For Honors English 1

May 14^th – May 18^th

On Monday, I will give you about ten minutes of the period to complete your brief essay on the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We will then begin our work on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by taking a brief look at the theater in Shakespeare’s time so that you will know how this play was staged. We should also be able to read Act I, Scene 1. As we read, try to figure out what Romeo’s problem was in this first scene. I will tell you that his problem concerns a girl, but it is not Juliet. I believe Shakespeare included this initial situation to give his audience an insight into the character of Romeo, and, perhaps, a better understanding of his actions later in the play.

We will be reading the play and, because plays were meant to be viewed – not just read, the best way for you to understand the play is to read it and see it. We will watch the film as we cover the play, and you might notice that what you didn’t quite “get” as you read, you will be better able to understand once you see it performed.

However, you cannot simply rely on the viewing. Since our language has changed considerably since the time when Shakespeare was writing 500 years ago, you must read the dialogue slowly in order to get the full meaning of the word spoken by the actors.

You should download and print out the listing of characters that is posted in the Instructional Aids table and use it to keep track of the characters. You also should download and print out the listing of literary terms used in Shakespearean theater as well and use them for the basis of your notes as we discuss the play. If, for any reason, you cannot do this at home, remember that you can access my webpage from any computer in the building, and print it out from there. You can go to the library before or after school to use the computers there, or you can go to the language lab or the computer lab and use one of those computers as well.

We will be spending the remaining class periods that we have in the semester on Romeo and Juliet since we will need all of that time to cover this five-act play. After we have finished our work on the play, which will include quizzes and a test, I will be able to calculate exemptions. Remember that, in order to be exempt, a student must have completed all of the work due for the course and earned an A for the year, not just the semester. Therefore, exemptions cannot be announced until our last class period before exams.