May 06 2008
Romeo and Juliet, Act I
Starting our Romeo and Juliet, I’d like you to respond by attaching a bit of Shakespeare to your own life. You know it’s possible, after all, since you were able to connect Homer’s Odyssey to your life, and that’s a whole lot older than Shakespeare.
Here’s the quick explanation, then. Tell me a 250-word (minimum) story about your own life that is somehow similar to what you’ve read in the first act of Romeo and Juliet. You might consider writing about an incident (or multiple incidents) where people started a stupid fight, or maybe a memory you have of someone who is in the kind of lovey-dovey sick to your stomach love that Romeo expresses.
As you tell the story, include in it three quotes from what we’ve read in Romeo and Juliet. You don’t need to weave the quotes into your text. Just stick them in there where they seem most appropriate, and set them apart with the “Indent” key on your editor’s toolbar.
Need a copy of the text at home? Head here.
__________________________________________________
The beginning of an example
My senior year I took a spring break at Daytona Beach. It was fun, but not so much because of the beach as because it was Bike Week (the only valid Sturgis competitor on the planet). I didn’t like the beach, that was tiring. You can drive your cars on the beach at Daytona, and when you find an open spot to hang out, you back in and set up shop on the beach there. Then you sit by your car and watch the other cars drive by. Sort of. If you’re a guy you sit there while people drive by and look at you with their death stares.
Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
The stare was accompanied by an overly exaggerated recline in the seat and a wrist-only steering. I felt like I was some sort of fighter, but I wasn’t the place to find a fight.
But thou art not quickly moved to strike.
What a bunch of goons. I didn’t miss the place at all, and I felt proud to be wearing a pair of the ugliest swim trunks and the whitest pasty non-tan on the beach, to assert my disconnect with the atmosphere.
I do but keep the peace.
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It’s been a long time since I was a high school student, but I couldn’t resist dropping in to say Thanks for providing your students with interesting and relevant assignments about Shakespeare! I never got to do stuff like this, all I ever got was “Memorize the balcony scene. Now, answer these 10 true/false questions and recite the definition of these 10 words….” That sort of boring stuff. I can assure you (and any students that might be listening) – the “how does it apply to your life” approach is far more fun!
Duane
http://www.shakespearegeek.com
(Yeah, I became a Shakespeare Geek despite the lousy education — goes to show just how good the man was!)