"Juliet & her Romeo"
Personal Note: Suicide is not inevitable. You matter. You can reach out. Please ask for help, for yourself or for a friend. We've all needed to be carried a bit of the way along the journey. If you are considering suicide or self-harm, please say something to a trusted friend or adult. We don't have all the answers, but working together we can find the right support. When we discuss this text, we'll talk about the deaths of the main characters in the context of author-arranged fiction, and why these choices "work" -- but they only "work" in the realm of fiction. Real life doesn't work out so neatly. No life needs to be stuck in darkness. I'm not perfect, I won't be able to solve everything, or even anything. But believe me: you are NOT simply a name on my class roster. Not this year, not any year. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255. Okay: back to our regularly scheduled teacher stuff: Ahhhh. Such sweet romance.....MAYBE NOT! Okay, let's get real. There's rash behavior, bad choices, and worse luck involved. So whose fault is it, ultimately, that both "Juliet and her Romeo" (V.3.321) lie dead at the end, with a pile of corpses beside them (metaphorically)? That's what we'll investigate. We'll also look at primary documents about marriage and parenting at the time, we'll consider the variety of literary tricks and techniques Shakespeare employs in the telling of the story. And we'll hope to have some fun along the way. Please bring your green anthology to class EVERY DAY. (I know, it's sooooo heavy.) But wait, there's more: DON"T carry it home. Leave in your locker for the next day, and use this digital resource to finish your reading at home. (Link is to Folger Digital Text.) Don't consult the No Fear Shakespeare/SparkNotes just yet. Please. Have faith in me. And in your brain. My experience has been that students have enough practice by Act 3 in reading "Shakespeare's Old-e English" (we do a lot in class, and then you finish the scenes at home, so it's pretty well scaffolded) that you'll be reading and thinking like Shakespeare's basketball buddy soon enough. Note-taking format: 2-6-2 (modified Cornell) Why do I keep getting 80s? Want to see a sample of C note-taking vs. A notes? Check these out! Want to see what additions to your notes from class might look like? Look at this (for Little Red Riding Hood). Scan of law-ruled paper (for 2*6*2 notes) here. Activities and projects connected to this unit:
Helpful resources:
Need help with Shakespeare's language? Try this resource: ShakespearesWords.com which has a glossary for many of the words he uses. I've linked directly to the Romeo&Juliet text, with word helps running down the side. But there is much more to explore on the site.
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Conspiracy theories and The Authorship Question:
Shakespeare died in 1616, on April 23. First proposed during the Victorian era, this theory asserts that William Shakespeare wasn't the one who wrote all those plays and poems. Anti-Stratfordians instead offer up names such as Edward DeVere (17th Earl of Oxford), Christopher Marlowe (another contemporary playwright), Sir Francis Bacon (who apparently has done everything: scientist, philosopher, statesman, jurist, orator, author, Attorney General...). Others believe the works were written by a group of people using the name. Some even propose that Shakespeare was the pen-name of Queen Elizabeth 1. Was Queen Elizabeth 1 actually Shakespeare? Want to see how crazy detailed some scholars get?!? Look at this examination that points out a single additional hair (from Folger Shakespeare). This comparison of the portraits of both. Art Historian Lillian Schwartz used computer technology to overlay the Droeshout portrait of Shakespeare (an engraving that was printed on the first Folio, 1623) and the Armada portrait of Queen E (by an unnamed artist) and declared them identical. Not everyone agrees, however. This source isn't on board with the idea that these portraits are of the same person. If you look closely at the Shakespeare face, you'll notice to lines near his neck on the right side. This has been used to suggest that the Shakespeare "face" is a mask.... You be the judge! But, if you still have to read the stuff anyway, does it matter to you who wrote it?
Thought-Provoking: Washington Post article "Dumbing Down Shakespeare: Are Americans Too Intellectually Lazy to Appreciate His Genius? (Answer this question AFTER you've made it through the play!)
Hungry for more context? Watch John Green's Crash Course video (12:41 min.) linked below. Spoiler Alert: most of the secrets are spilled, so maybe you should hold off until at least Act 3. (Just my professional advice, so you can do your own thinking first!)
Language:You vs. thee.
Check out this Roving Knave video (2:02) that briefly sums up the distinctions between the use of the formal "You" vs the more intimate "Thee." These word choices indicate relationship: power, status, and intimacy. Or the 1:22 minute video "Thee, Thou, Thy" a 30 Second Shakespeare (double session) by Breaking Bard. |