Romeo and Juliet Assignments


The assignments are your personal record of responses to issues in the text. Sometimes these assignments will be private reflections. Many assignments, however, will be ones that you would enjoy sharing with a friend, a small group, with a teacher, or with the whole world.

The activities found in the “For the Next Scene” sections allow you to record personal responses to issues that will be presented in the next scene of the play. You are encouraged to transform some of these initial thoughts into posts to share with others, e.g. personal essays, poems, short stories.

Blog Assignments: 5 x ( _/8 ) = __/40
Creative Writing: 5 x ( __/8 ) = __/40

Blog Assignments for Romeo and Juliet
The blog assignments you choose to publish should be kept in a separate category of your blog. For assignments which must be kept private, you could password protect the post. Attempt all of the following in your English notebook/binder, but choose one from each Act to publish in your blog. Typically these assignments will be critical essays of 3-5 body paragraphs with an introduction and conclusion.

I. p. 2 #1-6; p. 26 #1,2,3; p. 36 #1,4,5,6; p. 46 #3,4,5,6; p. 58 #1,4,5; p. 72 #1,3;
II. p. 84 #1,4; p. 98 #1,2,3,4,5; p. 106 #4; p. 122 #1,2,3,5; p. 130 #1,3,4; p. 136 #1,3; p. 136 #1;
III. p. 154 #1,2,3,7; p. 166 #2,6,7; p. 182 #1,4,5,6,7,8; p. 190 #5; p. 208 #1,2,3,4,7,8;
IV. p. 222 #1,2,3,5,6,8; p. 230 #1,3,5; p. 236 #1; p. 254 #1,3; p. 255 #3,6;
V. p. 266 #1,2,4; p. 270 #1,2,3; p. 290 #1,2,5,8; p. 291 #1,8,9

Creative Writing Activities for Romeo and Juliet
Like an artist’s studio the creative writing portfolio contains the following: raw materials, works in progress, (temporarily) abandoned works, and finished pieces. Like the artist’s studio, the creative writing portfolio becomes the repository from which the writer makes selections of what is worth exhibiting (or submitting) for evaluation. As you fill your portfolio with writing activities, make your own choices about what is to be polished or published.

Most writing activities require you to manipulate writing variables. You are asked to write in a voice other than your own, to write for a designated audience, and to write in styles that range from colloquial to formal.

Choose several of the following activities to experiment with in your creative writing portfolio. Use your blog entries for ideas or discuss other ideas with your teacher. You will decide which activities to submit for evaluation. Your final presentation for evaluation should have a specific genre as its focus: Character Letters, News and Illustrations, or a Diary of Romeo or Juliet.

Choose one of the following:

Character Letters
Complete 5 of the following activities:

