Romeo and JulietBalcony Scene Close Read

Close Read: Concentrating on certain portions of a text/analyzing author’s craft/purpose

You and your group members will be given line numbers and a question about those particular lines

You will be given a few minutes to discuss your answers and write them down

Everyone must participate—group roles Use textual evidence to support your thoughts You may be called upon to share your answers with

the class

Group Member Roles

Facilitator—keep group members on task, ask questions to keep the discussion going

Reader—read the lines aloud Recorder—write down answers to

questions on a sheet of notebook paper Speaker—share your group’s discussion

with the class ***Switch roles with each question!!!

Read lines 1-32

To whom is Romeo talking? How do you know?

What phrase(s) or word(s) in lines 12-14 can help you make meaning of the word discourses? What can you infer about Juliet’s actions from the way Romeo describes her?

Read lines 33-49 aloud in your group

To whom is Juliet speaking? How do you know? Hint: How do Romeo’s lines in this passage help support your answer?

Lines 33-49

What does the audience know that Juliet does not know?

Read lines 33-36

What does Juliet want Romeo to do? Why? Consider what we know about Romeo and Juliet’s families.

Read lines 43-44

In these lines, what relationship is Juliet establishing between an object and the name of that object?

Lines 33-49

How might Juliet’s soliloquy have been different if she had known Romeo was listening? Hint: Count the number of lines Juliet has in this scene. How does this compare to her earlier speeches?

Lines 49-51

What course of action has Romeo just taken? How does this affect the scene?

Group Quick Write

Why do you think Shakespeare crafted the scene so that the audience is aware of Romeo’s presence before Juliet is aware? Answer with a well-developed paragraph and use textual evidence cited in proper MLA format to support your answer.

“(Romeo and Juliet Act. Scene. Line/s).