From Graphic Organizer to Thesis Statement

Thesis Statement:

Your thesis should answer the following question: Why does Shakespeare have characters use (identified literary device) to describe (topic of passage)?

Sample thesis for the passage where Romeo and Juliet first meet (I.v.95-112):

Romeo and Juliet use religious imagery (identified pattern of imagery) to express their love for one another (topic of passage) both to magnify and justify the safety and purity of their love (answers why).

Sample thesis for the passage where Lady Capulet tells Juliet about Paris (I.iii.85-100):

            Lady Capulet uses storybook imagery (identfied pattern or imagery) to describe Paris and the benefits of marrying him (topic of passage) so that Juliet will thoughtfully entertain his proposal (answers why).

A forced pattern of a literary device or a vague or simplistic explanation of why will weaken your thesis. Think carefully about characters’ situations, motives, and beliefs to come up with a complex and logical connection.  Be sure you completely understand what you are arguing and that there is plenty of evidence to support your argument (hint: if you carefully complete the graphic organizer, then you will put yourself in a better position to meet these guidelines).  

HW: For Monday, please read/post about III.i. http://reynoldsrandj.blogspot.com/

Day 12 R&J

Do Now: What does it mean to do a close reading? What is the point of close reading?

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to describe how analyzing a small amount of text can shed light on big ideas in the text.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can make a connection between a short passage from the play and a big idea.
-I can recognize an important method Shakespeare uses in a passage and explain what it emphasizes or suggests.

Agenda:

1. Close reading (exercise with sonnet 73)
2. Practice with Citizen Kane
3. Passages to revisit from the first two acts of the play
4. Exit Ticket: How does the thinking involved in close-reading relate to thinking in other subjects?

HW: Using your annotated passage and completed graphic organizer, continue drafting a thesis statement. Note at least three specific lines from your passage that you would use to support your thesis statement.

Link to the assignment sheet. 

Day 11 R&J

Do Now: What is an allusion? Why does an author choose to make allusions?

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to recognize what an allusion is and why writers use them.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can make a connection between Aristotle's "Golden Mean" and the Friar's advice.
-I can locate at least one other allusion in the play and consider why it is there.

Agenda:

1. II.iii
2. Allusion (Golden Mean notes are here)
3. The Golden Mean http://faculty.mtsac.edu/cmcgruder/aristitlesethicsvandv.html  or check out Benjamin Franklin's list of thirteen virtues
4. Exit Ticket: Does Aristotle's idea still matter?

HW: Choose one of the passages on the assignment sheet. Make a copy of your selected passage and annotate it with at least five marginal comments/questions.

Day 10 R&J

Do Now: Henry James said that the purpose of fiction is "to help the human heart know itself." How does the heart "know" things (as opposed to how the mind knows things)?

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to recognize and apply some reading strategies to use with Romeo and Juliet.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can select an appropriate reading strategy to help better understand a confusing passage from II.i-ii.
-I can think about what strategies I already use and which ones I should add to my "toolbox" of reading strategies.

Agenda:

1. Rising action and conflicts
2. II.i-ii (a link to an article on "The Balcony Scene")
3. Figurative Language and Allusions
4. Exit Ticket: What does the action so far make you think about passion vs. reason?

HW: read the rest of Act II (scenes iii-vi) and choose either 1) one line from which you can infer what a character wants, 2) one line in which you recognize a literary device and explain what it emphasizes, or 3) one line that is either enjoyable or confusing and why. Include your line and question/explanation on the blog. reynoldsrandj.blogspot.comconfusing and why. Include one line/explanation on the blog. 

Day 9 R&J

Do Now: Please take out your paragraph on the article about different definitions of love. Share your response with your group and be prepared to offer some of your thoughts and connections to the play.

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to recognize and apply some reading strategies to use with Romeo and Juliet.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can select an appropriate reading strategy to help better understand a confusing passage from I.i.
-I can think about what strategies I already use and which ones I should add to my "toolbox" of reading strategies.

Agenda:

1. Sharing paragraphs 
2. Love is a many-splendored thing
3. Beginning Act II

HW: Read II.i-ii and choose either 1) one line from which you can infer what a character wants, 2) one line in which you recognize a literary device and explain what it emphasizes, or 3) one line that is either enjoyable or confusing and why. Include your line and question/explanation on the blog. reynoldsrandj.blogspot.com

Day 8 R&J

Do Now: Having finished reading act one, what challenges with Shakespeare's language have you overcome? What challenges still remain?

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to recognize and apply some reading strategies to use with Romeo and Juliet.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can select an appropriate reading strategy to help better understand a confusing passage from act I.
-I can think about what strategies I already use and which ones I should add to my "toolbox" of reading strategies.