  1. (I,i) p. 26 #4; As a friend, write a letter to Romeo giving him your opinion of what he’s doing.
  2. (II,i) p. 84 #5; If you were Benvolio, how would you have answered Mercurio’s argument about love? As Benvolio, what would you have said to Romeo? Write Benvolio a letter and tell him what he should have done.
  3. (II,v) p. 130 #5; At this point in the relationship between Romeo and Juliet, which of the two do you believe is really in control of the wedding plans? What dimension does this add to the characters of both Romeo and Juliet? If you could speak to Juliet, what would you say to her? Send her this advice in letter.
  4. (III,ii) p. 166 #3; Look up the word “banished” in the dictionary and list as many meanings as you can. Decide why Juliet keeps repeating the word. How many of the listed meanings might apply to Juliet’s situation? Write a letter in which you explain to a friend the significance of being banished in Romeo and Juliet’s time.
  5. (III,iv) p. 190 #2; Tybalt’s death has great;y affected Capulet’s wedding plans. Decide whether you believe Capulet’s actions concerning the wedding are appropriate under the circumstances. Write him a letter expressing these views.
  6. (III,iv) p. 190 #4; Decide whether or not you think Paris is the right choice of husband for Juliet. Write a letter to him offering advice or guidance.
  7. (III,iv) p. 190 #6; Do you think the Capulets needed help understanding their daughter? Write to them a letter as a friend giving your opinion.
  8. (III,v) p. 209 #9a; Is there something Juliet might have done in this scene to postpone her marriage to Paris? Was there an opportunity she missed? Write a letter to Juliet explaining what strategies she might have used to avoid the ugly confrontation with her parents.
  9. (III,v) p. 209 #9b; Write a letter to a friend who is having difficulties with parents, using Juliet’s situation as an example of what can happen.
  10. (IV,ii) p. 230 #5; Recount an incident in which you or someone you know lied. What were the consequences of the lie? Write a letter to Juliet advising her of the consequences of telling a lie.
  11. (IV,iii) p. 236 #3; If you were able to give Juliet some personal advice about here proposed actions, what would you say to her? Present your advice in one of the following ways: as a letter from an imaginary character from the play; or as a letter from an anonymous and concerned character in the play.
  12. (IV,v) p. 254 #2; Decide whether Capulet has behaved as a typical father. What would you say to Capulet? Put your response in the form of a letter. Use evidence to support your reasoning. Capulet is a nobleman, so remember to use an appropriate tone in your letter.
  13. (Iv,v) p. 256 #4; Imagine Juliet had the opportunity to write a letter to Romeo at the end of Act IV, scene i. Write the letter. Since she no longer trusts the Nurse, how would the letter have been delivered to Romeo?

News and Illustrations
Complete 5 of the following activities:

  1. (I,v) p. 72 #5; Write a newspaper account of the Capulet ball as it might appear in a morning paper.
  2. (I,v) p. 72 #6; The Capulet mansion is up for sale. Write a real-estate advertisement that features it as a “hot property.”
  3. (II,i) p. 84 #3; Draw a cartoon or a comic strip as Mercutio might draw it showing Romeo hopelessly in love. Write a caption for your cartoon.
  4. (II,iii) p. 106 #3; If you were Ann Landers and overheard the conversation between Friar Laurence and Romeo, what advice would you offer Romeo in your column? Write the column, share it with your group, and find out their reactions.
  5. (II,vi) p. 137 #3; Create a personalized horoscope for both Romeo and Juliet based on information you obtained from Act II.
  6. (III,i) p. 154 #4; Write a newspaper feature on the Montague-Capulet fight. A feature story in a newspaper emphasizes special human interest, something that appeals to some feeling we share. In your account you should include the following:
    • how and why Tybalt provokes Mercutio
    • how Mercutio could have avoided the confrontation
    • why Romeo tried to avoid the fight
    • how Mercutio’s death is really Romeo’s fault
    • how Romeo takes the law into his own hands and avenges the death of his friend
  7. (III,v) p. 209 #2; Create a wanted poster listing Romeo as one of Verona’s Ten Most Wanted Criminals. Explain the crime of which he is accused. Give a physical description of him, including details of clothing worn when he was last seen. Give any other information that might help in identifying the wanted man. Design a finished poster that conveys the above information clearly, effectively, and with impact.
  8. (III,v) p. 210 #4; Write a column for a newspaper or magazine in which you use the events of Act III to illustrate that parents are often the unintentional causes of what they perceive as their children’s bad behaviour. Suggest some ideas that adults could follow to make relationships between teenagers and adults more productive.
  9. (IV,ii) p. 230 #4; If you could speak to Capulet at this point about his treatment of his daughter, what would you say to him? Write an article, using this scene as a basis for outlining the way fathers should treat their daughters. Address your article to present-day parents.
  10. (V,iii) p. 291 #7; Write an obituary column for either Romeo or Juliet (or both) as it might appear in a prominent newspaper or news magazine.
  11. (V,iii) p. 291 #2; Write a political commentary of the play as it might appear in a newspaper or magazine. You might include topics such as:
    • the breakdown of the family
    • violence in society
    • laws that don’t work
    • weapons controls
    • the role of religion in politics

Diary of Romeo or Juliet
Keep the diary that either Romeo or Juliet might have kept from the time they met. Keep adding entries as the play progresses.

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