Romeo & Juliet Assignments


We've done a bunch of things for Romeo and Juliet. We spent weeks and weeks reading it, and watching the movies. There were several quizzes on different acts and scenes that we were supposed to read for homework. We would have written a letter from the perspective of Friar Lawrence, advising Romeo of the plan, but something odd happened and that was never assigned. We were also taught about rhyme scheme and we learned about monologues, soliloquies, similes, metaphors, paradoxes, and motifs.

I disliked reading as a class. To be blunt, the majority of the class couldn't make their part interesting to save their lives. There was no emotion or character at all. Then throw in the constant stumbles, stutters, and pauses, and out loud reading became unbearable. I'm not saying I was perfect, in fact I think I did a rather poor job reading, but I see that I was only one of many.

I enjoyed listening to the play a lot more. The characters in the tape already knew the part and would yell, cry, fight, make odd kissing (plunger) noises that made the play more interesting. In addition, the sound effects (swords, carts, horses, etc.) made it easier to envisage the busy market or crowded street.

Through the reading, we would have quizzes on what was covered in homework the night before. I disliked the quizzes, although that's probably just because I'm a student who had to take them. I did not enjoy working to show that I had read the material, however, they did help me reflect on what had happened. The only problem was when I read the scene, had no earthly idea of what was going on, and then took a quiz on it the next day.