Romeo and Juliet

Lesson 1
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ELA

Unit 11

9th Grade

Lesson 1 of 23

Objective


Explain the function of the prologue in Romeo and Juliet

Analyze the conflict in act 1, scene 1.

Readings and Materials


  • Play: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare  — Prologue (p. 7); Act 1, Scene 1 (pp. 9–15)

  • Movie: Romeo and Juliet (Directed by Baz Luhrmann, 1996)  — Prologue

  • Excerpt: Street Love by Walter Dean Myers  — Prologue

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Target Task


Multiple Choice

The prologue develops the theme of fate by (select the best two):

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What is the main effect of the filmmaker’s choice to use a news anchor to deliver the prologue?

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Writing Prompt

How does Walter Dean Myers use his prologue to convey the theme of star-crossed love? In what ways is his prologue similar to and different from Shakespeare’s?

What are the most important things we learn about the conflict of the play in this first scene? Explain using evidence from the text.

Key Questions


  • What do we learn about the setting from the prologue? What is the significance of the play being set in Italy, not England?
  • What do we learn about the plot? Themes? Conflict?
  • Why does Shakespeare reveal so much about the play in just these few short lines? What might be his purpose in sharing so much from the very beginning?
  • Who are Gregory and Sampson? Why does Sampson “bite his thumb” at Abram?
  • What do we learn about the feud between the Montagues and Capulets through these characters and their interactions?
  • What do we learn about masculine honor in Verona through the interactions of these characters?
  • Who are Benvolio and Tybalt? What role do they play in the brawl?
  • What does the prince proclaim? Why?
  • Read “Harlem,” the prologue to Street Love. How does Myers use the prologue to establish the setting? The conflict? How is his prologue similar to Shakespeare’s? Different? How does he draw on Shakespeare here?

Notes


  • Elizabethan beliefs in astrology could help students understand the importance of the phrase “star-crossed lovers” on the plot of the play. Consider having students read an excerpt as a Do Now.
  • The setting of the play is Verona, Italy, likely in the 1300s, but lack of specifics about the actual setting make it possible for stage and film directors to be creative about the specific setting. The key detail being the presence of violence in the society in which it is set.
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