Language Arts 4
Mrs. MacDonnell
Topics:
1. In the Prologue, Romeo and Juliet are described as "star-crossed lovers" and reference is made to their "death-marked love". They themselves speak like this. Do you think that Shakespeare wants to create the impression that their death is brought about by a cruel overwhelming Fate, by sheer accident or by their own willfulness — or by some or all of these?
2. Friar Laurence serves many dramatic purposes in the play. Examine the Friar and his role in Romeo and Juliet
3. Name the two other people in the play who know about the love between Romeo and Juliet and explain how they help the lovers achieve their goals.
4. At the end of Romeo and Juliet the Prince says: 'Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished' (5.3. 307). Whom do you think should be pardoned and whom punished?
5. "The Nurse fills the role of Juliet's mother, and Friar Laurence acts as Romeo's father." Discuss the importance of these characters in Romeo and Juliet.
6. "Romeo and Juliet is a play about two silly, immature teenagers who lack common sense. Therefore, the play expresses the danger of a love in which two people become the whole world to one another." Do you agree?
7. ' A plague on both your houses!'
"Mercutio's dying curse reminds us that, in the end, it is the adults who need to be condemned and punished for their irresponsibility and senseless feuding. Romeo and Juliet are merely innocent victims of their parents' rage." Discuss.
8. Write a character sketch of one of the main players in Romeo and Juliet.
9. What roles do the two characters of Mercutio and Tybalt play in Romeo and Juliet? How do their personalities add to this role?
10. "Romeo and Juliet's love is doomed not just by the world around it, but by its own intensity." Do you agree?
Assuming that it is clear from the context of your paper which play you are quoting from, you need not identify the work by its title. At the end of