Agenda:

1. Rosaline v. Juliet (in words)
2. The hidden sonnet
3. Big ideas addressed in the first act
4. Exit Ticket: What is your favorite part of Act I?

HW: Read and annotate "The Ancient Greeks' Six Words for Love" article. Of the six types of love defined in the article, what are some that have shown up in Romeo and Juliet so far? Respond to the question in a 5-7 sentence paragraph that includes at least one example from the play.

Day 7 R&J

She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep.

Do Now: Please read the two excerpts about imagination and talk to your group about them. Make at least one connection to your life and/or Romeo and Juliet.

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to recognize and apply some reading strategies to use with Romeo and Juliet.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can select an appropriate reading strategy to help better understand a confusing passage from I.iv.
-I can think about what strategies I already use and which ones I should add to my "toolbox" of reading strategies.

Agenda:

1. literary devices
2. I.iv
3. film adaptation
4. Exit Ticket:If the nurse's lengthy speech in I.iii revealed her gift of gab and warm feelings towards Juliet, what then does Mercutio's Queen Mab speech suggest about his character? 

HW: read I.v and look for one of the following 1) a line from which you can infer what a character wants, 2) a line in which you recognize a literary device and explain what it emphasizes, or 3) a line that is either enjoyable or confusing and why. Include the line/explanation on the blog.  http://reynoldsrandj.blogspot.com/ 

Full text of Neil Gaiman's lecture: https://readingagency.org.uk/news/blog/neil-gaiman-lecture-in-full.html

Day6b R&J

Do Now: Compare and contrast Romeo and Juliet. How do their "entrances" establish them in different ways? What are their attitudes towards love?

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to recognize and apply some reading strategies to use with Romeo and Juliet.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can select an appropriate reading strategy to help better understand a confusing passage from I.iii.
-I can think about what strategies I already use and which ones I should add to my "toolbox" of reading strategies.
-I can explain how noticing an author's use of literary devices can aid my understanding of the work.

Agenda:

1. I.iii
2. What characters want
3. Setting up I.iv and the Queen Mab Speech
4. Exit Ticket: What character most interests you so far? Why?

HW: Read I.iv and comment on the blog.

Day 6 R&J

Do Now: Look over the literary devices handout. What literary devices have you noticed so far? Select one line to share and explain what it emphasizes.

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to recognize and apply some reading strategies to use with Romeo and Juliet.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can select an appropriate reading strategy to help better understand a confusing passage from I.i.
-I can think about what strategies I already use and which ones I should add to my "toolbox" of reading strategies.
-I can explain how noticing an author's use of literary devices can aid my understanding of the work.

Agenda:

1. literary devices
2. I.ii
3. lines of the day
4. Exit Ticket: What character most interests you so far? Why?

HW: Read I.iii and choose either 1) one line from which you can infer what a character wants, 2) one line in which you recognize a literary device and explain what it emphasizes, or 3) one line that is either enjoyable or confusing and why. Include your line and question/explanation on the blog. reynoldsrandj.blogspot.com

Day 5 R&J

Do Now: Did you use any of the strategies we covered? If so, which one did you find helpful and for what line(s)? If not, then how did you make sense of the text?

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to recognize and apply some reading strategies to use with Romeo and Juliet.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can select an appropriate reading strategy to help better understand a confusing passage from I.i.
-I can think about what strategies I already use and which ones I should add to my "toolbox" of reading strategies.

Agenda:

1. Reading comprehension (Full article about Tina Packer here: http://bcm.bc.edu/issues/winter_2015/features/dramatic-stress.html)
2. I.i
3. What characters want / conflict
4. Exit Ticket: What are your initial reactions to reading Shakespeare?

HW: read I.ii and choose three lines you find interesting, confusing, enjoyable, etc. Explain what you think is going on in each selection and why you chose it. Post one of your lines and explanations on the blog (http://reynoldsrandj.blogspot.com/).

Day 4 R&J

Do Now: Take out your sonnet and share it with your group. What were some challenges of writing with this sort of form? What did you learn about yourself as a writer?

Today's Learning Target(s): 
I will be able to recognize and apply some reading strategies to use with Romeo and Juliet.
I will know that I have hit the learning target when...
-I can select an appropriate reading strategy to help better understand a confusing passage from I.i.
-I can think about what strategies I already use and which ones I should add to my "toolbox" of reading strategies.

Agenda:

1. Big Ideas
2. Reading strategies ("Dramatic Stress" article)
3. Beginning the play
4. Exit Ticket: What strategy makes the most sense to you?

HW: Write a short paragraph (5-7 sentences) about how one of the big ideas we discussed during today's class relates to something you've read, witnessed, or experienced.

HW: For Thursday, finish I.i and bring in at least one question.