Fate, Secrecy, Revenge, Love
Theme Portfolio
The purpose of this assignment is to discover how the themes in Romeo & Juliet are still relevant
today, even over 400 years after the story was written. Using a variety of resources, you will compile a
portfolio that reflects your chosen theme.
Choose your theme
FATE: There are forces in life over which people have no control.
SECRECY: Even well-intended deceptions and secrets can be destructive.
REVENGE: Revenge can destroy both avenger and victim.
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT: At times, young people have more passion than wisdom, while older people
forget the power of love.
Choose a book from the outside reading list that fits with your theme.
Look for examples of your chosen theme as you read.
Keep a single-sided journal of
examples as you notice them while you’re reading – include page numbers and
number each entry. You may neatly write your journal entries on notebook paper, in blue or black ink.
I will check these on Fridays.
Journal Entries
Here’s the format your journal should follow:
1. Quote that Your explanation. You might answer any of the following questions in
shows your
your response:
theme and
 Compare and contrast to Romeo & Juliet
page number  How does this quote represent your theme?
 How does this quote show that your theme is still relevant and
important?
 Why is this an important quote to the story?
2. Next quote
Make sure you line up your quote and response next to each other.
Each journal response should be approximately 5-8 sentences long.
Choose quotes that are evenly spread throughout your book.
Number your entries- #1, #2, #3 etc.
CORE: Complete 7 journal entries
HONORS: Complete 10 journal entries
Modern Resources
Find examples of your theme in a variety of modern resources.
Core must have three examples of the chosen theme—each from a different category.
Honors must have five examples of the chosen theme—at least one music, one news, one pop culture
and then two free choice from the categories below.
a. CATEGORY 1: Music. Find and print out song lyrics that show your theme. Make sure your lyrics
are school appropriate! If there is any swearing or inappropriate language, please edit it out
using ***. You may use any song written after 1999.
b. CATEGORY 2: Newspaper (Seattle Times, New York Times, Covington Reporter, etc) or news
magazine (Time, Newsweek, etc) articles—Find and print out or cut out stories that reflect your
theme. You may use any news article written 2007 or later.
c. CATEGORY 3: Pop culture. Pop culture includes magazines, websites, blogs and movies.
Magazines like People, Vogue,
Sports Illustrated, etc, (in other
words, these magazines are not
news magazines like the ones
above). Find and cut out stories
that reflect your theme.
Current events websites/blogs.
Find and print out or cut out
stories that reflect your theme.
Movies: Find and print out or
cut out stories that reflect your
theme. If you wish to use a
movie as your example, you
must print out a synopsis or
review of the movie. You may
print a synopsis from
www.imdb.com and movie
reviews can be found at
www.yahoomovies.com or
www.moviefone.com.
You may use any pop culture example written 2007 or later. Movies must have come out in 2007 or later.
ALL RESOURCES MUST BE CURRENT! Check the year of your resource.
You must have a HARD COPY of all resources.
How to Put Your Fate, Secrecy, Revenge, Love: Theme Portfolio Together:
Put all your theme examples together in a portfolio that demonstrates, explains and analyzes your theme
(fate, love / love @first sight, revenge, secrecy) Your portfolio should consist of the following in this order:
1. Cover page
 Your cover page should include your theme, your name, a proper heading in the bottom right
hand corner, and a full COLOR illustration or collage that covers the entire page and visually
demonstrates your theme.
2. Single-sided journal entries – typed or handwritten with blue or black ink only
 Make sure your quotes include page numbers from your book.
 Your entries must be thorough, 5-8 sentences long and include supporting details (CDs) from
your book. Core: Complete 7 entries, Honors: Complete 10 entries.
CORE--3 of the following (each from a different category) must be included in your portfolio:
HONORS--5 of the following (you will use one or two categories more than once):
3. Music—print out of lyrics.
 Highlight or underline the words or phrases in the lyrics that show your theme.
 Write a paragraph that explains how your lyrics show your theme. Include at least 2 supporting
details from your lyrics in the paragraph and connect it to the theme.
4. News—print out or cut out the news article,
 Highlight or underline the words or phrases in the article that show your theme.
 Write a paragraph that explains how your article shows your theme. Include at least 2
supporting details from your article in the paragraph and connect it to the theme.
5. Pop culture—print out or cut out the clipping of your pop culture example.
 Highlight or underline the words or phrases in the article/blog posting/webpage that show your
theme.
 Write a paragraph that explains how your article/blog posting/webpage shows your theme.
Include at least 1 supporting detail from article/blog posting/webpage and connect it to theme.
You can either staple your packet together with your cover page on top or put your work in a folder of your
choosing. Simply make sure your portfolio is neat, easy to read and attractive. Please do not put paragraphs
in plastic page protectors.
All paragraphs for your portfolio must be typed and follow these guidelines:
o
o
o
o
o
Type
Double-spaced
12-point font
Arial or Times font
Centered Heading which states the category for each paragraph- Music, News, Pop Culture
o Use supporting details (concrete details) from your source!
This project is due: _ March 7th ____EARLY Turn-in week: Feb 29- March 4
Please note: there will be mini-due dates along the way when you will be required to have one of your
examples in class. Those due dates will be announced at a later date.
Fate, Secrecy, Revenge, Love
Fate, Secrecy, Revenge, Love Theme Portfolio
Due Date
CHECK 1
Monday, 2/8/16
CHECK 2
Friday 2/12/16
PRESIDENTs
BREAK
CHECK 3
Monday 2/22/16
Week of
2/22-2/26
CHECK 4
Friday 2/26/16
Monday, 2/29/16
What’s Due?
Core: Two examples of your theme
Honors: Three examples of your theme
(print out of lyrics, news article, print out of movie review or synopsis,
etc).
REMEMBER: the requirements for this project are:
 Core should have ONE each (for a total of THREE) from each of
these sources: music, news, pop culture.
 Honors should have THREE examples ONE from each of the
sources. The TWO additional examples are your choice from
the sources: music, news, pop culture. (for a total of FIVE)
Journal check—
Core: Two entries
Honors: Three entries
Core: One more examples of your theme
Honors: Two more examples of your theme
(print out of lyrics, news article, print out of movie review or synopsis,
etc)
 You should now have your examples completed. Make sure
each is from a different source as required!
Journal check—
Core: One entry
Honors: Two entries
Homework: READ YOUR NOVEL
Write up your Rough Drafts Explaining your Theme Examples
CORE: Make sure you have rough drafts of all three paragraphs. These
should be written or typed. These will be checked/revised in class
begin: 2/22/16.
HONORS: Make sure you have all five of your rough drafts paragraphs
written or typed. These will be checked/revised in class beginning
2/22/16.
Journal check—
Core: Two entries
Honors: Three entries
ROUGH DRAFTS check/revision
Core: Three paragraphs. Honors: Five paragraphs.
Journal check—
Core and Honors: The last Two entries
 Make a plan for your full color illustration or collage cover
page. It should include your theme, your name and class period.
It will visually demonstrate your theme.
You should be done reading your book by now
Review how to turn in portfolio (in class)
Point
Value
15
15
10
10
25
15
10
None