Use the calendar to stay up-to-date with all assignments.
Reading Schedule (subject to change)
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Monday
1/27
1/28
Pronoun Antecedent
Agreement
1/29
Pre-Reading and NoteTaking (798a-805)
1/30
Review Notes
Friday
1/31
Homework Check and
Discussion
Pop Quiz
HW: finish
Romeo & Juliet PPT
Movie Clip
Shakespearean
Language
2/3
Prologue
Act I, scene i
2/4
Act I, scene i and ii
2/5
Early Release
Act I, scene iii
2/10
Act I Quiz
2/11
Act II, scene ii
2/12
Act II, scene iii and iv
HW: read Prologue and
Act II, scene I
2/17
NO SCHOOL
2/18
Act II Quiz
HW: read Act III, scene i
2/25
Read Act III, scene iv
and v
2/19
Discuss Act III, scene i
in performance group
3/10
Act V, scene i and ii
3/17
Essay
HW: finish scene iv
2/13
Act II, scene v and vi
HW: study for Act I Quiz
2/14
Movie Clip
3/4
Act IV, scene iii and iv
3/11
Act V, scene iii
3/18
Essay
HW: study for Act II Quiz
2/20
Practice Scene
Performance
Assign Acting Roles and
Prepare
2/26
Finish Act III, scene v
Read Act III, scene iii
3/3
Act IV, scene i and ii
2/7
Movie Clip
HW: finish scene iv
Assign Scene
Performances
2/24
Discuss Act III, scene ii
HW: define drama terms
2/6
Act I, scene iv
3/5
Movie Clip
Read Act IV, scene v
with Acting Group
3/12
Practice Scene
Performance
3/19
Essay
2/21
Lights! Camera! Action!
Scene Performance
Competition
HW: Act III, scene ii
2/27
Movie Clip
HW: study for Act III
Quiz
3/6
Practice Scene
Performance
2/28
Act III Quiz
3/7
Lights! Camera! Action!
Scene Performance
Competition
3/13
Lights! Camera! Action!
Scene Performance
Competition
3/14
Act IV and V Quiz
3/20
Essay
3/21
Essay
Movie Clip
Name____________________________
Romeo and Juliet: PrePre-Reading
Goal: I can determine the main idea of a passage; I can take notes on important details.
Directions: Read the biographies and information regarding Preparing to Read (798A-798B), Theater in Elizabethan England (798799), William Shakespeare (802-803) and Background of the Play (805). For each heading below, write the most important pieces of
information taken from the reading.
Historical Background: Elizabethan England
•
The Rebirth of Learning
•
The Renaissance in England
•
The Elizabethan World
Theater in Elizabethan England
•
England’s First Theater
•
Theater Layout
•
Staging the Play
•
The Blackfriars
•
The Globe Theatre
•
William Shakespeare
•
From Stratford to London
•
The King’s Players
Background for the Play
•
Shakespeare’s Sources
•
The Play Through the Centuries
•
Elizabethan Language
Romeo & Juliet: Drama Devices
Goal: I can define each term to remember its meaning.
Dramatic Term
1. Pun
2. Meter
3. Rhyme
4. Iambic Pentameter
5. Sonnet
6. Dialogue
7. Monologue
8. Soliloquy
9. Aside
10. Couplets
11. Tragedy
12. Hyperbole
13. Foil
14. Oxymoron
15. Allusion
16. Dramatic Irony
17. Comic Relief
Definition
Name________________________________
Romeo and Juliet: Prologue
Goal: I can summarize and make generalizations from content and relate them to the purpose of the material.
Directions: Read the prologue and then paraphrase it LINE BY LINE.
Prologue
Two households, both alike in dignity.
