Teacher Guide - Perfection Learning

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACT I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
ACT I REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
VOCABULARY QUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
ESSAY QUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
ACT II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
ACT II REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
VOCABULARY QUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
ESSAY QUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
ACT III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
ACT III REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
VOCABULARY QUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
ESSAY QUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
ACT IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
ACT IV REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
VOCABULARY QUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
ESSAY QUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
ACT V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
ACT V REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
VOCABULARY QUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
ESSAY QUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
THE PLAY IN REVIEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
END-OF-PLAY TEST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
VOCABULARY AND ESSAY QUIZZES ANSWER KEY . . . . . . 46
END -OF-PLAY TEST ANSWER KEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2
Table of Contents
Romeo and Juliet

Act I
“My only love sprung from my only hate!”
Anticipation Guide
True or False
_____ Some things are fated to happen, and we have
no control over them. Whether students consider this
statement true or false, have them support their opinions
with specific examples from their experience.
_____ Family feuds only harm the families involved.
Consider whom else they might harm—friends or
neighbors of each family? Business associates of either or
both families? Innocent bystanders who happen to get in
the way of violent conflict?
_____ Love at first sight is possible. After students
have registered their opinions, ask them for examples of
“instant loves” that have lasted and stood the test of time.
Encourage them to get beyond peers and celebrities and
look at long-term partnerships or marriages in their
parents’ or grandparents’ generations that started with
“love at first sight” experiences.
Before You Read
1. The Prologue to Act I suggests that the
relationship of Romeo and Juliet is doomed
from the start. Some people believe that things
are fated to happen, no matter what. Others
believe that your actions can change the course
of your life. Explain your own beliefs about fate.
Answers will vary based on personal beliefs. The
important element of any answer is the inclusion of
supporting statements as to why students believe as
they do. Be sure students can support their opinions
with reasonable arguments.
2. What role do you think a family should have in
the selection of their child’s wife or husband?
Ask students to consider their feelings about this
question “here and now.” Then have them consider
the different conditions existing in Europe in the
Middle Ages, and how that might change their views.
3. As you read, notice the opposites (love/hate;
light/dark) that Shakespeare provides in his
language and imagery. Think about what
purpose opposites might have in this play. Point
out that Shakespeare’s plays are known for their
emotional intensity. Shakespeare rarely writes about
calm, patient, rational people who make decisions
and solve problems through reflection and
deliberation. Suggest that students observe how the
use of opposite helps establish the emotional tone of
“good/bad,” “happy/sad” that motivates these
characters.
Teacher Suggestions
• Have the class watch a movie version of the
story before reading. The 1969 Romeo & Juliet,
directed by Franco Zeffirelli, is a good choice.
• Throughout the play, invite students to view paintings
inspired by the story. You can identify and view many
such paintings on the Emory “Shakespeare
Illustrated” Web site, www.shakespeare.cc.emory.
edu/
• Before reading each Act, listen to a recording of it by
professional actors. Such recordings are available in
libraries and bookstores.
• Locate Verona, Italy, on a map. Then find a map of
historical Verona to get a feel for the size and layout
of the town.
• After reading the Prologue, ask students to speculate
on what might have caused the feud between the two
families. What specific events might have triggered
such a sweeping, long-lasting enmity?
• Many characters are introduced in Act I, and it is
important to sort out “who’s who.” Assign students to
keep a Play Journal throughout their study. As they
begin Act I, they might set up a chart in three
columns: “Capulet,” “Montague,” and “Neutral.” On
their charts they can place each character in the
proper column as he or she is introduced, noting any
particular alliances or relationships as they emerge.
Romeo and Juliet Act 1 3

