Soliloquy+Analysis

Philosophy: In general, I do not treat Shakespeare with the same reverence as some teachers might. In Niskayuna, eighth grade is when students first read and study a complete play by the Bard and my overall goal is for it to be a positive experience. If, when students are presented with another play as freshmen, they say to themselves, "Ok, Romeo and Juliet wasn't that bad. I understood most of that. I can probably understand most of this." then I have achieved my goal. Methods: From the very first I take a light-hearted stance to our study of the play. In fact, many sections of the play that lend themselves to getting the students on their feet, we act out as a group in class. For example, Act one Scene one starts with the two feuding families meeting on the streets of Verona and first insulting each other then openly fighting. We prepare for this by practicing Shakespearean insults and then act out the scene with (pretend) swords. There are many scenes in the play that are easily understood by the students and they take these home to read as homework. (One main resource I have used for this is [|Shakespeare Set Free] ) We also do a close reading of several parts of the play including the "potion soliloquy" in act four.
 * Soliloquy Analysis

For many years we have purchased individual copies of the text of the play so that students may take notes in their own copy. Some students find it cumbersome to use sticky notes and the novelty of writing in a book is perhaps a motivation in itself. We use the [|Red Reader]. It is very inexpensive, if you purchase by the case. From the very beginning I encourage students to think of their first brush with Shakespeare as more of a study of a foreign language, than reading and studying something in English. They should not expect to read and understand this as they would a text written by a contemporary author. Below find the preface to the Folger Shakespeare Library edition of the play for a clear explanation of why it can be difficult to read Shakespeare and some excellent examples from the play. We have found that many students take advantage of their own personal copy of the text to take notes in. By the time they have reached eighth grade, Niskayuna students are well practiced in the kind of note taking techniques that are required, so I find that I have little instruction to do in this manner. However see Reader's Marks below for a concise list. As we work through the play I gradually release the responsibility for making meaning to the students. By this I mean that for the first few scenes we work together closely with me telling students the meaning of words or phrases or entire paragraphs with some explanation. But as we get to the end of the play, students need to rely on me less and less, and take a more active role in constructing their own meaning. For example, in a typical class we might read a scene (students read assigned parts) and I stop the students at a particular point and students ask questions. This encourages students to think actively about the meaning of what they are reading. It is not allowed to ask, "What did that whole scene mean?" Students must either ask a specific question, "What does 'wherefore' mean?" or propose their interpretation for my clarification. "Does 'wherefore ' mean why?" Act Four is a good place to stop and check for student interpretation skills. My goal for this assignment is to analyze student ability to interpret the language and also is a continuation of lessons on imagery that we have previously done in a unit on poetry. **Soliloquy Analysis Assignment ** In two good paragraphs, analyze the imagery used in act four scene three of //Romeo and Juliet. Be sure to include title and author in your topic sentence. Also include details from the play to back up your ideas. *Do not use personal pronouns (I, me, my) in a formal analysis like this! // **  Give at least three examples of the imagery used in this scene and analyze. What does this imagery reveal about Juliet’s thoughts? What are the dramatic purposes of this scene?