In fair Verona where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,
Whose misadventured, piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death marked love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which but their children’s end, naught could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Modern Translation
1. What is the setting of the play?
2. What is the relationship between the two households?
3. What does Shakespeare mean by “star-crossed lovers”?
4. What happens to the lovers?
5. What is the subject matter of the play?
6. What does the chorus ask of the audience in the last two lines? Why?
7. What is the name of the poetic form which Shakespeare uses for the Prologue? How many lines are there? Mark
the rhyming pattern.
Name____________________________________
Juliet:: Motifs
Romeo and Juliet
Goal: I can identify a motif and determine its purpose.
Directions: As you read the play, find examples of the motifs listed below and identify the purpose.
Motif
family / societal
feud
family / societal
feud
family / societal
feud
innocence /
immaturity
innocence /
immaturity
innocence /
immaturity
fate / destiny
fate / destiny
fate / destiny
Page
Number
Textual Citation of Motif
(II.iii. 12-14).
Purpose of Motif
Why does Shakespeare include this?
What does it help him achieve?
Connections to themes?
Name_______________________________________
Romeo & Juliet: Act I
Goal: I can use my critical thinking skills to analyze important information.
SCENE ONE
1. Why do the servants argue in the opening scene of Act I?
2. What warning does the Prince give the feuding families in Act I, scene i?
3. Why is Romeo acting strangely at the beginning of Act I?
SCENE TWO
4. What does Lord Capulet want Count Paris to do that night at the feast?
5. Which lines allude to Juliet’s age? How old is she? How old does Lord Capulet think she should be to marry?
SCENE THREE
6. After reading the Nurse’s long monologue about Juliet’s family and upbringing, identify why the Nurse may feel
especially strong affection for Juliet.
7. Provide one character trait to describe the Nurse. Explain why the trait is appropriate.
a. Trait and Significance:
8. Provide one character trait to describe Lady Capulet. Explain why the trait is appropriate.
a. Trait and Significance:
9. What dramatic device does Shakespeare use in lines 104 -105? What is the purpose?
SCENE FOUR
10. Identify the line that illustrates Romeo’s hesitation to attend the party. Use a proper citation (Act. scene. Line #).
11. Read Mercutio’s Queen Mab monologue. Then fill in the blanks to further show your understanding of his speech.
She's the ________________ _______________. She's no bigger than the _________________ on a city councilman's ring. She
rides around in a _______________________ drawn by little _____________________, and she rides over men's
___________________ as they lie sleeping. The spokes of her wagon are made of ____________________ __________. The cover
of her wagon is made of ____________________________ wings. The harnesses are made of the smallest spider _______________.
The collars are made out of moonbeams. Her _______________ is a thread attached to a cricket's bone. Her wagon driver is a
_____________ ___________ in a gray coat; he's not half the size of a little round worm that comes from the finger of a lazy young
girl. Her chariot is a _____________________ ________________. It was made by a carpenter squirrel or an old grubworm; they've
made wagons for the fairies as long as anyone can remember. In this royal wagon, she rides every night through the brains of
__________________ and makes them dream about love. She rides over courtiers' knees, and they dream about curtsying. She rides
over lawyers' fingers, and right away, they dream about ___________________. She rides over ladies’ _______________ and they
dream of __________________. Queen Mab often puts blisters on their lips because their breath smells like candy, which makes her
mad. Sometimes she rides over a courtier's lips, and he dreams of making money off of someone. Sometimes she tickles a priest's
nose with a tithe-pigs tail, and he dreams of a large _________________________. Sometimes she rides over a
___________________ neck, and he dreams of cutting the throats of foreign enemies, of breaking down walls, of ambushes, of
Spanish swords, and of enormous cups of liquor. And then, drums beat in his ear and he wakes up. He's frightened, so he says a
couple of prayers and goes back to sleep. She is the same Mab who tangles the hair in horses' manes at night and makes the tangles
hard in the dirty hairs, which bring bad luck if they're untangled. Mab is the old hag who gives false sex dreams to virgins and teaches
them how to hold a lover and bear a child. She's the one—
12. Re-read Romeo’s last stanza. Why does he have a bad feeling about going to the party? How do the “stars” play a role in his
fate? What literary device is illustrated?