Act Summary
In the Prologue, a Chorus (or narrator) previews this
play about two feuding families and the tragedy that
occurs when their children meet and fall in love.
One day, in the public square in Verona, Italy,
two servants from the Capulet household pick a
fight with rival servants from the Montague
household. The Capulets and Montagues have
quarreled for so many years that nobody even
knows how their feud began.
When the fight begins, a young Montague,
Benvolio, tries to make peace. Instead, a fiery
Capulet named Tybalt makes the tensions escalate.
Soon, even onlookers and the elderly lords of the
two warring sides are trying to join in the brawl.
Prince Escalus, the ruler of Verona, arrives and
demands that the fighting stop. In the quarrel’s
aftermath, Lord Montague asks Benvolio, a friend of
his son, Romeo, why Romeo seems so depressed.
Benvolio tracks Romeo down and learns that he is
in love with Rosaline, who doesn’t return his
affections. Benvolio vows to make Romeo forget her.
Meanwhile in the Capulet household, Lord
Capulet and a nobleman named Paris discuss Paris’s
proposal of marriage to Lord Capulet’s daughter
Juliet. They discuss the masked banquet the
Capulets will host that night and hope that Juliet
will get to know Paris and agree to marry him. Of
course, the hated Montagues are not invited to the
banquet.
When Benvolio and Romeo catch wind of it,
though, they decide to go in disguise. During the
party, Tybalt guesses their identity and vows revenge
on Romeo, whom he assumes has come only to
mock the Capulets and cause trouble.
When Juliet catches Romeo’s eye at the banquet,
he instantly forgets Rosaline. By the time Romeo
and Juliet realize they are from warring families, it is
too late: they have fallen in love.
Act I Review
Discussion Questions
1. What does the first scene of the play reveal
about Romeo’s behavior? Explain how he
changes by the end of Act I. Romeo has been
plunged into a state of lovesick melancholy. He is
supposedly in love with the chaste Rosaline. But
Shakespeare is careful to have him express his love in
exaggerated, artificial language, including
oxymorons, or contradictory terms. This signals right
away that Rosaline is not Romeo’s true love; at this
point, he is more in love with being in love than with
any actual person. When he sees Juliet, however,
Rosaline is forgotten. (“Did my heart love till now?
Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till
this night.”) His feelings for Juliet ring truer. Instead
of romantic anguish, Romeo expresses excitement.
Instead of inventing tortured contradictions, he is
wholehearted. Even when he learns she is the
daughter of his enemy, he chooses to risk his safety
and his family’s wrath to pursue her.
2. What is your impression of Juliet’s father?
Describe the relationship between Capulet and
his daughter as it is shown during Scene ii.
Capulet seems genial and fair-minded, and open to
peace between the feuding families. At the ball he
restrains Tybalt and insists that his hospitality
extends even to Romeo, about whom he has heard
good reports. Juliet is the Capulets’ only child; they
have great hopes for her. Her father is indulgent,
even allowing her some say in whom she marries. He
is also protective. Although he married Juliet’s
mother before she was 14, he gives Juliet’s youth as
reason to delay marriage. And Capulet believes Juliet
is a beauty. He encourages Paris to compare Juliet
with other women who will be at his feast.
3. What concepts of love are presented by the
female characters in Scene iii? Lady Capulet
praises Paris’s good looks to her daughter, suggesting
that love dwells in the eye. It may dwell in the purse,
too, for she pointedly mentions his wealth. Lady
Capulet regards love as a practical matter and
believes that Juliet has reached the proper age for it.
By contrast, the Nurse regards love much as the
Capulet servants do—with earthy gusto.
4. Characterize Mercutio as he appears in Scene iv.
What kind of friend is he to Romeo? Mercutio
delights in words: his speech about the fairy-queen
Mab is poetic and visionary. But when speaking of
sex, Mercutio shares the bawdy viewpoint of the
Nurse. Wanting to be a good friend, he tries to cheer
Romeo “from the mire of love” using his gift of
language. More disturbingly, Mercutio seems
impulsive, even dangerously rash.
4
Act 1 Review
Romeo and Juliet

