Grade 8 Humanities: Week of 10/30/2017 Romeo Romeo Wherefore Art Thou So Emo?
Dear Families,
To unpack Act III early in the week, we created collages to record the chaos that ensues following Romeo and Juliet’s secret marriage. Re-purposing images from National Geographic and Sports Illustrated showed us that the human emotions expressed in our text are all around us. Plus, it was really fun to hear, “I just found Mercutio!” and “Here’s Lord Capulet!” ring out in the classroom again and again!
By week’s end, we were in the final act of Romeo and Juliet and lingered on elements of fate and free will, hubris, and loyalties. We used John Green’s Crash Course on Romeo and Juliet as a touchstone for these important concepts. Are our characters actually free-agents who make the decisions that impact their futures or is the fault really all in our stars? Another striking question (that may not have a ready answer yet) is that of our loyalties. Do our own wants and needs take precedence over the needs of others or do we defer to parents, religions, and/or government?
Yours,
Ms. Sacilotto
The day was hot: the Capulets, abroad; if they had only worn sunblock, they might have ‘scaped a brawl . ..
Montagues and Capulets: not so different after all . . .
Was it the Nightingale or the Lark? You decide . . .
If Romeo hadn’t gotten in the middle of it, Mercutio AND Tybalt might have lived to fight another day . . .
Every unworthy thing may look upon Juliet, but Romeo? Not so much (that whole banishment problem) . . .
Using John Green’s Crash Course series as a talking point . . .
Notes on text and John Green’s Crash Course: Romeo and Juliet, Part I . . .
A Romeo and Juliet inspired Halloween pumpkin by Sonia and Skyler . . .
“There is no world without Verona walls,
But purgatory, torture, hell itself.
Hence-banished is banish’d from the world,
And world’s exile is death: then banished,
Is death mis-term’d: calling death banishment,
Thou cutt’st my head off with a golden axe,
And smilest upon the stroke that murders me.”
— Romeo, Act III, iii
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