SCENE FIVE
13. Who is Tybalt? What does he do that is dangerous at the party?
14. The title of this play tells us that it is a tragedy. How do Romeo and Juliet's reactions in scene v, when they learn each other's
identity, foreshadow or give clues to their tragic end?
a. What does each say?
ACT ONE REVIEW:
15. Which characters are foils of each other?
16. What examples of hyperbole do you find during Romeo’s declaration of love for Rosaline in Act I, scene i?
17. Locate a pun in Act I, scene iv, and identify its different meanings and effect.
Name______________________________
Romeo and Juliet: Act II
Goal: I can use my critical thinking skills to analyze important information.
SCENE ONE
1. Why do Benvolio and Mercutio stop looking for Romeo in the opening scene of Act II?
SCENE TWO
2. What does Juliet mean when she says, “What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face.”
3. How does Juliet's soliloquy affect the action of this scene?
4. Why doesn't Juliet want Romeo to swear his love by the moon?
5. What plans do Romeo and Juliet make in scene ii?
SCENE THREE
6. Explain the following lines: “Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, / And vice sometime by action dignified” (II. iii.
21-22).
7.
Cite the quote that illustrates what Romeo asks of Friar Lawrence.
•
Paraphrase this line.
8. What does Friar Lawrence mean when he says to Romeo, “Young men’s love then lies / Not truly in their hearts, but
in their eyes” (II. iii. 67-68)?
9. Friar Lawrence agrees to Romeo’s request. Why? Include the direct quote that illustrates Friar’s response.
10. What is the double-meaning of the following line? “Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast” (II. iii. 94).
•
What literary device is illustrated?
SCENE FOUR
11. Benvolio informs Mercutio of a letter Tybalt sends to the Montague house. What message does Tybalt send
Romeo?
12. The first few pages of this scene include Romeo and Mercutio exchanging witty dialogue and teasing one another.
Romeo’s mood has changed since Mercutio was last with him. Why?
•
What type of irony is presented here? Explain.
13. Re-read lines 168-171, the Nurse seeks confirmation that Romeo’s love for Juliet is truly sincere. After Romeo
confirms this, what message does he ask the Nurse to send to Juliet?
14. What object does Romeo tell the Nurse she needs to fetch from his servant? What will Romeo use this for?
.
15. Identify the people who know about Romeo and Juliet’s secret marriage.
SCENE FIVE
16. Why is Juliet so impatient at the beginning of the scene?
17. List the Nurse’s ailments she expresses to Juliet.
a. Identify three adjectives to describe the Nurse in this scene.
18. What literary device does Shakespeare use in lines 75-78? What is the purpose of the device?
SCENE SIX
19. Refer to lines 9-15. Summarize Friar Lawrence’s stanza.
a. What literary device does this exemplify?
ACT TWO REVIEW
20. Number the following events of Romeo and Juliet’s courtship into the correct order.
•
_______The nurse brings the message to Juliet.
•
_______Romeo consults with Friar Lawrence to arrange the marriage.
•
_______Romeo and Juliet are married in Friar Lawrence’s cell.
•
_______Romeo gives the Nurse his message.
•
_______Romeo and Juliet declare their love in the orchard.
21. To see how imagery is embedded into the play, find and list the images of light, dark, and fire in scene ii. What is
their dramatic purpose?
III
Romeo and Juliet: Act III
Name______________________________
Goal: I can use my critical thinking skills to analyze important information.
SCENE ONE
1. Why is Tybalt angry in III.i?
2. Describe Romeo’s mood and demeanor as he enters the scene and sees Tybalt arguing with Mercutio and
Benvolio.