5. What do you learn about Tybalt in Scene v?
Tybalt hates the Montagues intensely and is willing
to use violence. He assumes Romeo intends to insult
the Capulets, and he wants revenge.
6. Analyze the behavior of Tybalt, Mercutio, and
Benvolio in Act I. Based on your analysis,
predict what their roles might be in the rest of
the play. Students might respond that Benvolio is a
good friend who listens to and counsels Romeo. He
seems to have Romeo’s best interests at heart and
may be a calming influence if things get tense.
Mercutio is also a good friend, using his quick wit to
entertain and influence Romeo and his friends.
However, his hot temper could cause trouble. Tybalt
seems to have enormous hatred for the Montagues.
Like Mercutio, he is prone to fighting. The two might
provoke each other into violence.
7. Compare Romeo’s reaction to Juliet’s when each
discovers the true identity of the other. Both
Romeo and Juliet are shaken by the discovery.
Neither considers giving up their love, but they both
struggle with the conflict between their love and
their family’s hate.
8. Do Romeo’s feelings for Juliet seem different
from his feelings for Rosaline? Explain your
answer. Answers should be supported. “Yes” answers
may cite Romeo’s melancholy mood in the first scene
versus his excitement in Scene v. Students might also
note that Juliet reciprocates Romeo’s feelings, giving
him reason to feel a more genuine bond with her
than with Rosaline. “No” answers may see little
difference between Romeo’s feelings for Rosaline and
his instant switch to Juliet. He could just be in love
with love.
Literary Elements
1. A foil is a character in literature who has
qualities that are in sharp contrast to another
character, thus emphasizing the qualities of
each. How is Mercutio a foil to Romeo? Mercutio
does not seem to worry. He is lively, fun loving,
quick-tempered and mischievous. Romeo is moody
and brooding.
2. Foreshadowing refers to hints in the text about
what will occur later. What examples of
foreshadowing do you find in the Prologue and
in Scene iv of Act I? Romeo tells his friends that he
has had a dream that he will meet an “untimely
death.”
3. Hyperbole means obvious exaggeration. Look
at Romeo’s declaration of love for Rosaline in
Act I, Scene i. What examples can you find of
hyperbole? Discuss why you think he overstates
his feelings. Answers will vary. Examples include
Romeo’s description of love as a sea filled with lovers’
tears or his claim that forgetting Rosaline would be
the same as forgetting to think. Romeo is caught up
in the pleasure of romantic fantasy. He seems to
enjoy torturing himself with the pain of frustrated
love.
4. A pun is a play on words that have similar
sounds but more than one possible spelling or
meaning. Scene iv, in which Romeo and his
friends banter on the way to the Capulet’s
masquerade party, is filled with puns. Find a
pun in this scene, and explain its different
meanings and effect. Answers will vary. Examples
include the use of “torch,” referring both to a torch
carried for light and to Romeo’s “carrying a torch”
for Rosaline. “Visor” means both a mask for the
party and the face that wears it. The effect is selfmockery—in
the first case Romeo makes fun of
himself, in the second Mercutio mocks his own
appearance.
5. Good drama has conflict: struggle between
opposing forces. What conflicts are set in
motion by events in Scene v? Among the conflicts
are Tybalt’s resentment of Romeo’s presence at the
party, Capulet’s reprimand of Tybalt’s angry threats,
and the conflict between Romeo and Juliet’s feelings
for each other and their loyalty to their families. The
last might also be seen as the play’s defining conflict
between love and hate, or fate and free will.
Romeo and Juliet Act 1 Review 5

Writing Prompts
1. Look up the rules for the 14-line form of verse
known as a sonnet. Using the rhyme scheme of
your choice, write a sonnet of romantic love. Or,
you may want to write a sonnet that parodies or
satirizes the form. You might suggest sources for
information about the sonnet, like Merriam
Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, and provide
examples of sonnets. Find information and examples
at these Web sites: Shakespeare’s Works, shakespeare.
palomar.edu/works.htm or Bartleby.com Great Books
Online, www.bartleby.com.
2. Write a description of Romeo based on what
you have learned about him so far. Use specific
quotes from the play to support your writing.
Suggest to students that before they write this
description, they look through the text and make a
list of everything that is said about Romeo by other
characters, and a second list of everything Romeo
says about himself.
3. Assume that you write an advice column for a
newspaper or magazine. A modern-day Romeo
or Juliet writes to you asking for your advice. He
or she explains what happened at the party and
also mentions the family feud. First write his or
her letter, and then write your response. You
might want to provide students with examples of
modern-day advice columns. You might also want
them to write the letters as one assignment and then
exchange the letters with each other to complete the
response component of the assignment.
4. Choose a scene and write a brief summary of its
events in one sentence. You may choose to write
it in standard English, contemporary slang or
street talk, or the language of Shakespeare,
Elizabethan English. Or write three summaries;
use a separate style in each. You might prepare
students for this activity by choosing a scene from a
different play or even a scene from a television show
or movie, and creating a summary sentence in all
three styles. This could be provided as a handout or
generated together as a class.
5. Choose a quotation from any of the scenes in
Act I that you feel best characterizes that scene.
In a paragraph, discuss why you think this
quotation is significant and effective at
conveying the events or emotions of this scene.
Students might organize their thoughts for this
assignment by building on the preceding prompt.
They might work with the scene they already
summarized or select a different scene and start by
summarizing the events or emotions of the scene in a
concise sentence. Then they can look for an
appropriate brief quotation and explain their choice.
Words to Know
adversary
enemy; opponent
augmenting adding to; enlarging
deformities irregularities;
disfigurements
discreet
showing good judgment;
perceptive
disparagement criticism; censure
nuptial
wedding; marriage
obscured [obscur’d] hid; darkened
pernicious harmful; destructive
portentous ominous; threatening
posterity
future generations
prodigious terrible; extraordinary
profane
dishonor; make impure
propagate
reproduce; increase
purged [purg’d] got rid of; expelled
Note: In Part II of the Vocabulary Quiz, sentences in
quotation marks come from the original of
Shakespeare’s play. Any sentences in
contemporary English are meant to provide
students with a clearer context for responding
or to show the word’s modern usage.
6
Act 1 Review
Romeo and Juliet

