Practice Test

Romeo and Juliet is a story that is more about the role of fate than love. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

In your response, ensure that you consider the various ways Shakespeare positions his audience. You should also consider the values, attitudes and beliefs regarding the themes/issues that are embedded within the play.

For the test next week (Monday and Wednesday's lessons) you will be allowed to bring in your sheet of A4 paper that has your quotes. You will not be alllowed to bring your books.

Over the weekend, you should aim to complete steps 1-10 of the essay planning guide so that you are ready to sit the practice test in class.

Exploring important quotes

Attempt to explore the significance of various quotes/sections from the play, Romeo and Juliet. In your exploration you need to consider the ways the audience is being positioned to view the various themes/issues. You also need to think about how the issue/theme demonstrates the values, attitudes and/or beliefs that underpin the play.

In class today, we completed the task using the Prologue from Act I as our stimulus. Below is the paragraph that we wrote. Use this as a guide for your chosen quote/section.

Act I, Prologue

The Prologue in Act I is a significant part of the play because it positions the audience to understand that the two houses, Montague and Capulet, have grudges against one another and that the only way to resolve the conflict is to suffer the deaths of their two children. This is evident through the overview of the plot which is provided by the Chorus. The Prologue is also important because it allows the audience to understand the values and beliefs that underpin the society of Verona with regards to the theme/issue of fate. The embedded attitude towards fate is that all elements of life are already planned/pre-determined. This is clear when the Chorus says, “a pair of star crossed lovers take their life”. This quote positions the audience to believe that the outcomes of Romeo and Juliet’s love were beyond their control.

Essay Planning PowerPoint

Using the link below, you will find a PowerPoint presentation that demonstrates the first ten steps of the essay planning guide.

The plan relates to the sample essay that can be found on the blog in the following post.

Link to PowerPoint presentation

Practice Essay

Below are the steps that you should be utilising when preparing and writing an essay response. Today you will be starting an essay response which will be due to me by Monday. You are responding to the following question:

William Shakespeare's tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet, appeals to teenage audiences in 2010 because the themes that are explored are similar to the issues that young people are encountering in their daily lives. To what extent is this statement valid?

 

Essay Development Steps:

Step 1: Underline key words/phrases

 

Step 2: Determine whether you need to ask any questions about the task.

 

Step 3: In your own words, explain what you believe the question is asking.

 

Step 4: Brainstorm possible responses/key ideas/main points

Step 5: Devise a thesis statement (this answers the question).

Step 6: Devise topic sentences for each main body paragraph (need to link directly to thesis statement).

Step 7: Find evidence for each main point.

Step 8: In dot point format, explain how evidence links/proves main point.

Step 9: Is there a way your first main point links to second and so on

Step 10: Are there any conclusions/evaluations to be made after considering all main points?

 

*Completed at least up to step 10 before test*

Step 11: Attempt introduction. NB. This statement needs to be clear.

Step 12: Attempt main body paragraphs.

-Topic sentence

-Explain

-Evidence

-Expand/elucidate/evaluate

-Concluding/linking statement

 

Step 13: Attempt conclusion. Revisit your thesis and main points but don’t simply re-write. A conclusion implies that you have come to a final resolution of some sort.

Step 14: Look back at question and plan, then read over essay to ensure you have

a)Answered the question

b)Completed all steps of your plan

Step 15: Make any changes that that were needed after previous step.

Step 16: Proof-read and edit - focus on technical elements: spelling, grammar, tense, sentence structure, expression, capital letters, punctuation, word choice, paragraphs deal with 1 idea only, underlined text title.

Step 17: Final read through

Weekend Homework Week 3-4

Write a persuasive paragraph that responds to the following statement:

Juliet would not have been forced to take such drastic action if she simply communicated with her family. Ultimately, Juliet, her mother and her father needed to sit down and have a nice long talk.

The sun, the moon, the stars

For homework, write an extended response (using the same guidelines as the previous paragraphs) that addresses the following statement/question:

Throughout Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare makes effective use of imagery that is related to the sky. How does this imagery help the audience to gain a greater understanding of the characters and/or central themes.

This task is due to be posted on your blog by no later than Friday.

Please note that I am giving you a large space of time to complete the work. This is so that you can plan, write and revise your response. You should not be leaving it until Thursday night and then quickly throwing a couple of lines together.

I am also providing this timeframe so that you can also spend time revising the sections of the play that we look at in class each day.

Work for Friday 15th October and homework for the long weekend

Hi girls,

While I am away at QG Athletics you are to spend the lesson completing the following task:

Following the same format/instructions as the homework task from earlier in the week (that dealt with respect in the Capulet family) you are to plan and then write a paragraph response to the following statement.

Romeo is an impulsive character and his actions are influenced by his emotions.

Your response should be based on what we have read so far and you should aim to work individually.

For homework over the weekend, you should aim to expand upon your character profile for Romeo and begin one for Juliet, using the questions that were provided for Romeo and Benvolio.

If you are not sure on any of these elements please e-mail me and I will try and help you via e-mail.