3. In scene i, there are two major fights. Answer the questions to show your understanding of this scene.
Questions
1. Who is involved in the fight?
Fight #1
Fight #2
2. Why does the fight begin?
3. What is the result of the fight?
4. Mercutio is a jokester to the very end. What are two of the puns that he makes while he is dying?
5. The Prince informs Verona’s citizens of Romeo’s punishment. What couplet indicates this?
SCENE TWO and THREE
Element
Internal Conflict-What
evidence from the text
illustrates what these
characters are
struggling with?
Juliet in Act III, ii
Romeo in Act III, iii
Nurse
Friar
Foreshadowing-What
language within reveals
how the story will
unfold?
Character FeelingsHow does each
character feel within
these scenes?
Characterization-What
advice does each
character give to the
young lovers?
SCENE FOUR
6. What plans have Juliet's parents made for her in III.iv? Include when these plans will take place. Why do they
have a change of heart?
SCENE FIVE
7. What clues does Shakespeare give that indicate what time of day it is? List three specific phrases.
8. Romeo and Juliet foreshadow their impending destiny. Cite a specific line from each character to illustrate this.
9. When Lady Capulet and Juliet discuss grieving over a loved one, to whom is Juliet referring, and to whom is Lady
Capulet? What literary device does this exemplify?
10. Cite a line that exemplifies Lord Capulet's reaction to Juliet's insistence that she is not ready to marry Paris.
11. Juliet looks to the Nurse for comfort; however, Juliet is disappointed. Why is this?
12. Juliet asks the Nurse to tell her mom she has gone to confess to Friar Lawrence. What is the real reason she
wants to see him?
ACT III REVIEW
13. What theme does Mercutio’s speech in Act III, scene I best illustrate? Refer to the part where he says, “a plague o’
both your houses” (III. i. 104).
14. Find two examples of an oxymoron in this act, especially scene ii, and identify each purpose.
Name______________________________
Romeo and Juliet: Act IV
Goal: I can use my critical thinking skills to analyze important information.
SCENE ONE
1. When Act IV opens, Paris has been arranging with Friar Lawrence for his wedding with Juliet. Why does Juliet come to the
Friar’s cell?
2. List, in order, Friar Lawrence’s plan for reuniting the two lovers.
•
What flaws can be foreseen with this plan?
SCENE TWO
3. Cite the lines and paraphrase what Juliet says to her parents to indicate that she agrees to marry Paris.
4. What is Lord Capulet’s reaction and what can you conclude about his character?
SCENE THREE
5. What are three worries Juliet has before she drinks the vial?
SCENE FOUR
6. While Juliet has been drinking the potion, what have her father and others in the household been doing?
SCENE FIVE
7. Explain the dramatic irony with the Nurse and Lady Capulet.
8.
What does the Friar say to try to comfort the grieving Capulets and Paris?
9. What is personified in lines 31-32 and 36-40? Why does Shakespeare personify this?
ACT IV REVIEW
10. Where does Shakespeare include comic relief in Act IV? What purpose does it serve?
Name______________________________
Romeo and Juliet: Act V
Goal: I can use my critical thinking skills to analyze important information.
SCENE ONE
1. How does Romeo's dream, which he describes in his opening speech, compare with the news Balthasar brings?
2.
Cite the lines and explain how Romeo convinces the apothecary to sell him poison.
3.
Cite the lines and identify what Romeo plans to do with the poison.
SCENE TWO
4. Why couldn’t Friar John deliver the letter to Romeo?
5.
What does Friar Lawrence now plan to do?
SCENE THREE
6. Why do Paris and Romeo quarrel? What is the resolution to their conflict?
7. What red flags should Romeo have noticed in Juliet’s appearance?
8. List in chronological order the major events that take place after Romeo’s quarrel with Paris.
9.
Describe the conclusion of the drama.
10. Were Romeo and Juliet’s deaths necessary for the feud to end? Explain.
11. Determine a motif not yet charted.
12. Develop your own theme statement for the play.