NAME
DATE
Vocabulary Quiz
I. Match each vocabulary word in the first column to its closest synonym in the second column.
nuptial
pernicious
disparagement
propagate
adversary
augmenting
prodigious
portentous
discreet
deformities
criticism
terrible; extraordinary
harmful
wedding
showing good judgment
enlarging
ominous; threatening
opponent
defects
reproduce
II. Circle the letter of the word that comes closest in meaning to the word in bold type.
1. “Black and portentous must this humour prove.”
a. humorous c. threatening
b. deceitful d. annoying
2. “Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs; / Being purg’d [purged], a fire sparkling in
lovers’ eyes.”
a. righteous c. honest
b. expelled d. hateful
3. “For beauty starv’d with her severity / Cuts beauty off from all posterity.”
a. heirs c. appreciation
b. satisfaction d. health
4. “A visor for a visor! What care I / What curious eye doth quote deformities?”
a. cliches c. disfigurements
b. obstacles d. disguises
5. “Many a morning hath he there been seen, / With tears augmenting the fresh morning’s
dew.”
a. imitating c. gathering
b. adding to d. replacing
REPRODUCIBLE • ©2004 Perfection Learning Corporation Act I Vocabulary Quiz 7

NAME
DATE
6. “Prodigious birth of love it is to me / That I must love a loathed enemy.”
a. hateful c. extraordinary
b. long-awaited d. unexpected
7. “Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, / Profaners [profane] of this neighbor-stained steel—
/ Will they not hear?”
a. dishonorers c. supporters
b. creators d. owners
8. “That quench the fire of your pernicious rage / With purple fountains issuing from your
veins.”
a. enduring c. smoldering
b. righteous d. destructive
9. “Griefs of my own lie heavy in my breast, / Which thou wilt propagate to have it prest /
With more of thine.”
a. encourage c. remove
b. increase d. heal
10. “’Tis since the nuptial of Lucentio, / Come Pentecost as quickly as it will, / Some five and
twenty years; and then we mask’d.”
a. birth c. marriage
b. funeral d. arrival
11. “I would not for the wealth of all this town / Here in my house do him disparagement.”
a. inequity c. credit
b. disservice d. criticism
12. “If I profane with my unworthiest hand / This holy shrine.”
a. make impure c. adorn
b. injure d. flatter
13. “Here were the servants of your adversary, / And yours, close fighting ere I did approach.”
a. kinsman c. household
b. enemy d. hardship
14. “What is it else? A madness most discreet, / A choking gall, and a preserving sweet.”
a. disrespectful c. cruel
b. perceptive d. deadly
15. “And what obscur’d [obscured] in this fair volume lies / Find written in the margent of his
eyes.”
a. recorded c. stolen
b. revealed d. hidden
8
Act I Vocabulary Quiz
REPRODUCIBLE • ©2004 Perfection Learning Corporation

NAME
DATE
III. Create a sentence using at least three vocabulary words from Act I.
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REPRODUCIBLE • ©2004 Perfection Learning Corporation Act 1 Essay Quiz 9